Hugh Muir

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Hugh Muir

I have seen the future. It was one morning last week – at the Co-op. Shelves that once groaned now had nothing much on them. Sad signs where the baked beans and tinned tuna once lived reduced to a study in impotence. Following a cyber-attack more than two weeks ago that decimated its supply systems, the supermarket has struggled to recover. We would like to sell you stuff, but our cupboard is empty, the shelves say, as yours must now be.

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Hugh Muir

Well, isn’t this a plot turn? You switched on for the latest cinematic episode of Prince Harry fights the fight – not against the Mirror this time, not against Murdoch either, but against those who have stripped him of his security protection – and then the script goes to places that no one expected. He loses his legal challenge in the court of appeal over the degree of security he is entitled to on the public purse while in the UK – that was pretty much expected.

Jan 9, 2025 | msn.com | Hugh Muir

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Dec 30, 2024 | theguardian.com | Hugh Muir

Let’s start with an impression. Move towards the window, shake your fist and yell “Aaaaargh”. Then “Waaaaaaaah!” Now scream “Grrrrrrrrrrrr … I don’t believe it”. Well done, that’s the cry of the rightwing Tory/Reformite bird today, reacting to the news that London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, has received a knighthood. We all do it a bit. There never was an honours list to delight everyone.

Nov 3, 2024 | theguardian.com | Hugh Muir

​Benjamin Zephaniah did it. So did ​Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. Howard Gayle, the pioneering black footballer, did it without a second thought.​Britain, keen to highlight their achievements as outstanding citizens who have made a notable contribution to how we live, dangled the recognition of a​ state-backed honour in front of each of them. And each, ultimately unable to reconcile the link between those honours and the misty-eyed evocation ​in the title of Britain’s brutal empire, said “no thanks”.