UK Local Elections

Local elections: Survey gives Labour huge lead in London ahead of vote.

— The party has long dominated but the scale of the lead raises questions about why the Conservatives are experiencing such unprecedented unpopularity.

Analysis

Sinn Féin could become the biggest party in Northern Ireland on May 5 – What it means for power-sharing.

— Northern Ireland is preparing for a potentially seismic election on May 5: Sinn Féin could become the largest party for the first time in Northern Ireland’s history.

UK Politics

Angela Rayner, porn in parliament and a depressing week for British politics.

— Labour’s deputy leader was forced to justify her own response to comments made about her. How the responsibility shifted to Angela Rayner.

France Presidential Election 2022

Emmanuel Macron is reelected but the French are longing for radical change.

— The next five years are going to be harder than Emmanuel Macron’s first term. To succeed he will need to keep radical parties at bay, accelerate measures on climate change, and steer the EU toward a stronger, more independent future.

France Presidential Election 2022

Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron go head to head: Why many French voters will be voting against a candidate rather than for them.

— With the collapse of traditional politics, voters must vote with their heads rather than their hearts at every stage.

Climate Change

Just Stop Oil: Protests will be even more disruptive if they kick off panic buying.

— The current climate protests blocking fuel depots across England and disrupting supplies may lead to demand-led shortages if panic buying ensues.

COVID-19

Why we can’t ‘boost’ our way out of the COVID-19 pandemic for the long term.

— Whether repeated COVID-19 vaccine injections may lead to a phenomenon called “immune exhaustion” is a possibility that needs further study.

Analysis

Who gets to decide when the pandemic is over?

— We asked over 1,000 people whether the lifting of restrictions in England signals the end of the pandemic – the majority thought it didn’t.

Analysis

British voters want lying politicians to face consequences.

— Does it matter to people what consequences there should be for politicians who break rules or mislead parliament? Yes, they want ministers to be kept in constant check by parliament, courts and the public at large.

War in Ukraine

Sweden and Finland eye the Nato option, but it’s a security dilemma for the west.

— Nato enlargement to Sweden and Finland could be a dangerous strategy if it backs Russia into a corner. Vladimir Putin may well turn to his often-threatened nuclear capability.

France Presidential Election 2022

As Marine Le Pen makes it to second round, the left-wing vote is what troubles president Emmanuel Macron.

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the great success story of the first round. The question now becomes, who gets his votes in the second – Emmanuel Macron or Marine Le Pen?

COVID-19

Should we worry about the XE variant? Maybe not yet, but ‘hybrids’ will become more frequent as COVID evolves.

— Our best chance of limiting the emergence of new recombinant COVID variants is to limit the spread of infections, using public health measures to slow and suppress the virus.

Analysis

What is a non-dom?

— An expert answers our questions about the tax status claimed by Rishi Sunak’s wife and other wealthy people.

France Presidential Election 2022

Economic fallout from Ukraine war could give Le Pen’s social-populist strategy an edge.

— Under fire for her past Russian links, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen may still be within reach of the second round of the French presidential elections against Emmanuel Macron thanks to her left-leaning economic agenda.

COVID-19

My five-year-old is now eligible for a COVID vaccine – Should I get them immunised?

— Severe COVID disease is rare in children, but high case numbers are seeing more kids being affected. There is no such thing as a “mild hospitalisation”, especially when it’s your child on the ward.

Long-Read

Vladimir Putin: A risk-taker who is gambling his country’s future.

— How did a young risk-taking politician take complete control of Russia and destabilise Europe and the US? Twenty years on, his dangerously aggressive and risky rule must be ended.