Not so long ago we were rather proud of our political certainties here in the UK. Governments were delivered with large majorities and the authority to get things done, for better or worse. Coalition horse-trading was the realm of other, faraway countries.
That was then, and this is now. Theresa May’s catastrophically misjudged snap general election, aimed at bolstering her already weak Tory majority ahead of imminent Brexit talks, has left the prime minister with no majority at all and a dependency on ultra-conservative Northern Irish Protestants to prop up a government with a wafer-thin grip on power.
Meanwhile Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, for so long written off by colleagues and pundits, suddenly looks like tomorrow’s man after young British voters turned out for him in high numbers.
Labour may not have won the election but after years of austerity followed by a deeply divisive referendum on Europe, it felt like British voters were calling for a change. This week’s specially expanded Guardian Weekly brings you extensive analysis and comment on an election with wide ramifications for the country.
On the cover this week we visit Qatar, at the centre of a diplomatic crisis in the Middle East as Arab neighbours vent their displeasure at a nation that has tried to strike trade deals across regional red lines. As a blockade begins to bite, Peter Beaumont reports from Doha.
There were more stunning scenes in Washington, where former FBI director James Comey’s testimony to the Senate intelligence committee piled more pressure on Donald Trump. David Smith reports on another week that gripped America.
From Mexico to the Philippines via many other stops, the Weekly catches up with events elsewhere around the world.
The longer-read Review looks into technological advances in cardiology. From Sicily, we report on political tensions over the island’s growing refugee population. Discovery welcomes the return of peregrine falcons to the eastern US.
The Book reviews ponder the links between sport, ethics and philosophy. There’s an interview with the feisty young Canadian poet Rupi Kaur. And culture gets acquainted with the wit and wisdom of the celebrated Finnish film director Aki Kaurismäki.
Sport celebrates another grand slam tennis triumph for Rafael Nadal, the king of the clay court. And to round things off on the back page, there’s a poignant reflection on high school days from Washington Post writer Richard Morgan, as his old classrooms are demolished and with them many memories.
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