Britain was considered an “easy touch” by people traffickers and the facilitators of illegal immigration in 2002, according to classified government files which have just been released. In January 2002 the then home secretary, David Blunkett, wrote to Prime Minister Tony Blair about discussions with the French government about the closure of the Sangatte refugee…

A ring of steel surrounds Northern Ireland’s capital city as the province prepares for U.S. President Joe Biden’s first ever official visit. Parts of Belfast city centre are in complete lockdown as police carry out a huge security operation in the midst of an ongoing severe dissident republican terror threat. Roads have been closed and…

British, Irish, and American political leaders of the past and present have paid tribute to David Trimble, a key figure in the peace process in Northern Ireland, who died on July 25 at the age of 77 following a short illness. The former first minister of Northern Ireland and former leader of the Ulster Unionist…

The biggest geopolitical change is coming from China rather than Russia, as the Chinese regime seeks to compete against the Western political system and way of life, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has warned. Delivering the annual lecture of the Ditchley Foundation, which primarily focuses on British–American relations, on July 16, Blair issued a…

The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has recommended that the government takes advantage of new technologies to introduce a digital identity-verification system in a new report on fixing the asylum system in the UK. The proposal follows that 4,540 people from January to March 2022 were recorded arriving in small boats reaching the UK…

News that former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been granted a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth sparked intense controversy in the British society, with over half a million people signing a petition calling for the honour to be rescinded. Blair was made a Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, the oldest…

The Metropolitan Police is considering whether or not it will investigate the allegation that the Conservative Party gave its past treasurers peerage for donations, it is confirmed. A Met spokesman confirmed the receipt of the complaint on Tuesday after several members of Parliament said they were writing to the Met regarding the allegations on Monday….

When the son of a prominent politician makes a fortune, our thoughts naturally turn to influence-peddling. But Euan Blair, the son of the former British Prime Minister of the same surname, has done very well out of a start-up called Multiverse that directly opposes the educational policy promoted by his father when he was in…

Keir Starmer has urged the Labour party to stop “squabbling over its own past,” saying “harmful and alienating” ideological contestation has made the party feel like “separate families living under one roof.” In an essay published ahead of Labour’s annual party conference in Brighton, Starmer called for unity and urged party factions to stop focusing…

The vital work of the security services to protect against terrorism should not be overlooked, a former MI6 chief has said, as the world marks the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. Sir Richard Dearlove, who headed the secret intelligence service between 1999 and 2004, told a memorial event in London…