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John Rentoul

@JohnRentoul

John Rentoul is The Independent’s chief political commentator, having worked for the title since 1995. He is also visiting professor at King’s College, London, and a prominent tweeter. He is the author of a biography of Tony Blair and, with Jon Davis, of Heroes or Villains? The Blair Government Reconsidered. As well as writing about politics, he contributes a weekly column, Mea Culpa, on style and usage

<p>Things can only get worse for Sunak for the next few weeks</p>
Voices

The Conservative conference is already a disaster for Rishi Sunak

<p>Keir Starmer is taking a risk with this hint of ‘class war’ politics</p>
Voices

Taxing private school fees could backfire badly on Starmer

<p>Home Secretary Suella Braverman is set to express concern about the Refugee Convention</p>
Voices

‘Who’s most right wing? I am!’: Braverman’s shameless leadership bid

<p>‘Long-term decisions for a brighter future’ is a dud of an election slogan </p>
Voices

Are the Conservatives trying to lose the election?

<p>Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to achieve a ‘fair and lasting peace’ are ongoing </p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: update on a continuing campaign

<p>The main cause of discontent is the Liberal Democrat leader’s refusal to make more of the case for Britain rejoining the EU</p>
Voices

The jury’s not out on Ed Davey – even Lib Dems don’t like him…

<p>The ‘What Would Margaret Do?’ question has continued to hold large parts of the Tory party in its grip</p>
Voices

The ghost of Margaret Thatcher still haunts British politics

<p>Sir Keir Starmer shakes hands with French president Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday</p>
UK Politics

Ask John Rentoul anything about plans for an EU ‘inner circle’

<p>Tony Blair is said to have used his EU contacts to help arrange Keir Starmer’s extraordinary Elysee visit </p>
Voices

So what if Tony Blair is pulling Keir Starmer’s strings?

<p>The Labour leader on his pre-general-election charm offensive in Paris</p>
Voices

Even Leavers could sign up to EU ‘associate membership’

<p>Ronan Kelleher suffered a double linguistic injury at the hands of ‘The Independent’ this week </p>
Errors & Omissions

Mea Culpa: in the middle of the campaign against ‘amid’

<p>Reeves’s office has pointed to a review of tax loopholes that she announced in her party conference speech in 2021</p>
Voices

Rachel Reeves will copy Gordon Brown’s stealth taxes – quite right too

<p>The centrist dads’ get-together in Montreal may seem like a cuddly gathering of the commonsensicals, but for Starmer it has a hard-edged purpose</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer and the march of the centrist dads

<p>Keir Starmer could be our next PM, according to an expert panel </p>
UK Politics

Labour is heading for government, expert panel agrees

<p>Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper visiting the Netherlands, for talks with the EU’s Europol law enforcement agency (PA)</p>
Voices

Keir Starmer has stolen Rishi Sunak’s clothes

<p>Macron’s handshake is more significant than a chance for Starmer to pose as a world leader. It is a vote of confidence in Labour at the next election </p>
Voices

Ooh la la! Starmer’s invitation from Macron is a coup très formidable

<p>Thames Water makes a contribution to the River Thames from its Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, in southeast London, in July </p>
Politics explained

Is the government breaking its own law on sewage in rivers and seas?

<p>Thames Water makes a contribution to the River Thames from its Crossness Sewage Treatment Works, in southeast London, in July </p>
Politics explained

Is the government breaking its own law on sewage in rivers and seas?

<p>We added to the education secretary’s difficulties with a grammatical slip </p>
Errors & Omissions

Mea Culpa: who does ‘her’ think she is?

<p>Sunak could end up like John Major</p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak says he is ‘fired up’ to win – is he delusional?

<p>Rishi Sunak must be careful with his triumphalism</p>
Voices

The revised economic figures are a huge lucky break for Sunak

<p>Former US president Donald Trump arrives at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Georgia</p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: Donald Trump, wreaker of havoc

<p>Sir Softie cannot afford to be soft on the soft left</p>
Voices

Sir Softie gets tough: the reinvention of Keir Starmer

<p>One of the government’s best communicators, Shapps was highly effective during the pandemic – but he looks like a winner of a tombola of trivialisation </p>
Voices

This is no way to run a whelk stall, let alone a government

<p>Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves promised not to increase taxes at all, apart from the three small changes already announced </p>
Voices

Prudence is back! But Gordon Brown’s friend has a new name: Rachel…

<p>Even George Osborne favoured a mansion tax, but the current shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, says no</p>
Voices

Rachel Reeves’s double-non-denial denial on tax is asking for trouble

<p>One of the government’s best communicators, Shapps was highly effective during the pandemic – but he looks like a winner of a tombola of trivialisation </p>
Voices

This is no way to run a whelk stall, let alone a government

<p>Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves promised not to increase taxes at all, apart from the three small changes already announced </p>
Voices

Prudence is back! But Gordon Brown’s friend has a new name: Rachel…

<p>Even George Osborne favoured a mansion tax, but the current shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, says no</p>
Voices

Rachel Reeves’s double-non-denial denial on tax is asking for trouble

<p>The absence of a reshuffle is a reminder that even the power of an opposition leader on the threshold of government has its limits </p>
Voices

Why Starmer is running scared of Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband

Comment

Top 50 Fictional Countries: From Ambrosia to Zuy

<p>For months now, questions about practical preparations for government have been answered with: ‘Sue will sort that out when she arrives’ </p>
Voices

Sue Gray can’t solve Starmer’s biggest problem

<p>Keir Starmer at a Labour campaign event in Swindon</p>
Politics explained

Will Labour finally outspend the Tories at the next election?

<p>Andy Burnham was speaking at an event during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Andrew Milligan/PA)</p>
Voices

The trouble with Andy Burnham? Nobody’s listening to him

<p>Andy Burnham was speaking at an event during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Andrew Milligan/PA)</p>
Voices

The trouble with Andy Burnham? Nobody’s listening to him

<p>Suella Braverman might be keen to avoid going down with the current cabinet at the next election </p>
Politics explained

When might a reshuffle happen and who could be sacked or promoted?

<p>Rishi Sunak unveils his ‘five key priorities for 2023’ on 4 January </p>
Voices

Don’t start a victory lap yet, Keir, you’ve got problems of your own

<p>Under attack: the bridge connecting the Russian mainland and the Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait</p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: high on our own resupply

<p>Labour leader Keir Starmer with deputy leader Angela Rayner</p>
UK Politics

Another Keir Starmer retreat from a policy that made him Labour leader

<p>Fundamentally, though, I misjudged the mood of the Tory grassroots, which wanted to be told fairytales </p>
Voices

We’re heading for a Liz Truss victory – here’s what I got wrong

<p>It is unfair to blame Sunak for the failings of May, Truss and Johnson, but that is how the party system works</p>
Voices

Is this Britain’s worst government ever? Not compared to this lot...

<p>There is a lot more going on between Starmer and Rayner than is visible to the naked eye</p>
Voices

‘Arranged marrieds’ Rayner and Starmer could face a very messy divorce

<p>Keir Starmer’s class politics is a backward step that will limit Labour’s appeal</p>
Voices

Starmer wants to break the ‘class ceiling’. Nice – but not very clever

<p>What people really mean when they say that Starmer should be bolder is that a 20-point lead in the opinion polls gives him scope to calibrate the balance between the size of his majority and the ambition of his manifesto</p>
Voices

The wrong ‘bold’ promises will only hurt Labour at the ballot box

<p>Austen’s House in Chawton is the Hampshire cottage where the author lived and wrote</p>
Errors & Omissions

Mea Culpa: Jane Austen’s undiscovered seventh novel

<p>Goldsmith, in his interview with BBC News’s ‘Hardtalk’, urged Starmer to show ‘the kind of commitment that we saw when Boris Johnson was the leader’</p>
Voices

Zac Goldsmith’s turncoat moment could usher in a Labour government

<p>What motivates him, at the age of 70, to work so hard? </p>
Voices

Inside the Tony Blair institute – an empire of money and power

<p>Rishi Sunak had a harder time with Olivia, a doctor, who accused him of refusing to negotiate</p>
Voices

Sunak is becoming a brilliant and articulate exponent of a lost cause

<p>By saying as little as possible until people lost interest, has Keir Starmer been tactically ruthless – or extremely lucky? </p>
Voices

Starmer has dodged the Brexit election bullet by simply doing nothing

<p>The problem is that, politically, the demand for an inquiry is driven by the widespread conviction that Johnson and his ministers did wrong</p>
Voices

The Covid inquiry is a colossal waste of time and money

<p>The problem is that, politically, the demand for an inquiry is driven by the widespread conviction that Johnson and his ministers did wrong</p>
Voices

The Covid inquiry is a colossal waste of time and money

<p>‘For the umpteenth time, Suella... no, we are NOT there yet’ </p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: Rishi Sunak, sailing on a raft around Belgium

<p>Thanks to Clegg, the three by-elections were a three-way tie and the media consensus is that the general election could still be competitive </p>
Voices

If it had not been for Nick Clegg, it would be over for Sunak by now

<p>Greenpeace activists climbing at the home of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak</p>
Voices

Greenpeace’s attack on Rishi’s home is a violation pure and simple

<p>The prime minister is no stranger to using RAF jets, as he did in January for a London to Leeds journey </p>
Politics explained

How hypocritical is Rishi Sunak’s use of helicopters and private jets?

<p>The spectre of Corbyn remains – but how much power does it hold? </p>
Voices

Starmer thinks he’s defeated the hard left – but the fightback is on

<p>London’s Ulez scheme expands on 29 August</p>
Politics explained

How Ulez has tested party politics over climate and pollution

<p>Blair’s dissent was deft and typically phrased</p>
Voices

‘Britain can’t stop the climate crisis’ – shocking, but Blair is right

<p>The Tories made a manifesto promise to put 20,000 extra officers on the street </p>
UK Politics

The truth about police numbers - does recruitment make up for cuts?

<p>If Rishi Sunak can scare the voters with the huge costs of Keir Starmer’s plans, he could start to claw back some of Labour’s opinion-poll lead</p>
Voices

Zealot, crank or loser? Sunak and Starmer locked in election eco-war

<p>Labour members feel a strong pull towards promising the earth</p>
Voices

Now is the time for Starmer to say no to the unions

<p>Labour has to reinforce its defences against taxing and spending</p>
Voices

Don’t misread the by-elections, the door is still open for the Tories

<p>All the signs point to bureaucratic jargon in our dolphin story </p>
Errors & Omissions

Mea Culpa: signs of an evolving language

<p>The Selby result on its own suggests that Keir Starmer could match the 10 per cent swing to Labour that Blair achieved in 1997</p>
Voices

Shades of Blair in Selby sucker-punch gives Starmer election hope

<p>Starmer lectured the prime minister on the meaning of fiscal responsibility</p>
Voices

Is Keir Starmer PM already? Rishi Sunak was asking him the questions

<p>Tony Blair and Keir Starmer at the Future of Britain Conference in London</p>
Voices

Tony Blair looks into a mirror and finds Keir Starmer seeking approval

<p>Tony Blair and Keir Starmer at the Future of Britain Conference in London</p>
Voices

Tony Blair looks into a mirror and finds Keir Starmer seeking approval

<p>Hercules was getting to grips with Cerberus long before a certain Italian poet raised literary hell </p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: What an infernal reference, 2,000 years too late

<p>You need to be able to count up to five to know that Rishi Sunak has a problem with the promises he made at the start of the year</p>
Voices

Politics is a numbers game – and Rishi’s number may be up

<p>President Biden’s rumoured temper tantrums may hinder his quest for re-election</p>
Voices

It’s ‘angry Joe’, not ‘sleepy Joe’ – don’t be fooled by Biden

<p>‘Socialism? Never heard of it’ </p>
Editor’s letters

Keir Starmer’s reluctance to use the S-word is curious

<p>Many peers feel strongly about the bill, arguing that it is both morally deficient and likely to be ineffective</p>
UK Politics

Could Lords inflict more humiliation on ministers over Migration Bill?

<p>Things may go on getting worse for Sunak for a while</p>
Voices

Rishi Sunak has done everything right – but politics is unfair

<p>Protesters block a street with rubbish in Colombes, outside Paris</p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: the hidden treasures of French rioters

<p>Keir Starmer’s Labour Party has the lead in a number of by-election polls </p>
Politics explained

How reliable are opinion polls when it comes to by-elections?

<p>Nothing that the prime minister tries is working</p>
Voices

Covid, WhatsApps and Boris: our accident-prone PM can’t catch a break

<p>It is a health service, not a religion </p>
Voices

Blair wants to radically change the NHS, but he hasn’t gone far enough

<p>Health secretary Alan Milburn delivers his speech to the annual congress of the Royal College of Nursing in 2002 </p>
Long Reads

The importance of the ‘health choices for many not the few’ message

<p>Javid says a royal commission into the health service is needed to ‘make sure the NHS is here in another 75 years’</p>
Voices

Sajid Javid is right about what the NHS needs – a Labour government

<p>One for the road... Alex Turner has sex apeel at Glastonbury with the Arctic Monkeys </p>
Voices

Mea Culpa: appealing music at Glastonbury

<p>Winter is coming, and Brexit bigwig David Frost is being tipped as an outside bet for Tory leader </p>
Voices

If Sunak falls, beware the rise of Tory Corbynism

<p>The prime minister’s five promises are looking more fragile than ever </p>
Voices

Defeat over the Rwanda policy is a disaster for Rishi Sunak

<p>Rishi Sunak’s battery seems to be running down. He replied to Starmer’s questions with a weary condescension, complaining that the Labour leader hasn’t taken the time to understand the detail</p>
Voices

‘He’s given up’: Starmer lands wounding smack on slack Sunak

<p>Winter is coming, and Brexit bigwig David Frost is being tipped as an outside bet for Tory leader </p>
Voices

If Sunak falls, beware the rise of Tory Corbynism

<p>The prime minister’s five promises are looking more fragile than ever </p>
Voices

Defeat over the Rwanda policy is a disaster for Rishi Sunak

<p>Rishi Sunak’s battery seems to be running down. He replied to Starmer’s questions with a weary condescension, complaining that the Labour leader hasn’t taken the time to understand the detail</p>
Voices

‘He’s given up’: Starmer lands wounding smack on slack Sunak

UK Politics

Matt Hancock seeks to humiliate himself in public again

<p>The job is not quite finished yet </p>
Voices

Careful Keir, when it comes to blowing big leads, Labour has form

<p>Hard questions are being asked of Starmer </p>
Voices

Crisis in Russia forces Keir Starmer to focus on the reality of power

<p>The economic and electoral cycles have aligned in Labour’s favour </p>
Voices

Until this week, Rishi Sunak needed luck. Now he needs a miracle

<p>Rishi Sunk visits an Ikea distribution centre in Kent on Thursday as interest rates jump 0.5 per cent </p>
UK Politics

Who is really in charge of inflation – Sunak, or the Bank of England?

<p>Keir Starmer said Sunak had a keen interest in the mortgage market in California, and that he was too removed in his helicopter from the lived experience of those on the ground</p>
Voices

Whisper it, but Labour don’t have a plan to fix this Tory mess either

<p>The five promises that Rishi Sunak made at the start of the year, confident that at least four of them would be delivered, are looking more and more like a trap that the prime minister has made for himself</p>
Voices

Boris’s clown show is over – Sunak’s election tightrope act teeters on

<p>If Johnson stood as an independent, he would blow up the chances of the Tory candidate</p>
Voices

Boris isn’t coming back to politics as London mayor or anything else

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