Best for Britain's Blog

How much is a pint of milk? A litmus test for politicians everywhere. But how much does a democracy cost? Well, if you’re Argentinian, you could answer quite quickly and precisely: forty billion US dollars.

Since Emmanuel Macron welcomed back a new parliament in July 2024 things have not gone smoothly. Each Prime Minister appointed by the French President - Barnier, Bayrou, and Lecornu - has tried and failed to form effective governments due to a bitterly divided legislature. Radical parties on both the left and right have exposed a shrinking centre ground in French politics, building pressure on Macron to resign in the face of unprecedented public unpopularity. With Lecornu re-appointed just four days after his resignation with a new promise to delay planned pension reform, why has French politics descended into chaos?

Over the weekend, Czechia became the latest country to elect a populist prime minister. Self-styled Trumpist Andrej Babiš, albeit a centre-right version, completed his political comeback by winning more than a third of the vote, ousting the pro-European coalition led by Petr Fiala. Babiš now appears poised to join Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia in opposing the European Union’s efforts to bolster Ukraine in its war against Russian aggression.

When Michael Gove proclaimed that “the people of this country have had enough of experts,” he personified the anti-intellectualism that pervaded the 2016 Referendum. The hallmarks of the 2016 Referendum have been reimagined for the climate crisis. At the end of Climate Week NYC we look at how, once again, misinformation, mistrust of international institutions, and the weaponisation of national sovereignty form the backbone of Nigel Farage’s plan.

Try and picture this. A Labour Party flailing in the polls less than a year before an election, a centre-right Conservative party decimated by a radical right alternative, a wealth tax on the front pages, a fragmented party system, and no mainstream party daring to mention the EU. Easy right? Except on Monday it was the Norwegian Labour Party overturning an eight point deficit in the polls to win a general election and fight off the right-wing populist threat. So what happened?

The summer of 2025 has been marked by rising nationalism both at home and abroad. From the much-discussed “Raise the colours” campaign to the weaponisation of vulnerable asylum seekers, we have seen the increasing normalisation of a dark political ideology within mainstream politics.

1 year ago this week, following the horrific murder of 3 young girls in Southport, misinformation rapidly spread online sparking a wave of violence and chaos. Between 30 July and...

Back in May, Prime Minister Keir Starmer heralded a ‘hat-trick’ of trade deals with the US, India and - crucially - the European Union.

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron's warm words for one another must yield concrete results. If not, it is their far-right rivals who will benefit. First published by Politics Home.

One year on and Labour finds itself amid the aftermath of a bruising rebellion over welfare reforms, cratering approval ratings, and the spectre of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK waiting in the wings. However, when it comes to Europe — and the central importance of our largest and closest trading partners to the UK’s economic prosperity — the government, quietly and unobtrusively, has so far ticked most, if not all, of the boxes.

Today is International Joke Day, and as nothing in British politics is as laughable as the inconsistencies and hypocrisies of Reform UK, we felt it was the perfect time to shine a light on what has been happening recently…

Thursday’s new trade strategy shows the government understands what’s required to move the economic dial. But the public needs to feel the benefits at home. They need to see that our relationship with the EU is not just warmer, but mutually beneficial and materially improving their lives.

If it hasn’t already, the situation in the Middle East risks reaching boiling point, but an underdiscussed aspect is the impact it could have on the fightback against Putin’s illegal war and the importance of the UK and Europe keeping Ukraine high up the geopolitical agenda.

This morning the government published the UK’s new Trade Strategy, the first one since the UK left the EU. The report outlines the targeted approach the government will take over the coming years to provide ‘practical deals that deliver faster benefits to UK businesses’. The Trade Strategy makes clear that the EU is “our closest neighbour and trading partner”, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that he wanted the UK-EU relationship “to move on in iterations” at the yearly summits the UK and EU have now agreed to.

For far too long asylum seekers, and immigrants of all kinds, have been demonised. Their existence weaponised for political gain, their struggles ignored in favour of a narrative designed to stoke division and fear. Tomorrow is World Refugee Day and so we felt there was no better time to dispel the myths which surround refugees. How many refugees are in the UK? How much do we spend each year to protect refugees? Which country takes the most refugees globally?

World leaders flying into this week’s G7 summit in Kananaskis, in the heart of the Canadian Rockies, might have been nervously scanning from the aeroplane windows for apex predators.

Fifteen years after George Osborne entered the Treasury, Reeves branded austerity as “a destructive choice for our economy…creating a lost decade for growth, wages, and living standards”. Reeves' first year in office has so far been largely defined by cuts to Winter Fuel Payments and looming cuts to PIP, but what was included in the Chancellor’s plans for the rest of the Parliament? And how could a closer relationship with Europe help her mission?

Donald Trump has temporarily exempted the UK from his doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium while the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal is being finalised. But with a 9 July deadline looming, what are the chances of EPD being implemented - and will tariffs return if it isn't?

The defeat of the liberal mayor of Warsaw by an ardent nationalist and eurosceptic will bring challenges to Polish PM Donald Tusk and threaten Poland’s place at the centre of the European Union. With victory, Nawrocki becomes the latest European leader to actively ape President Trump as the MAGA movement seeps into European politics.

Romania has elected the Mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, as its next President. The result marks a surprising turnaround from the results of the initial ballot and brings to an end months of political volatility in the nation after the initial presidential election result was annulled. The victory for Dan is a victory for pro-EU sentiment in the country, whilst the election handed defeat to George Simion, a former football ‘ultra’ critical of Ukraine and flattering to Trump.