Ian Birrell

Ian Birrell writes a weekly column for i. He is a former deputy editor of the Independent and an award-winning foreign correspondent. He was awarded Health Journalist of the year in the 2018 Press Awards and was highly commended in the feature writing category.

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Ian Birrell

The Tories have a choice: reject Trump-style populism, or spend a decade in the wilderness

Already siren voices jostling for control of the shrivelled party are echoing Trump

Ian Birrell

Starmer can learn from the Tory disaster – do not pander to the fringes

Ian Birrell

I play football with Keir Starmer. We enjoy deluding ourselves about our age

$Article thumbnail: (FILES) Rishi Sunak, Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequerm (L) and Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the final two contenders to become the country's next Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party, stand together on stage during the final Conservative Party Hustings event at Wembley Arena, in London, on August 31, 2022. Rishi Sunak is seeking his own public mandate at next month's general election, on July 4, 2024, having been installed as Conservative leader and UK prime minister by his own colleagues in parliament. The 44-year-old former financier was tasked with stabilising the UK economy, and his own notoriously fractious party, when he succeeded Liz Truss in October 2022 after her 49-day premiership imploded. (Photo by Susannah Ireland / AFP) (Photo by SUSANNAH IRELAND/AFP via Getty Images)$