The Standard Comment

OPINION - An economy making unhappy noises, major own goals... Rachel Reeves needs a vibe shift

Jonathan Prynn — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 18:02:13 GMT

A former Health Secretary once told me, with an understandable degree of despair, about the frustrations of being in ultimate charge of the NHS. He had all the policy levers at his disposal in his office, but however many he pushed, or pulled, nothing he did seemed to make any difference to anything going on at hospital or GP surgery level.

Call for urgent NHS reform to stop patients ‘dying in corridors’ ...The Standard podcast

Mark Blunden and Rachelle Abbott — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:08:02 GMT

Blue Origin launch: Jeff Bezos rivals Elon Musk in the billionaire space race ...Tech and Science Daily podcast

Rachelle Abbott and Mark Blunden — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:46:57 GMT

OPINION - Hostages, urgent aid convoys, what happens next and how it could all go wrong: inside the Gaza ceasefire deal

Robert Fox — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 16:07:25 GMT

Less than 24 hours after the announcement of the breakthrough ceasefire in the 15 month war in Gaza, the first major hitch. Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he wasn’t calling a cabinet meeting to endorse the deal because Hamas was going back on key aspects of the deal.

OPINION - From Greenland to Gaza, Donald Trump’s bullying pressure campaign is working

Sarah Baxter — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 11:43:41 GMT

Make America Great Again (MAGA) was Ronald Reagan’s slogan before it was made “great” again by Donald Trump. The US president-elect now wants to take a leaf out of Harry Truman’s book. In 1947, the postwar Democrat gave his name to the Truman doctrine – a commitment to supporting democracies around the world, which wasn’t always as idealistic as it sounded.

OPINION - Unshackle London and the capital will drag Britain out of stagflation

Chris Blackhurst — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 07:38:45 GMT

We may not be in recession...yet but the markets have made up their own minds about prospects for the UK