More and more people are ageing with no one to look after them in later life. These are the findings of a recent report released by the Office for National Statistics. This is, of course, the inevitable consequence of two demographic changes in Britain since the second world war: increased life expectancy and [...]

With a deadly virus smaller than a speck of dust still circulating, it’s natural that many office workers would rather be doing their jobs from home. Though this inadvertent mass experiment in home working hasn’t been universally enjoyable, particularly for those living in cramped accommodation or juggling work [...]

Today the Daily Telegraph carries a front-page advert for Britain’s embattled trade union movement. Not intentionally, you understand. But this morning’s splash – “Go back to work or risk losing your job” – is the punchiest recent illustration of the need for workers to collectively [...]

In The Book of Scotlands, the Scottish artist Momus imagines 156 alternative versions of his homeland. His “Scotlands” are a mixture of absurd short stories, coy political satire and haunting visions: in one, Scotland is entirely covered by a giant black swan from outer space; in another, all the maps are [...]

I am a frontline healthcare professional working in a large public hospital in Syria. The country is facing an overwhelming but under-reported Covid-19 crisis among a population already beaten down by almost a decade of conflict and economic turmoil. I and my colleagues feel helpless and expect the [...]

On Thursday 20 August, it will be exactly two years since the first school strike for the climate took place. Looking back, a lot has happened. Many millions have taken to the streets to join the decades-long fight for climate and environmental justice. And on 28 November 2019, the European parliament declared a [...]

It’s a title of which Captain Mainwaring would have been proud: “Clandestine Channel Threat Commander”. The man responsible for saving Britain from the threat of a migrant invasion. If you invent an invasion, you clearly need also to invent a fantasy job title to repel [...]

It’s high summer on the beaches of Suffolk and Norfolk, and the bucket-and-spade season is in full swing. But for some families, holidays are ending early this [...]

By the end of May, Britain had suffered the worst excess death level in Europe; our recession is both the deepest since records began and the most severe of the seven leading industrialised [...]

I recently spent a weekday afternoon in the centre of Bristol, chasing the small comforts of retail therapy, and trying to do my bit for a few of my favourite shops. The experience was dreamlike, and unsettling: businesses smattered with hazard tape, half-deserted streets, and a rush hour that seemed to amount to [...]