The Mirror Crack'd

The Spanish royal family may be Bourbons but their reception on a visit to Paiporta today certainly took the biscuit. Four days after the catastrophic DANA (Depresión Aislada en Niveles Altos) flooding in Valencia, Southern Spain, King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, received a less than warm welcome when they arrived to inspect the clean-up operation and console residents - in fact they were pelted with mud by angry crowds and cries of "murderer" were directed at the king. At one point the queen was reduced to tears, while elsewhere in town Sánchez was bundled into his car which was kicked and hit by protesters as it sped off. The crowd's animosity had been provoked by the regional government's failure to warn of the impending deluge, or swing into action with a rescue operation when it hit. Support from the state had also been slow to arrive and was inadequate when it did, leaving an army of volunteers to start the clean-up operation. There

After an agonisingly protracted leadership campaign the Conservative Party at last finds itself with a new leader - or should I say another new leader. Yes, after months of campaigning amongst Tory MPs to whittle six candidates down to two the party membership has made the final selection, with the 130,000-odd card-carrying faithful choosing Kemi Badenoch. The outcome, though by a narrow margin, will have surprised few but here's the thing, only one third of Tory MPs (around forty in their post-election slimline ranks in the Commons) supported her candidacy. Unsurprisingly, she was at pains in her acceptance speech this morning to promise a prominent role for her defeated rival, Robert Jenrick. Whether this will be enough to secure her position is anyone's guess - this is the Tories we're talking about after all - and judging by Jenrick's wife's facial reactions it could be a bumpy ride. Jenrick was all smiles but behind him Michal Berkner's eye-rolling and tok

After spiralling down the 'nothing works' doomloop for the past fourteen years it's easy to imagine, when suddenly something does, that it must be a fluke. As a Labour voter (albeit often a reluctant one) I'd like to believe that the government I voted for really is swinging into action to fix broken Britain. Maybe it is - although Labour has been criticised for making a slow start - but, after only four months in power, can it really be the case that things are turning round already?   Maybe recent positive signs indicating this are merely coincidental? Only time will tell but here's something I've experienced in just the past fortnight or so that seems to offer a glimmer of hope. Like millions of other Brits since the Pandemic I've been frustrated by the sheer dogged persistence required to get a face-to-face appointment with a GP. The '8am scramble' has been an irritant for so long that it was almost a shock to receive a text out of the blue recen

The general election in Georgia on Saturday returned the Georgian Dream (GD) party to power for its fourth successive term. A tad suspicious maybe? Well,  Georgia’s pro-EU president, Salome Zourabichvili, certainly smelled a rat, declaring that she did not recognise the results, asserting that the country had fallen victim to a “Russian special operation”. She went further,  calling on Georgians to protest against the results this evening. “This was a total rigging, a total robbery of your votes” she added, for the removal of any doubt as to her true feelings on the subject. Since gaining its independence from Russia in 1991, following the collapse of the Soviet Empire, Georgia has never managed to fully break free of the Russian sphere of influence, especially under the leadership of Vladimir Putin. Despite recent attempts to persuade Georgians to opt for joining the EU, including massive protests against GD's Russophile stance, the election appears to have vindicated GD. But, as

As the 1000th day of war in Ukraine approaches, their Lordships' House debated the issues, including the role of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and a recalibration of international power dynamics. In an excellent, wide-ranging, well-informed debate, some thirty-plus peers rose to speak. A lot of attention, inevitably, was focused on the aggressor, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. However, Lord Campbell-Savours (Lab) warned that the West should never underestimate Russia's fear of an external threat posed by NATO's proximity to its borders. Whether this is a fear genuinely shared by Putin or cynically exploited by him in order to keep his people complaisant remains unclear. Lord Craig of Radley, a Crossbench (ie independent) peer, also spoke about the perception of a threat from NATO by Russia. He likened this to a secret "Article 5A" of the North Atlantic Treaty. Article 5 famously reads 'an attack on one is an attack on all' but Russi

As Joe Biden arrived in Germany for a valedictory visit, King Charles III touched down in Australia - what's going on? Australia's Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, an avowed republican, is doubtless hoping Charles' arrival in Sydney for his first visit as Monarch will also be his last in that capacity. Given the care that has been taken to limit Charles' itinerary and allow him plenty of opportunity to rest up while undergoing cancer treatment, this visit, at age 75, may well be his final one. Charles and Camilla are not getting any younger and an almost 24-hour flight via Singapore, albeit in luxurious conditions, would be taxing at any age. Removing Charles, his heirs and successors as Australia's Head of State could take some time yet, however. Old habits die hard but this trip could prove decisive in settling the matter once and for all. The stakes are very high for both parties. For 81 year-old Biden, his trip to Berlin is all about legacy. The ostensible reas