Keyword – Business
Trefwoorden – Automotive industry, Business, Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars, Ethical and green living, Environment, UK news, European Union, Europe, China, World news
Title – EV prices in UK and EU not likely to dive due to Chinese rivalry, says Xpeng boss | Automotive industry | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jasper-jolly
Link – EV prices in UK and EU not likely to dive due to Chinese rivalry, says Xpeng boss | Automotive industry | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T05:00:45.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/16/ev-prices-uk-eu-chinese-car-firm-xpeng

Motorists in the UK and EU should not expect a sharp drop in the cost of electric vehicles despite increased competition among Chinese manufacturers, one of the country’s biggest electric carmakers has said.

Brian Gu, the vice-chair of the manufacturer Xpeng, said that Chinese carmakers could compete on quality to win customers in the EU and UK, rather than unleashing a brutal price war as they have in China .

Chinese carmakers have rapidly risen to dominate the global EV industry , helped by massive government subsidies and lower labour costs than the US, Europe, Japan and Korea.

The huge number of competitors in China – 129 last year according to the consultancy AlixPartners – prompted carmakers to slash prices in their home market. China’s president, Xi Jinping, intervened last year to tell provincial governments to rein back subsidies in an effort to stem the harm. Faced with such pressure at home, the better-funded Chinese manufacturers, including Xpeng, have turned to Europe to try to make profits.

Xpeng, named after its founder, He Xiaopeng, is still loss-making as it spends heavily on research and on expanding sales of its vehicles in Europe, starting with the £39,990 electric G6. It only sold 7,300 cars in Europe in the first three months of 2026, according to the analyst Matthias Schmidt. However, it is hoping to pick up the pace, and compete against other Chinese companies such as the world’s biggest seller of electric cars, BYD , Chery (owner of the Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda brands ), Changan, Geely and the MG owner SAIC.

Asked about the possibility of a price war in Europe to match that of China, Gu said: “I don’t see it coming.”

Speaking at an event in London earlier this month, he said that, while some Chinese rivals are “pouring a lot of products” into the UK and Europe, there would not be a race to push down prices. By contrast, Chinese brands in south-east Asia or emerging markets had focused on “just being cheaper”.

“I think the customer in Europe, especially customers in the developed markets, I think the focus is on quality and differentiation more than cost,” he said.

Xpeng has drawn comparisons to Elon Musk’s US electric carmaker, Tesla, because of similar minimalist designs and its ambitions to sell humanoid robots. The Chinese company is also developing flying taxis.

For its cars, Xpeng is aiming to differentiate itself with more hi-tech features in its cars, notably on autonomous driving capabilities. The company’s driver assistance features are already widely available, and it is planning to start rolling out robotaxis in its home city of Guangzhou. It could roll out more driverless technology to Europe in the first half of next year if the EU adopts new UN standards.

Gu, a former JP Morgan banker who oversaw Xpeng’s 2020 listing on the New York Stock Exchange, said Xpeng would be able to catch up rapidly with companies such as Google’s sister company Waymo, the Chinese tech company Baidu and the British startup Wayve . “We can accelerate much faster than some of the robotaxi companies,” he said, because the company is unusual in developing cars, computer chips and driverless software at the same time.

The company is also evaluating options to build more cars in Europe. It currently has a deal with Magna, an Austrian contract manufacturer, to produce its cars, but it said struggling European carmakers with too much factory space were “coming to us with various projects” to sell plants.

Xpeng had previously revealed that Volkswagen – which partnered with the Chinese company in 2023 – had offered a German plant for sale, but another executive last month said it was “a little bit, I would say, old” .

Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – Trump administration, National parks, Endangered species, Endangered habitats, Wildlife, Conservation, Environment, US politics, US news
Title – Critics say Trump’s opening of public lands to off-road vehicles is ‘reckless and nonsensical’ | Trump administration | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/tom-perkins
Link – Critics say Trump’s opening of public lands to off-road vehicles is ‘reckless and nonsensical’ | Trump administration | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T13:00:26.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/15/trump-public-lands-wildlife-off-roading

The Trump administration is executing a controversial plan to allow dirt bikes, ATVs, trucks, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles to drive through tens of millions of acres of public lands and national parks, which environmental groups warn threatens endangered species and the environment.

The plan’s opponents say the impacts will be wide-ranging and that the vehicles will likely destroy sensitive habitats, harm waterways, drive large predators like grizzly bears into contact with humans, and otherwise damage pristine public lands and parks.

The Nixon administration more than 50 years ago issued an executive order that limited off-road vehicles’ access with the aim of protecting wildlife and preventing disputes on federal land. The Carter administration issued a second order providing similar environmental protections.

Since then, the popularity of off-road sports has exploded, and the vehicles are far more powerful than they once were, which advocates say makes the restrictions even more necessary today.

Donald Trump rescinded the Nixon-Carter executive orders and directed agency leaders to draft new rules to open lands to off-road vehicles.

Opponents warn that desert tortoises, western snowy plovers, lynxes, grizzly bears and sage-grouse are especially at risk from increased off-road vehicle activity. Trump’s move is “reckless and nonsensical”, said Vera Smith, director of national forests and public lands for Defenders of Wildlife .

“This rescission is yet another loss for wildlife and natural places,” Smith added.

The move is part of a broader Trump effort to open public lands to industry and other uses that threaten endangered wildlife and sensitive ecosystems. The administration has attempted to gut the Endangered Species Act, opened public lands to grazing, expanded logging access on public lands, opened protected waters to fishing, boosted oil exploration in protected waters and attacked other rules that limit the exploitation of natural resources.

“What’s so frustrating here is that the Trump administration is taking a very systematic approach to dismantling protections for public lands,” said Randi Spivak, director of public lands for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Public lands are already so stilted to extraction that we need more protections.”

In a fact sheet posted with the orders, Trump labeled the off-road vehicle limits “outdated and burdensome”.

“President Trump believes the American people should be able to access and enjoy their public lands without being burdened by unnecessary and outdated regulations,” the fact sheet states.

The Nixon-Carter executive orders required off-road vehicles to use roads or trails that the federal agencies established to minimize ecological harm. The Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service already have more than 500,000 miles (800,000km) of roads available for use between public lands and parks. The National Park Service also allows limited snowmobile use in Yellowstone national park.

However, the Nixon-Carter restrictions prevented the vehicles from going everywhere in a park, which they will now be able to do.

That is a problem because the vehicles’ routes carve up wildlife habitat, fragmenting it into smaller and less functional tracts that are not suitable for many animals. The damage further stresses species that are already endangered or threatened, and the habitat loss can lead to species loss.

The roads and snowmobiles also present a problem for grizzly bears and other predators. Research shows bears begin to leave habitat regions when there is at least one mile of road per square mile. The new rules will force them into closer contact with humans. State and federal agents kill hundreds of thousands of predators annually because they come into contact with humans, a practice that some advocates have previously characterized as a “bloodbath” .

“This will end badly for the bears,” Spivak said.

Aquatic life also does not do well near off-road vehicle tracks because vehicles damage the plant life around streams’ edges that keep the water cool and habitable, or send sediment into the streams.

“Even when the first executive orders were put in place, the science was clear that there needed to be regulations, and there were way fewer … and they were smaller,” Spivak said. “They’re needed even more today.”

Spivak said environmental groups cannot sue over the rescission of the executive orders, but they will watch the new rule-making process closely and take action if needed.

Already, the US Forest Service is preparing to open 5m acres (2m hectares) of parkland to vehicles, mostly in Idaho and Montana, according to the New York Times .

“As the United States marks 250 years of independence in 2026, we must shine a light on our nation’s greatest natural treasures and ensure every American can recreate on these majestic lands,” a Forest service spokesperson said in a memo announcing the opening.

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Well actually, Life and style, Social media, Internet
Title – A day in the life of a dancer who went viral for pretending to be a parakeet | Well actually | The Guardian
Author – Jaya Saxena
Link – A day in the life of a dancer who went viral for pretending to be a parakeet | Well actually | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T16:00:47.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/global/2026/jun/14/smac-mccreanor-parakeet-dancer

H ave you seen the video of Smac McCreanor pretending to be a parakeet ? Dressed in green, she gracefully slides and sidesteps, occasionally lifting her arms – or wings? – mimicking the movements of a bird who went viral for his dance moves .

McCreanor, 33, translates the internet’s obsessions through her body, whether a green bird, emoji or objects being destroyed by a hydraulic press . A multi-genre dancer with 1 million Instagram followers , she has performed on So You Think You Can Dance and choreographed for the online video game Fortnite.

McCreanor told us what a day in her life is like – including being woken up by bunnies.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

What time did you wake up today?

I have two bunnies and they’re free roam, so they jump up and lick my face at 7am every day. While I’m giving them breakfast, I check my emails. If nothing important is happening, I go straight back to bed.

What did you do for breakfast?

I’m not really a big breakfast person. I just snack throughout the day. If I have good groceries, I hang out in the kitchen and shove it all down. Today, I had some toast and fruit. I like English breakfast tea because I’m Australian – I have it with milk and sugar.

What did work look like today?

It’s hard to have any type of structure because I work for myself, and I do so many different little things. Today, I have a meeting to choreograph for Fortnite . Then I have a rehearsal – I’m creative directing a one-person act in Absinthe by Spiegelworld, a circus performance in Vegas. I give opinions on lighting, costuming, music.

I’m usually on my phone a lot. Everything I do is on my phone. All my filming, editing, posting, emails, everything. Any downtime, I’m usually repurposing and editing footage.

What are your plans after work? Do you socialize, or have any hobbies?

I’m getting married in a month, so I have a dress fitting, but my dress is pretty simple! I’m not one for anything flashy or overly feminine and detailed, but I love a classic cut and soft silhouette! I also love doing stuff around the house. My partner works from home as well, so we love interior design. I’m usually crafting, and we always have the TV on some sitcom.

I’m also posting to social media – or responding, interacting, scrolling. I know people try not to do it too much, but I freaking love it. That’s full inspiration for me. It’s how I keep up to date.

What are your dinner plans? Do you like cooking or do you prefer going out?

Tonight we’ll have a barbecue at home of steak and rice and veggies. I do like cooking at home, because I make dinner at 9pm – we’re kind of night owls – and then I eat that until 3 am because I eat small portions every hour.

Anything you’re particularly excited about for today?

The way I create content is completely spontaneous. It happens or it doesn’t. Everything that I’ve ever posted is just like, hey, this is an idea, and then I film and upload it immediately. Maybe tonight I’ll just randomly film a video and upload it at 3am.

What time are you going to go to sleep tonight?

Bunnies are floor animals, so we have a lot of very comfortable areas in our house. (They are fully litter trained, so thankfully no poops around the house!) We’ve got a big beanbag, the couch or a rug. I nap throughout the day. Typically, 2.30am is when my body starts winding down, and I’m probably in bed by 4 at the latest. And then up at 7 with the bunnies.

Jaya Saxena is a co-founder of Ravenous, a worker-owned food and culture site. She lives in Queens, New York.

Keyword – Life and style
Trefwoorden – Health & wellbeing, Science, Hygiene, Life and style
Title – Is it true that … you have five seconds’ grace after dropping food on the floor? | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/kate-lloyd
Link – Is it true that … you have five seconds’ grace after dropping food on the floor? | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T07:00:05.000Z
Category – Lifestyle
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2026/jun/15/is-it-true-that-you-have-five-seconds-grace-after-you-drop-food-on-the-floor

Y ou drop a piece of cucumber on the floor. Do you immediately throw it in the bin or reassure yourself of the age-old “five-second rule” and reckon it’s fine to pop it in your mouth after a quick rinse?

If you fall into the latter camp, John Tregoning, professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London, has some bad news. He refers to three studies into bacteria transfer that all point towards the rule being false.

In the first, scientists looked at what happens when a range of foods (bread, buttered bread, watermelon and gummy bears) were dropped on a range of surfaces (tile, steel, wood, and carpet) that had been coated with bacteria. “They transferred almost immediately,” he says, adding that the worst combination for transfer happened when wet food hit a solid surface (watermelon on tile or steel).

Another study – where cooked sausage was dropped on to surfaces – showed that bacteria transferred on to the meat even if they had been applied to the surface hours earlier. It showed that “if you put a piece of contaminated chicken on to a work surface and then, two hours later, drop your piece of bread on to it, you can still pick up bacteria from it. It’ll be there for about 24 hours,” he says.

The final paper looked at the “five-second rule” for medical objects in the operating room. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it found that if surgeons drop something on the floor, they need to wash that instrument with detergent for it to be safe to use again.

What does all this mean for your fallen cucumber? “I think you have to accept it’s gone,” says Tregoning. Rinsing it with water won’t be enough to guarantee it’s clean. That’s especially the case if you’re particularly susceptible to infections, or if your dog might have walked something terrible through the house (even hours earlier).

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, World Cup, New Zealand, Iran, Football, Sport, Australia sport
Title – World Cup 2026: Iran and New Zealand fight out pulsating draw – in pictures | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guardian-sport
Link – World Cup 2026: Iran and New Zealand fight out pulsating draw – in pictures | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T04:39:36.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2026/jun/16/world-cup-2026-iran-new-zealand-in-pictures

Keyword – US news
Trefwoorden – Donald Trump, UFC, US news, Trump administration, US politics, Sport
Title – Trump facing pressure to condemn UFC fighter for disparaging Michelle Obama | Donald Trump | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davidsmith
Link – Trump facing pressure to condemn UFC fighter for disparaging Michelle Obama | Donald Trump | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T10:00:05.000Z
Category – News
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/16/trump-pressure-ufc-fighter-michelle-obama

Donald Trump is facing growing pressure to condemn an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) competitor who used a White House appearance to push a sexist, racist and transphobic conspiracy theory about former first lady Michelle Obama.

At a UFC event on the south lawn on Sunday, the US president’s 80th birthday, Josh Hokit, a fighter, shouted into the microphone in front of Trump: “Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?”

Trump appeared to show a half-smile seconds after Hokit’s slur, CNN reported , while some in the audience burst into a laughter. The false claim can be traced to far-right echo chambers online. The president himself has a history of making offensive remarks.

Hokit’s outburst was widely denounced at the event, which critics had already derided as a tacky and vulgar debasement of the White House, ahead of the 250th anniversary of independence. Donna Brazile, a former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee, said: “Michelle Obama’s legacy speaks for itself. Shame on the vile comments from that UFC fighter.”

Sunny Hostin, a lawyer, journalist and co-host of The View on the ABC network, addressed the controversy on Monday’s show. “For a long time – and the roots are in slavery – Black women have been slurred and made to feel that they were unattractive, made to feel that they were masculine, made to feel that they didn’t have the femininity that a white woman would have,” she said.

“There is this intersectionality between racism and sexism that was on full display at the White House. The crowd laughed at the statement and the president of the United States smirked and never addressed what was said. That is beneath the dignity of the office of the president of the United States, and it’s beneath the dignity of the American people.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment but even Trump allies called for the president to break his silence on the issue.

Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, who endorsed and voted for Trump in the 2024 presidential election, said on Wake Up Barstool on Fox Sports 1 : “There was one moment I do think Trump has to denounce, and anybody associated with it has to denounce. And that’s that crazy fighter guy … he won the fight, he took the microphone, and he made a derogatory comment about Michelle Obama.”

Portnoy added: “When you have that on the White House lawn on an event you put on, I don’t care what you think about the Obamas or anything, that has to be an immediate denounce. I have no problem with the event. I guess you run that risk because these guys are lunatics. But that was the only thing. Trump should denounce it.”

Dana White, the UFC impresario, told Time magazine in a text message: “I understand that the Obamas are public figures, but I’m completely against saying nasty and false things about people’s families. Everyone knows my position on free speech but I hate that kind of nonsense.”

Robert Griffin III, a former American football quarterback who does not support Trump, but has called for understanding of his supporters, wrote on X : “What a disgrace. It takes a really small man to use his biggest moment to attack a woman by calling her a man. Especially with the history behind calling black women men.”

But some on the right defended Hokit. Dan Bongino, a rightwing podcaster and former deputy director of the FBI under Trump, tweeted : “The pearl clutching over a joke, made by a UFC heavyweight known for his post fight stand up comedy acts, is next level hypocrisy.

“The same people moaning and clawing at their faces over it have absolutely no problem calling President Trump and his supporters “nazis,” and “fascists,” so I’ll pass on the faux outrage. Thanks. And have a splendid day!”

Michelle Obama and her husband, former president Barack Obama, are regularly the targets of racist abuse. Earlier this year Trump shared a video clip on his Truth Social platform that depicted the couple as apes then deleted it after an outcry .

Keyword – Music
Trefwoorden – Jazz, Music, Culture, Windrush at 75, Windrush scandal, Black British culture
Title – ‘Windrush is a love story too’: Renell Shaw on paying homage to Black British life in his new jazz trilogy | Jazz | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/kevin-le-gendre
Link – ‘Windrush is a love story too’: Renell Shaw on paying homage to Black British life in his new jazz trilogy | Jazz | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-12T12:00:45.000Z
Category – Culture
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/12/renell-shaw-jazz-musician-interview-windrush-suite-kings-place

A briefcase-sized console with a large, sleek keypad, the MPC One drum machine is an eye-catching piece of kit. It can’t be easily overlooked among the various synthesisers, guitars, amps, samplers and vinyl albums in Renell Shaw’s studio in Wood Green, north London. This month, when the 38-year-old musician plays a double-bill show at Kings Place, five miles down the road, the treasured black box will travel with him – and it has special sounds.

“On stage, I’ll have my score and the MPC, with my grandparents’ voices stored in there. They’ll be there with the band in front of me,” says Shaw, artist-in-residence for Kings Place’s Memory Unwrapped season, a series of musical performances that explore nostalgia, transformation and future.

The testimonies of his elders are an integral part of The Windrush Suite, the first of two extended compositions Shaw will perform that are entirely personal. “I needed to tell real stories, not just the facts, about West Indians coming over on a boat called the Windrush in 1948. Our story is of growth, and it’s a love story, too. I mean, my grandmother came over here from Jamaica looking for work, and my grandfather came over to chase my grandmother!” he chuckles. “When you approach migration on a human level, you connect with it, whether it’s your culture or not, because it can be about triumph over adversity irrespective of gender, race, age.”

Shaw is intent on presenting the Windrush generation as more than the “children of the empire” who, in prevailing narratives, helped to rebuild austere postwar Britain by making invaluable contributions to public services. The anecdotes he has recorded add gravitas to music that is eclectic if not cinematic, with jazz-inflected horns and classical strings blending with taut, crisp funk performed by a 12-piece group.

The group, meanwhile, has a wide span of ages, from 65-year-old marimba player Orphy Robinson to 30-year-old drummer Romarna Campbell via 41-year-old cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson. “Having different generations in the same room means the music carries lived experience, inherited memory and future perspective all at once,” says Shaw.

Known first and foremost as a bassist and producer (he has worked with soul-opera singer Carleen Anderson, rapper Speech Debelle and drum’n’bass act Rudimental), the London-born Shaw is also a talented composer, scooping an Ivor Novello award for The Windrush Suite in 2020. That piece and its sequel, Echo in the Bones , were originally performed on screens during the pandemic, with musicians all playing parts in different studios at a time when the world was in a state of isolation. Shaw bristles at the memory, but also puts a positive spin on lockdown. “One of the few good things about Covid was that all my favourite people were at home, so I could hire them to play my music, as they weren’t on tour!”

At the same time, “it was weird not having a live audience to respond to, even though there were ‘likes’ and ‘shares’”, says Shaw. For the marimba player Robinson, who mentored Shaw back in 2002 (we speak a few days after my visit to Shaw’s studio), the move from virtual to actual is even more resonant today given the creeping disposability of real musicians. “This is the time of AI, never mind what we went through with Covid,” he says. “I’d say that live gigs are more important than ever. We have to connect with an audience in the same room as us. It’s really got to be art rather than artificial.”

As upbeat as Shaw is about the forthcoming show, he is also keen to stress that the suites broach inconvenient truths that need to be told. Echo in the Bones chronicles the experiences of his parents, who were born in Britain rather than being Caribbean migrants. The oppression they had to endure, particularly police brutality at the height of the infamous stop and search SUS laws in the 1980s, is shocking.

“When I heard my uncle and dad talk about police, and being beaten in the back of a van, I felt that they understood that this didn’t have to be tolerated in a way that my grandparents hadn’t,” he says. “I think my parents felt like they had a level of ownership being born here, so there’s a bit less compliance, there’s more resistance in Echo in the Bones. I spent a lot of time talking to my parents, first-generation Black Britons of Jamaican and Dominican origin. I wanted to tell their story. They’re basically saying: ‘No, this is my country, we’ll fight back.’”

Shaw underscores that stance in songs featuring powerful lyrics penned by poet-vocalist Afronaut Zu, but he is sufficiently ambitious to lend to all his suites a comprehensive spectrum of mood and texture. Certain instruments were chosen for their unique qualities. The deft pattering of Robinson’s marimba – a large, handsome xylophone with wooden bars – infuses a strong African resonance to the music but it also sits well on the more classically inflected passages.

Another central element of Shaw’s sound world is provided by the Birmingham drummer Romarna Campbell, who has drawn plaudits for work with her own trio as well as collaborations with artists such as idiosyncratic Mercury prize-winning singer Benjamin Clementine. Campbell is adept at designing unique drum kits for every new project, often imaginatively combining acoustic and electronic components. She first worked with Shaw on the play Black Power Desk, a musical named after a controversial police surveillance unit founded in 1967 to disrupt burgeoning Black activism, and feels that this forthcoming performance enables her to flourish artistically.

Because Campbell was trained in both jazz and classical, she plays a wide range of drums and percussion. “I’m using bits of a standard kit, timpani and percussion related to the Caribbean, but it’s subtle, not overpowering. Making everything precise for what Renell has created is really important, so all these things are chosen and assembled very carefully. It’s like I’m building little spaceships.”

Seeing Campbell take off with both feet on the ground – musically speaking – while Robinson and co thread together the intricate parts of Shaw’s score should be even more thrilling on stage than it was in lockdown.

While looking forward to the in-person concerts, Shaw is also keen to challenge his audience as much as welcome them through the door. In October at Kings Place, he will also premiere Remember Us Tomorrow, the third and final chapter of The Windrush Suite, which focuses on newer generations of Black Britons. He promises the work will be as thought-provoking as its predecessors.

“I think audiences do not demand higher qualities of art in the way they used to, and so artists don’t feel the need to deliver higher qualities of art,” he states pointedly, before referring to a modern-day icon known for her political work, which was often as controversial as it was uncompromising. “I have to reflect the times, just as Nina Simone said, and make music that allows listeners to be more curious about the world. I’m trying to figure out how I can be me as I do that but I feel I’m on my way.”

Renell Shaw’s The Windrush Suite and Echo in the Bones are at Kings Place, London, on 25 June ; Remember Us Tomorrow is on 9 October .

Keyword – Opinion
Trefwoorden – European Union, Brexit, Keir Starmer, Labour, Foreign policy, Politics, UK news, Europe
Title – If the UK wants to rejoin the European Union, it first needs to understand it | Timothy Garton Ash | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/timothygartonash
Link – If the UK wants to rejoin the European Union, it first needs to understand it | Timothy Garton Ash | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-15T15:00:28.000Z
Category – Opinion
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/15/britain-rejoin-european-union-needs-to-understand-it-uk

A s Britain approaches the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the EU, the British are beginning to debate rejoining what they call Europe. But, as in most previous British debates about “Europe”, this is Europe with the Europe left out. The discussion is all about what would be best for Britain economically and the British politics of getting there. Little or no account is taken of what the rest of Europe thinks or cares about. The other day, the Treasury minister Lord Livermore became the first member of the government to publicly endorse rejoining the EU. “Of course,” he told the House of Lords , “the UK will re-enter the European Union because it’s absolutely in our national economic interest.” As if we had only to knock on the EU’s door and – abracadabra! – we would immediately be welcomed back in.

If you asked all sitting British MPs to say when the European Council is next meeting in Brussels, I doubt that more than a handful could give you the right answer. In fact, I wonder how many could immediately tell you what the European Council is. It’s instructive to look at the agenda for that top table gathering of the national leaders of the 27 EU member states, together with the union’s key institutional leaders. Between 6pm this Thursday and lunchtime on Friday, they hope to discuss Ukraine, the Middle East, the EU’s next seven-year budget, global economic challenges, European defence and security, migration and illicit drugs. So they have, to put it mildly, a lot on their plate.

If you follow European media, or listen to Germans talking about Europe with Poles, or Italians with Portuguese, our sceptred isle hardly features at all. On both sides of the Channel, “Europe” is again being construed as not including Britain. The only major exception is defence and security, where the British are still seen as playing an important role. Poland’s Oxford-educated and once-anglophile foreign minister, Radek Sikorski, now coldly describes the UK as a “security provider”.

As for countries wanting to join, the EU has no shortage of them. There are already nine acknowledged candidates for membership, including small frontrunner Montenegro and the very large Ukraine (UKR is more important than UK to Europe today). This August, Iceland is holding a referendum on whether to resume negotiations for membership. A debate has opened up again in wealthy Norway. And let’s be honest, there are some in the EU – a minority to be sure, but a significant minority – who would not welcome Britain back.

All countries think mainly about themselves, but if there were a World Cup for solipsism, the British would effortlessly carry off the trophy. A new BBC documentary revisiting the 2016 vote painfully reminds us of the poverty of the British European debate. Here, amid a procession of the scheming boys who gave us the biggest act of national self-harm in our recent history, we again meet Boris Johnson, his thoughts as disordered as his hair. He sums up the core issue thus: “You either want the country to be independent or you think that we should create a federal Europe.” Actually, the entire mainstream of continental European politics today is precisely about finding a middle way between those two extremes. On the most charitable interpretation, Johnson has learned nothing and forgotten nothing since his time as a Eurosceptic Brussels correspondent in the early 1990s.

If you look at how the world is likely to develop in the next 20 years – a world of competing great powers and empires, with a militarily aggressive Russia, an economically aggressive China and a United States that will never return to its exceptional post-1945 level of transatlantic commitment – it’s obvious that the best bet for a middle power such as Britain is to be part of a bigger grouping of countries that largely share the same interests and values. Tony Blair, when freshly minted as prime minister, once rather ludicrously declared: “Britain should be bigger!” Every other European country, starting with France and Germany, can tell you that this is how you become “bigger”. The strategic goal of British policy should therefore be for the UK to become a full member of what, by then, will be a different European Union . And, with all due modesty, a sober analysis suggests that it would be in the long-term interest of the EU as a whole to have, as one of its 30-plus members, a Britain whose settled will it was to be among them.

It will, however, take a marathon of democratic persuasion to get us there. That persuasion will be needed on both sides of the Channel. In British opinion polls, there’s already a steady majority in favour of rejoining the EU and an overwhelming majority for it among younger voters – 68% of those aged 18-34, according to Ipsos. So time will be working for Breturn. But the politics will still be complicated. The person most likely to succeed Keir Starmer as Labour prime minister this autumn is Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester – if he wins the byelection this Thursday, the same day that the European Council convenes. He (or whoever succeeds Starmer) may still feel confined to negotiating within the party’s current red lines, which specify no return to the customs union, single market or freedom of movement. But the new government should immediately and boldly declare a much larger strategic ambition.

Labour should then fight the next election, due in 2029 at the latest, without any red lines, saying simply that it aims to achieve the relationship that will be best for Britain. Ideally, the entire emerging (very European-style) fragmented left-liberal block of Liberal Democrats, Labour , Greens and Scottish and Welsh nationalists would take that position. A lot is going to change in Europe over the next three years, and there may need to be some interim steps (membership of the single market, for example) in the next parliamentary term; but the democratic persuasion has to start now. In this dangerous post-American world, the best place for Britain is indeed “at the heart of Europe”, and the only way to be at the heart of Europe is to be a full member of the EU. The path is unknown, but the goal should be clear.

Yet every step will depend on the EU side, which holds most of the cards. So the British have also to understand where other Europeans are coming from, how their complicated union really works and what is, to put it bluntly, in it for them. And Britain’s elected representatives must learn to speak European, that unique multilingual language in which the advancement of national interest is subtly blended with the historically informed embrace of a shared European future. Is the current British political class capable of this? I hope it even more than I doubt it.

Timothy Garton Ash is a historian, political writer and Guardian columnist. His new book, Europe in 7½ Chapters , will be published this autumn

Keyword – Sport
Trefwoorden – Tennis, Sport, US sports
Title – Ben Shelton bests fellow American Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart for first title on grass | Tennis | The Guardian
Author – Agence France-Presse
Link – Ben Shelton bests fellow American Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart for first title on grass | Tennis | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-14T16:14:32.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/14/ben-shelton-taylor-fritz-stuttgart

American top seed Ben Shelton beat countryman and defending champion Taylor Fritz 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to win the Stuttgart Open ATP title on Sunday.

Grass court specialist Fritz had never previously lost a final on the surface. Shelton broke the second seed once in the opening set and once in the third to claim victory in 1 hour 48 minutes.

The 23-year-old, who played almost five hours of tennis on Saturday, looked on the ropes at times but fought off nine of Fritz’s 11 break points.

The title was the third for Shelton, the world No 5. He won February’s Dallas Open, where he also beat the ninth-ranked Fritz, and the Munich Open in April.

In doing so, Shelton became the fourth man this decade to win titles on all three surfaces – hard, clay and grass – in one season after Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Bublik and Novak Djokovic.

“I’m pretty exhausted but to play the way I did, against the quality of opponents I played, in very tight matches – and getting a win today over one of the best grass court players in the world is a huge boost for my confidence,” Shelton said.

Fritz praised Shelton after his “insane schedule this week”, adding that “it speaks to the kind of player he is – an amazing competitor”.

Shelton made Sunday’s final after a physically demanding Saturday. He finished off a delayed quarter-final earlier before battling to beat Jiri Lehecka in almost three hours in the afternoon.

Shelton had lost the first set in each of his three previous matches at the tournament but took the opener with a powerful and controlled performance. The miles in the younger American’s legs began to show, however, and Fritz romped through the second set, losing just one point on his serve. Fritz was again dominant on his serve in the final set but Shelton held firm, before breaking serve in the second-from-last game and then serving for the match.

“Taylor was completely unplayable for parts of the match today,” Shelton said, but added that his performance “gives me a lot of hope going into Halle and Wimbledon”.

Wimbledon begins on 29 June.

Keyword – Football
Trefwoorden – World Cup 2026, Tunisia football team, World Cup, Football, Sport
Title – Tunisia confirm Hervé Renard appointment after sacking Sabri Lamouchi | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Author – https://www.theguardian.com/profile/guardian-sport
Link – Tunisia confirm Hervé Renard appointment after sacking Sabri Lamouchi | World Cup 2026 | The Guardian
Publish date – 2026-06-16T10:59:09.000Z
Category – Sport
URL – https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/15/tunisia-sack-sabri-lamouchi-one-game-into-world-cup-2026-5-1-defeat-sweden

Tunisia have sacked their head coach Sabri Lamouchi and appointed Hervé Renard until the end of the World Cup, after losing their opening game 5-1 to Sweden.

Former Nottingham Forest manager Lamouchi had only taken over in January and was in charge for just five matches, but he has become the first coach to be dismissed after a single game of a World Cup finals.

A statement from the Federation Tunisienne de Football announced the “termination of its contractual relationship” with Lamouchi by mutual agreement. Renard will bring World Cup experience having led Saudi Arabia to a surprise 2-1 win over eventual champions Argentina in Qatar, and he also took charge of Morocco in 2018. The 57-year-old has also managed Ivory Coast, Zambia and Angola at international level.

The Tunisia statement added: “The agreement [to appoint Renard] also states to open negotiations after the end of participation in the World Cup, for long-term cooperation based on specific sporting goals.”

Renard will be in the dugout for Tunisia’s remaining Group F fixtures against Japan and the Netherlands. The thrashing by Sweden left the Eagles of Carthage bottom of their group, with Japan their next opponents in Monterrey (Sun 5am BST/midnight EDT kickoff).

It is the second time that Tunisia have removed a manager during a World Cup after Henryk Kasperczak was sacked following two defeats at the finals in France in 1998.

Speaking after the defeat by Sweden, Lamouchi admitted it had been a “painful” experience. “Starting the competition with this bad of a loss is indeed difficult,” he said. “We made too many mistakes, and this is not something that we can do. We are shooting ourselves in the foot, we are hurting ourselves.”