Is Tom Crone Rupert Murdoch’s John Dean?

Comparisons with Watergate raise worrying prospects for News Corporation, writes Rodney Tiffen

03 May 12 | Comments (0)

A long reign and a lost republic

The celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s sixty years on the throne coincides with the best of recent times for the British monarchy. The moment will pass, but this offers little comfort to the institution’s paralysed opponents, says David Hayes

19 Apr 12 | Comments (2)

The matter of Scotland

A high-stakes constitutional tussle over the future of the United Kingdom is under way. The political transformation of Scotland since the 1950s will help to shape the outcome, says David Hayes

22 Feb 12 | Comments (0)

Margaret Thatcher, between myth and politics

A sympathetic film portrayal of Britain’s most divisive modern prime minister fits a broader mood of reappraisal of her years in power, says David Hayes

12 Jan 12 | Comments (2)

The intimate megacity

London’s mayoral election might be overshadowed in 2012 by royal and Olympic pageants, but it’s more revealing of the city’s heartbeat, says David Hayes

07 Dec 11 | Comments (0)

The smoke this time

An encampment around St Paul’s Cathedral in London casts a new light on this icon of British wartime defiance. But the epic days of the 1940s may have something to teach the protesters in return, says David Hayes

01 Nov 11 | Comments (0)

A country of the mind

The tendency to press reality into a heritage mould traps England in political aspic, says David Hayes

18 Sep 11 | Comments (1)

News Corp and the hackers: a scandal in two parts

With the Leveson inquiry into the British press starting work in London, Rodney Tiffen looks at what the phone-hacking scandal has revealed so far about media, politics and the police – and what’s likely to happen next

15 Sep 11 | Comments (3)

Never so good?

On the anniversary of the 2010 Australian election, Frank Bongiorno – just back from London – contrasts the challenges facing Britain and Australia

21 Aug 11 | Comments (1)

England on trial

Four days and nights of riotous disorder are a potent argument for social repair. But lack of agreement on fundamentals could soon prove fatal to the chances, says David Hayes

16 Aug 11 | Comments (1)

The brothers grim

Despite defeating his brother in a long and hard-fought leadership campaign, it’s still not clear what British Labour leader Ed Miliband stands for, writes Frank Bongiorno

10 Aug 11 | Comments (0)

British Labour’s blues

Frank Bongiorno looks at the growing influence of Labour peer Maurice Glasman on the British opposition party

26 Jul 11 | Comments (3)

A class apart

Is “merit” the new demarcation line in British society, asks Frank Bongiorno in London

21 Jul 11 | Comments (0)

Billy Hughes and the end of an Empire

BOOKS | Jill Kitson reviews a new account of the wartime leadership of the diminutive Australian prime minister

23 Apr 11 | Comments (0)

Friends of the family

Why did some British academics and universities get so close to Colonel Gaddafi, asks Frank Bongiorno in London

19 Apr 11 | Comments (1)

Living in two worlds

BOOKS | Despite the dominance of mainstream economics, important national differences prevail within the profession, writes Geoffrey Barker

06 Apr 11 | Comments (0)

The elusive Mr Logue

In London Frank Bongiorno looks at why Lionel Logue is portrayed as an Aussie larrikin in The King’s Speech

28 Mar 11 | Comments (0)

Black Dyke days

How do you compose for a brass band? Andrew Ford went to Yorkshire to find out

15 Mar 11 | Comments (1)

The paradox at the heart of Labor’s review

Like its British counterpart, the Labor Party is grappling with wider, conflicting trends in political participation, writes Rob Manwaring

01 Mar 11 | Comments (0)

Life in the UK: the exam

In London, Ian Henderson finds that Britain’s migration test reveals more about its authors than they would ever have anticipated

18 Feb 11 | Comments (2)