OH, JANE! ⭐️ Olivier and Tony Award-winner Jane Krakowski will return to the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in #OhMaryUK for a strictly limited 6-week run from 7 December.
Tickets available now at https://t.co/99igxajSYd ⭐️
I don’t think Europeans fully appreciate what is happening to the European Union right now.
The EU is under an extraordinary, multi-front assault, both from outside and from within. And I struggle to think of another period in its history when so many powerful actors had an interest in weakening it simultaneously.
Russia has spent years waging hybrid warfare against Europe. Weaponised migration, sabotage, cyberattacks, coordinated disinformation campaigns, bot networks and political interference. The objective is clear: undermine trust in democratic institutions, deepen social divisions and weaken European unity.
China has different motivations, primarily economic and geopolitical. A fragmented Europe is easier to pressure, easier to negotiate with individually and less capable of defending its economic interests.
And then there is the United States. Perhaps the most disturbing development of all.
Under Trump and MAGA, a country that helped rebuild the old continent and then spent decades supporting European integration now has an administration openly hostile to much of what the EU represents. Its own National Security Strategy even calls for cultivating resistance to Europe’s current political direction.
Think about that for a moment.
Meanwhile, within Europe, parts of the far right and far left amplify these divisions, whether through ideological alignment, political opportunism or outright sympathy for authoritarian regimes.
This doesn’t mean Russia, China and MAGA are all following some jointly coordinated master plan. They don’t have to. Their interests increasingly overlap, and Europe’s internal divisions make their work considerably easier.
What makes this particularly alarming is what is actually at stake.
For all its flaws, the EU remains one of the world’s most consequential projects built around liberal democracy, the rule of law, individual freedoms and cooperation between nations.
At a time when authoritarianism is gaining ground and even longstanding democracies are showing disturbing tendencies, that matters enormously.
Europe is far from perfect. Its bureaucracy, indecision and inability to act decisively are real problems. But the answer cannot be to retreat into 27 competing nation-states, each too small to meaningfully influence a world increasingly dominated by continental powers.
Quite the opposite.
Europe needs deeper integration, stronger common institutions, genuine strategic autonomy and the political courage to defend its interests and values.
Because fragmentation is precisely what so many external actors want.
And perhaps that’s the central irony of our time: people are being deliberately manipulated into believing that the reverse is true — that national identity and sovereignty can only be protected by weakening European cooperation. In reality, a divided Europe is less sovereign, less secure and far easier for outside powers to pressure. Therefore the very thing that will make Europe stronger is the thing its adversaries are working hardest to prevent.
A united Europe is a geopolitical power. A divided Europe is a collection of countries waiting to be played against one another.
Anyone who knows me knows Britney Spears and Janet Jackson are literally my two biggest idols in the whole universe and I just hope they know how much they mean to me/us ❤️
We need to bring back intellectual elitism.
Sorry, but a virologist will always know more about vaccines than a yoga mommy blogger with a chat gpt AI subscription.
The EU has delivered greater stability across the continent, greater mobility for its citizens, and a single market that gives Europe global economic weight.
An honour to hear President von der Leyen address the European Parliament today as we build a deeper partnership for the future.
An Open Letter to Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Harrison, and LW Entertainment - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/o17CqYEEB8 via @UKChange#CatstheJellicleBall
I wrote about the silence around Alexander Zverev on the BBC's TV broadcasts of Wimbledon, which has left UK viewers without the whole picture.
Why do the BBC avoid this topic on television when discussing it elsewhere?
Free at Bounces:
https://t.co/1R2jYYdaYR
The bias against Jannik Sinner from Andrew Castle has become so obvious it’s almost laughable @BBC
I’m genuinely glad this is his last year commentating at Wimbledon. You won’t be missed 🥱👋🏻