An official result is not expected for a few days but the official projections show that Angela Merkel will secure an historic fourth term. But with her power-base eroded by a surge in support for the far right.
Good evening from Berlin where the country is experiencing both continuity and an earthquake.
Gary Gibbon
Politics is turned upside down here at the Labour Party conference. The old elite of the Labour Party are barely to be seen. Retired party officials complain of not recognising anyone they know and feeling like they’ve turned up at the wrong gathering.
Their catchy pop tunes ruled the charts, while their handsome faces ruled the hearts of their adoring teenage fans. Norwegian band A-ha were a fixture of the 1980s pop scene – their breakthrough song “Take on Me” and its cartoon video one of the most recognisable hits of the decade. Now thirty years on the…
It was supposed to reset relations with the continent but 24 hours after Mrs May gave her Florence speech, the fragile entente cordial with Europe is once again looking a little frayed. And we speak to the Conservative MP and Brexiteer Andrew Rosindell.
Anger is growing over the decision not to renew the London operating licence of taxi firm Uber. More than half a million people have now signed a petition calling for the ruling to be reversed. But the Mayor of London today stood by the move saying passengers’ safety and security were paramount and that the…
Gary Gibbon
The Brexit transition period requested by Theresa May yesterday in Florence is pretty much exactly what the Treasury has been asking for. But it leaves the UK in a bizarre, protracted limbo which could antagonise Brexiteers.
In the bowels of subterranean London, something isn’t stirring. It’s sitting there… accumulating. It’s just one of a staggering ten fatbergs blocking London’s Victorian sewers. This one is a 50 metre long rancid blob of congealed, sanitary products, napkins, wet wipes and similar items that do not bio-degrade. But all is not lost – there are now plans to break…
At least 15 people were killed, and 20 have been reported missing, on Dominica in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s pass across that Caribbean island. In Puerto Rico, struck by Maria on Wednesday, 13 people died and the island faces months without mains electricity.
The leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Elizabeth Campbell, discusses the re-housing of Grenfell residents
A 16-year-old has become the latest victim of the Grenfell Tower fire to be named. Nur Huda el-Wahabi died alongside her parents and two brothers, who all lived on the west London block’s 21st floor.Meanwhile, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council has pledged that Grenfell residents will be consulted before any re-housing decisions are made. Only five families…
Ulrike Ester Franke, from the European Council on Foreign Affairs, discusses Theresa May’s speech.
Not everyone in Germany was following today’s Brexit speech, and they can be excused for not doing so, with their own distraction in the form of Sunday’s election. However policymakers, businessmen and anyone involved with Britain were listening. While many may have been reassured by Theresa May’s emollient words about paying divorce bills and a smooth transition forging a special partnership…
Michael Crick discusses the reaction at Westminster to Theresa May’s EU speech in Florence.
Theresa Villiers, Conservative MP and former Northern Ireland Secretary, who campaigned for Leave, and Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, who campaigned for Remain, discuss Theresa May’s speech in Florence.
