This week we find out what kind of Chancellor Philip Hammond really is
Abandoning the target of balancing the Government’s books in 2020 is one thing – losing control of public borrowing altogether is quite another
- Name
John Rentoul
- Bio
- John Rentoul is Chief Political Commentator for The Independent, and visiting professor at King's College, London. Author of The Banned List, Questions To Which The Answer Is No, Listellany and a biography of Tony Blair, whom he admired more at the end of his time in office than he did at the beginning. Sign up here to receive his daily "Catch-Up Service" email.
Top 10 extra Twitter jokes
‘To drive an HGV in France you need to pass your Backalorryup.’ (Moose Allain.) And 10 more...
Theresa May unnecessarily embarrassed herself over Article 50
Jeremy Corbyn cannot credibly threaten to block Brexit. He called on the morning after the referendum for Article 50 to be triggered. But more importantly he couldn’t take his party with him
Whoever becomes Ukip leader won’t have much of a party left to lead
Now that Britain is leaving the EU, however, there really is no point to Ukip, and it shows
Did the Blair-Brown era contain the seeds of Labour's destruction?
Alastair Campbell’s diaries are a unique historical document, providing testimony from the day things happened, unedited by memory and hindsight
PMQs: Theresa May had no answers to Jeremy Corbyn’s questions
The Labour leader went back to the ‘old politics’ of soundbites and trying to exploit the governing party’s divisions – and put the Prime Minister on the defensive
The EU has taken Brexit badly, but Theresa May will win in the end
The Prime Minister had a rough reception in Brussels, and it is going to get harder for her, but tough Brexit talks are not going to weaken her popularity at home
Top 10 shortest terms in office
Actually a list of about 67,011 people, including Greg Clark, former President of the Board of Trade, and Lady Jane Grey
‘Gimmicks are our failure’: top Treasury official
The top civil servant at the Treasury until June looked back on his successes and failures in trying to make the British economy more productive
Put economy ahead of cutting immigration – Brexit poll
Exclusive poll for The Independent finds that the British public think a good trade deal with the EU is more important than cutting immigration when negotiating Brexit
We will probably get a good Brexit deal, but nobody can say so
There is no way that the Prime Minister could contemplate doing something as stupid as setting out in Parliament what she hopes to obtain in Brexit negotiations
Top 10 accidental etymologies
Alcohol meant eyeliner and pink used to be greenish-yellow: a collection of the most unlikely origins of words
Mea Culpa: issues with ‘issues’, a Marmite among words
Hackneyed, unnecessary and rarely useful words in this week’s Independent
More headlines
Mea Culpa: Attendees, escapees and Anglo-Norman French
Should it be ‘attendee’ or ‘attender’? And what about ‘iconic’ – is that ever acceptable in The Independent?
What Theresa May said – and what she really meant
‘When I find out who has been in power for the past six years, I’ll give them what for’
What is the big surprise in the PM’s speech tomorrow?
Theresa May, in her disciplined, defensive media round, let slip one phrase to Nick Robinson on Today this morning: 'We’re going to make a number of changes that are going to help ordinary working-class people.'