COMMENT

Is Liz Truss really a symbol of Western democratic resilience as China crowns Xi Jinping?

— No matter whether a system is democratic or undemocratic, a bad leader’s period in office could leave millions of broken lives in its wake.

COMMENT

Liz Truss and the best of British robotic libertarianism

— Say the name “Liz Truss” now and the two words convey a world of meaning. Misgovernance, missteps, miserliness towards the poorest and most vulnerable. But most importantly, one woman’s name has come to signify the best of British robotic libertarianism.

COMMENT

Liz Truss puts Britain on course to an uncivil war

— Britain wouldn’t be Britain if it didn’t routinely send up people in authority, especially if those people say silly things that also happen to be mean.

COMMENT

Liz Truss’s unoriginal, unedifying and outdated plan for ‘Growth. Growth. Growth.’

— Liz Truss is out of date. She is half a century late. The UK economy and the world faced different, less complex crosswinds then.

OPINION

Kamikwasi, Librium Liz and the great British joke factory

— Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng are becoming so absurd about their economic plans for Britain as to be beyond satire.

COMMENT

Back to the other Liz’s world. Shtum, imperious, foxy

— In all the days that the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II lay in state in London, the British government remained shtum, imperious, and foxy.

COMMENT

There is no escape from history for Britain, its new king and the rest of us

— David Olusoga’s unique perspective stands out in the rushing rivers of reminiscence, royal praise, anecdote and biographical sketch.

COMMENT

Is the Truss cabinet’s visual diversity any more than just that?

— To all those sincere campaigners for diversity, is visual diversity enough?

COMMENT

‘Ukraine fatigue’? A Ukrainian mother-and-daughter story from London

— The mother of one of my Ukrainian friends leaves London next month. She’s going home, my friend says, her eyes lowered. For how long, it’s not clear.

COMMENT

The ‘new world’ label is 600 years old and needs updating.

— Say the words “new world”. What image comes to mind? The United States? Possibly Canada? Maybe Mexico or Chile? What about India?

COMMENT

Salman Rushdie, the man who told stories about India.

— Salman Rushdie features in almost every story about India, a country that he is fascinated with, that is in his bones. But is he the master or victim of our times?

COMMENT

The last white woman, Liz Truss.

— Had it been anyone but Rishi Sunak, would Liz Truss really be the frontrunner in the Conservative Leadership Contest to replace Boris Johnson?

Sri Lanka Protest

Sri Lanka’s protesters are demanding change. Here’s why.

— Sri Lanka’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country after weeks of protests. Now Sri Lankans want action — and fast.

COMMENT

Boris boosterism and bluster won’t keep Brexit Britain’s reality hidden forever.

— Boris Johnson’s premiership epitomised a change in tone and apparent temperament for Britain. In the past five years, it went from respected former imperial power to unreliable protagonist with an outsize ego.

COMMENT

Boris remade Britain’s image as a mussy-haired wannabe with a slippery sense of propriety.

— Boris Johnson’s legacy: There is a sense of a country that is packaging and re-packaging shop-worn goods with a sales pitch that runs to superlatives.

COMMENT

‘Them’s the breaks’: Boris adopts an American accent.

— To defy his moment of humiliation, Eton-educated Boris Johnson used a surprising American slang in his resignation speech.