Robert Hutton

1 week 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.

1 week 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.

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

Nigel Farage was triumphant. Exultant. He had occupied Lincolnshire, crashed his tanks through Staffordshire, seized the beaches and landing grounds of Kent. As we woke, the Labour party surrendered in Runcorn, losing the seat by just six votes. But as the day went on, the gain of another MP looked trivial next to the council wipeouts: Reform wasn’t just taking seats here and there but control of entire councils.

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

Here comes the Starmer with his pun Victoria Starmer gazed down on her husband from the gallery, her face carefully immobile. It would stay that way throughout Prime Minister’s Questions defying the hopes of those of us watching for a reaction. She had brought her father along to watch the show. If he was hoping for a fun day out, we’ll have to hope she also got him tickets for a West End show.

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

The world of the easily outraged has been tickled by the release of Northern Ireland ’74, a computer strategy game that allows players to take the role of a British commander trying to steer the province to peace. But that’s only the first of a wave of video games coming to consoles this year as developers take inspiration from the never-ending funstorm that is global politics. The Critic’s crack team of gaming writers take you through the cream of the crop.