Robert Hutton

London

Critic and Film Columnist at The Critic Magazine (UK)

Political sketches and film columnist for @TheCriticMag, co-host of classic cinema love-in @WarMovieTheatre. New spy book "The Illusionist" out now!

Featured in: Favicon

thecritic.co.uk Favicon

uol.com.br (+1) Favicon

globo.com

theguardian.com Favicon

bloomberg.com Favicon

dailymail.co.uk Favicon

indiatimes.com Favicon

washingtonpost.com Favicon

time.com

yahoo.com (+3) + 98 more

Articles

Bore Bore | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

5 days ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

In 1966 Labour won a by-election in Hull by sending Barbara Castle there to promise to build the Humber Bridge. It tells you a lot about the modern Labour party that its 2025 version of this is to send Keir Starmer to promise World War 3. He was visiting a shipyard in Glasgow, and announcing that while we still can’t have nice things, there’s a chance we might be able to fight Russia.
A message from Team Bobby

5 days ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

This article is taken from the June 2025 issue of The Critic. To get the full magazine why not subscribe? Right now we’re offering five issues for just £25. From: Ben.Nunn@HMTOK, so a lot of people are asking, but it’s simple: the Budget is where we tell everyone we’re putting up their taxes. The Spring Statement is where we take away their benefits. And the Spending Review is where we shut their local library. From: [email protected] would Kemi be worried?
Over her head | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

2 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

Just as Prime Minister’s Questions was coming to a close on Wednesday, the Conservative Party issued a blunt statement, accusing Keir Starmer of committing a “screeching U-turn” over winter fuel payments for pensioners. It was a fair point, and one could only think that in a better organised world, a Tory might have made it to the prime minister’s face. Take, just for example, Kemi Badenoch. She was sitting there. She had six questions.
Brexit: Endgame | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

2 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

The Earth’s Dreariest Heroes might have run out of sequels Is it finally over? Brexit has been the blockbuster draw in Parliament for so long that many of us struggled to imagine a moment when rows about beastly foreigners wouldn’t do huge box office numbers.
Victory!/Defeat! | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

2 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

“Ladies and gentlemen, Britain is back on the world stage!” Keir Starmer doesn’t really do triumphalism, but this was pretty close. He was standing on a platform with not one but two European Union leaders, announcing [a new closer relationship/the betrayal of everything we fought two world wars to secure]. This was it. After close to a decade of [daft rows/stalwart defences of the very things we all hold dear], a prime minister had sat down to [talk sensibly/surrender our daughters].
Thinking inside the box

3 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

“This process is flawed!” Labour’s Naz Shah told the House of Commons. “This is not how we make legislation.” She was wearing a long cream jacket that resembled a trench coat, leaving the impression that she had just dashed in off the street to warn MPs they were making a terrible mistake. The chamber was full, and it was a Friday, which meant the subject was Death. Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was back for more scrutiny.
The odd couple | Robert Hutton | The Critic Magazine

3 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

Labour and Reform seem to be locked in an uneasy embrace Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch both entered the House of Commons to greetings that can only be called “lacklustre”. The chamber felt dead. It was far from empty, but also not really packed. It was a hot day, but the problem may well be the sense, in both Labour and the Conservatives, that they’re not really sure about their leaders.
…but it might work for us

3 weeks ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

“Take back control!” Keir Starmer declared, co-opting Dominic Cummings’ most famous slogan. What a time to be alive. Press had been summoned to Downing Street early on a Monday morning to be told that Labour has had enough of foreigners. And who can blame the prime minister? If you had to deal with both Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron on a daily basis, you’d probably take a pretty dim view of Abroad too.
Starmer’s nightmare

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

The prime minister is being haunted by a smug Nigel Farage It was the Prime Minister’s Questions after the elections before. Nigel Farage looked smug, seated alongside his new MP, after a stunning victory that takes Reform to five seats in the House of Commons, up from five at the general election. Keir Starmer looked embattled. He can’t have thought the job would be easy. He’s no David Cameron or Boris Johnson, swanning into Downing Street with an assurance of belonging there.
VE’ll meet again

1 month ago | thecritic.co.uk | Robert Hutton

The government’s exciting plans for patriotic displays of Britishness The whole nation is going VE-Day crazy, as we celebrate the fifth anniversary of that time we sat in our front gardens wondering whether the neighbours’ scones would give us Covid. It is also the 30th anniversary of John Major trying to make spam fritters happen, and, of course, the 80th anniversary of Steve McQueen jumping his motorbike over the wire and into Berlin.