Why railway ticket offices are here to stay
Ross Clark for The Spectator
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The Times view on the Covid inquiry: Best Disinfectant
The Times editorial board
"Monday’s hearing of the Covid-19 inquiry cannot have been easy viewing for Boris Johnson," says The Times leader as the former PM has a "keen sense of history and his place in it". Unfortunately for Johnson, the evidence produced so far in the official investigation "suggests that a favourable write-up in future histories" of his performance during the pandemic "appears increasingly remote".
Labour calling for a ceasefire would achieve nothing. So why should it tear itself apart over this?
Polly Toynbee for The Guardian
For Keir Starmer, calling for a "ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war "would have been his easier option", says Polly Toynbee in The Guardian. But as someone who expects to be prime minister next year, "breaking ranks with all Britain's allies would be frivolous for the brief gain of posturing for something unachievable". Indeed, Toynbee says, "most Britons want the UK to take a mediator's neutrality" over the conflict.
The one where Chandler Bing's impenetrable job defined a generation
Emma Jacobs for the Financial Times
"The aspirations and frustrations of the white-collar worker have been depicted by great fictional characters in novels and on the screen," says Emma Jacobs in The Financial Times. But to that "pantheon of office drones must surely be added Friends’ sardonic Chandler Bing". Compared to the other characters, Chandler's office-worker profession "seemed void of purpose", yet he approached it with a "stoicism" that "more broadly reflects Gen X's tacit acceptance of their lot".
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Can the UK take any more rain?Today’s Big Question An Atlantic jet stream is ‘stuck’ over British skies, leading to ‘biblical’ downpours and more than 40 consecutive days of rain in some areas
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The UK expands its Hong Kong visa schemeThe Explainer Around 26,000 additional arrivals expected in the UK as government widens eligibility in response to crackdown on rights in former colony
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One great cookbook: Joshua McFadden’s ‘Six Seasons of Pasta’the week recommends The pasta you know and love. But ever so much better.
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‘Hong Kong is stable because it has been muzzled’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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‘Bad Bunny’s music feels inclusive and exclusive at the same time’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Who is Keir Starmer without Morgan McSweeney?Today’s Big Question Now he has lost his ‘punch bag’ for Labour’s recent failings, the prime minister is in ‘full-blown survival mode’
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Why the Gorton and Denton by-election is a ‘Frankenstein’s monster’Talking Point Reform and the Greens have the Labour seat in their sights, but the constituency’s complex demographics make messaging tricky
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‘The West needs people’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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‘The censorious effect is the same, even if deployed covertly’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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‘Various international actors hope to influence the result for their own benefit’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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The Mandelson files: Labour Svengali’s parting gift to StarmerThe Explainer Texts and emails about Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador could fuel biggest political scandal ‘for a generation’
