Speaking of the resignation, Marr highlighted that "it's not because he doesn't have enough supporters", as he noted Rishi Sunak's tactic of distancing himself from his predecessors. A new executive for the 1922 Committee could change the rules and, if submerged by a sea of new letters, hold a leadership contest almost immediately. “We could do the whole thing in a matter of days,” one anti-Johnson Tory told me. A powerful, visceral and political takedown, delivered in verse. Stunning work, as always, by the one and only [Andrew Marr],” said another. It begins in the year 657 with the Northumbrian poet Caedmon, and takes us up to the present day, each chapter wisely and wittily guiding the reader through successive poetic movements. Marr’s argument is that the British are peculiarly good at poetry (better than we are at painting, architecture and music). And it’s not just that we have Shakespeare and the war poets—we also have wonderful geographic diversity. Irish, Scottish and Welsh poets are well represented. Watch Tonight with Andrew Marr exclusively on Global Player every Monday to Thursday from 6pm to 7pm

Marr knows what he likes. He believes—and who can disagree?—that John Donne wrote the greatest poem about love-making ever written: “Licence my roving hands, and let them go/ Before, behind, between, above, below.” My only quibble is the absence of the superb Anglo-Welsh Katherine Philips (1632 -1664) and her poignant poems about miscarriage and stillbirth.

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources. This book isn't quite a history of British (i.e. English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish) poetry from Caedmon to the present day; it's more a sort of annotated anthology, with poems and excerpts from poems giving a representative sample of each period. As such, it's an excellent introduction for the person who enjoys poetry but isn't well-informed about the history of the craft in the British Isles. Again and again, she calls out patronising, defensive police chiefs, scientists, corporate bosses or civil servants who do not appear to have the public good at the front of their minds.

You’d have to have a heart of stone… The Prime Minister may be promising that he is moving on “soon”, and one of them will inherit. But they would be idiots to believe him. His game now is to get through the next few days, and then a few days after that, and then a few more… for as long as he can. Politicians like Denis Healey and Margaret Thatcher were intellectually self-confident. They knew who they were and what they thought. Given a question designed to cause them a bit of trouble, they were likely to confront it directly and win the argument. Too many politicians these days think getting through 15 minutes on a political show without making a ripple is a success. They’re incredibly risk-averse.

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It took me a long time to read this book, because I was often tempted to follow up or explore further poets or poetry extracts featured in it. I would say that it opened windows for me. In the concluding paragraphs Andrew Marr calls it, “a book about poets for lovers of poetry” and I did find, throughout the book, that poems I had skimmed through before came to life for me when I learned more about the poet and the contemporary relevance of the work. There’s a standard political memoir, isn’t there? It bubbles along as if scripted by a politically savvy AI engine: amusing and affecting anecdotes of the hero’s early life and university successes; feelings of inadequacy on reaching parliament; vivid descriptions of the scramble up the ladder, including quotable digs at rivals and opponents; the strange absence of the scandal for which the author will be mainly remembered; the self-aggrandising account of the author’s many successes in office, this part at wearisome length. The standard-model memoir has three purposes: to settle scores, to nudge the dial of the historical verdict, and above all to win a publisher’s advance that is unlikely to be earned out. The resulting book is reviewed everywhere and read nowhere. The British public, who voted the author in, barely features, except as comic extras writing cranky letters and making ignorant observations at by-elections. Reflecting on what is to come where British politics is concerned, the presenter noted that the future is set to be far from plain sailing.

The Forward Prizes are invaluable in finding the most essential, exciting voices, highlighting the contemporary poets who are at the top of their game and whose words will travel far and reach many readers. Most MPs I have spoken to recently seemed alert to the danger of political unravelling here. Hamas supporters on the streets are doing incalculable damage to Muslim communities across Britain. British political leaders have been reactive – horrified, cautious, unwilling to move beyond glib and nervous verities. But beyond the short term, it is not enough – and it would not have been enough for previous generations of political leadership. The comments follow Boris Johnson's resignation as Tory MP with "immediate effect" on Friday, releasing a lengthy statement posted online, just hours after ally and former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced her own resignation. The amount of factual inaccuracy from British politicians has increased exponentially in recent years, and I do think Boris Johnson is culpable. It’s always gone on, but he’s taken it to a new level. To directly assert things that are so untrue is new, and I think has caused enormous difficulty and pain to the whole political ecosystem.Again, I refused. I resisted both of these proposals, not just because of the implications for the role of parliament, but mainly because of my firm belief that it would have been unthinkable to bring the monarch into these matters. By sanctioning the idea of prorogation, the hard-line Brexiteers were taking a sledgehammer to the British constitution.” Had Bercow not done this, “there was every prospect that we would have delivered an earlier exit from the EU, maintained better relations with our European partners and, above all, delivered an agreement which would have been more beneficial for Northern Ireland and hence for the future integrity of the UK than the one Boris Johnson signed.” The Forward Book of Poetry 2024 brings together the best poetry from 2023, including great work shortlisted and Highly Commended in the 2023 Forward Prizes. At school I was always on stage. I played the head teacher in Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On, and the main role in Alfred Jarry’s Ubu Roi. I remember that vividly because my opening line was something like ‘shitter bugger’, which as a small boy is a great opening line.

The Forward Book of Poetry 2024 brings together the best poetry published in the British Isles over the last year, including the winners of the 2024 Forward Prizes. In showcasing the range and ambition of today’s fresh voices alongside new work by familiar names, this anthology is a perfect introduction to contemporary poetry. Purchasing a book may earn the NS a commission from Bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops Labelling the current Tory part a government "governed by Whatsapp", Marr added that "like the country at the time of the Brexit referendum, he didn't know what was coming next. The Forward Prizes have established themselves as central to the literary landscape of modern Britain.” Andrew Marr I’ve interviewed seven prime ministers: Major, Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Sunak. I interviewed Liz Truss, too, but not as prime minister. Almost nobody did. There wasn’t time. I’m sure we’d have got round to it in due course.Putin is very sharp intellectually, but has a menacing presence. Elton John once asked me to give him a kiss on the cheek and a Donna Summer album. I’d interviewed Elton in Sochi before the opening of the winter Olympics. I didn’t give Putin the album, but I asked him if he had gay friends (he does) and whether he was homophobic. He said he wasn’t, but that he enjoyed Elton’s music very much. Politicians in London must start talking to forces inside Israel beyond Netanyahu’s cabinet. We need better conversations with Egypt, Fatah, Jordan and the Israeli opposition, and a major international aid programme. How developed is Labour’s foreign policy network beyond Europe? That is, suddenly, an important question.