Martin Ivens

As it was once said of the volatile Irish economy, the state of the British royal family is catastrophic but not serious. The institution has survived the wildest antics and personal shortcomings of its members — messy divorces, internecine quarrels, sexual and financial scandals. Yet the queen has…

Last week, an investigation by Amnesty International and several media outlets alleged that 37 heads of state, reporters, human rights activists and businessmen had been hacked with spyware developed by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group. The names came from a leaked list of 50,000 mobile…

Theaters went dark in London’s West End last year, while galleries closed and concert halls stood silent. But there was one creative industry that flourished during lockdown: the reading and publishing of books. Many in the industry, as well as parents and educators, are now hoping the habit…

Trust the British to turn a tale of political sleaze into a story about class and the price of expensive furnishings. But the recent shenanigans in the ruling Conservative Party reveal a lot about the ruling elite in British politics: As in the US, it now routinely aspires to the wealth, luxury and…

“I doubt whether I’ve achieved anything likely to be remembered,” the Duke of Edinburgh once observed to a BBC interviewer. But the British monarchy has survived exactly because Queen Elizabeth II and her deceased consort steered clear of flashy commitments and grand ambitions. The Ronald Reagan…

A blustering prime minister and a rule-breaking UK government present few problems for the European Commission. It has long experience of dealing with troublemakers on the fringes of Europe. A sweetly reasonable Boris Johnson, however, is a more formidable opponent. He should try making nice more…

Cometh the hour, cometh the hero as everyman. Few politicians have emerged from the Covid crisis with their reputations enhanced — unless you count Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand — but the death of Captain Sir Tom Moore, the 100-year-old Yorkshireman who raised millions of pounds for health…

The British and the French form “un couple infernal.” The two nations coexist in close geographical proximity and are bound together by a long history of affection and aversion. The aversion part is more widely noticed than the mutual respect. A 1980s TV sketch, featuring the comic Rowan Atkinson,…

In “The Godfather,” the book that inspired a generation of corporate boardroom warriors, Michael Corleone dismisses his trusted friend Tom Hagen as an adviser to his mafia family. “Mike, why am I out?” the mystified Hagen asks. “You’re not a wartime consigliere,” Corleone responds. UK Prime…