jeudi 16 avril 2026

Scotland set for referendum... again

America and China’s standoff won’t lead to a superpower war | The lives ruined by lateness
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Thursday, 16 April 2026

Issue No. 417

Good morning.

The SNP is on course for a majority in Scotland, putting the Union in peril once again. In the latest instalment of our Divided Britain series, an exclusive poll reveals that John Swinney’s party is forecast to win 67 seats, which would give the First Minister a mandate to negotiate a second independence referendum with Westminster. Jacob Freedland reports.

Chris Evans, Editor

P.S. Try 4 months of The Telegraph for just £1 with your email-exclusive offer. If you’re already a subscriber, make sure you’re logged in to read today’s stories.


 

In today’s edition

America and China’s standoff won’t lead to a superpower war

Dale Vince is an anti-capitalist rebel. So why is he paying himself millions?

Plus, the key phases as your brain changes – and how to protect it

Email exclusive: Try 4 months for £1

Enjoy all of our award-winning coverage for just 25p per month.

 

SNP on track for majority – and fresh referendum on breaking up the UK

Jacob Freedland

Jacob Freedland

Scottish Reporter

 

The referendum on Scottish independence was described as a once-in-a-generation event.

However, just 12 years on, Scotland’s future within Britain is once again on the table as an exclusive MRP poll shows the SNP is on course for a majority in next month’s Holyrood elections, with forecasts predicting that the party will win 67 seats.

Such a scenario, John Swinney, the party leader, has said, would give the SNP a mandate to press Westminster on a second referendum because of the precedent set by the 2011 election, when Lord Cameron granted Alex Salmond the 2014 vote on the issue.

The findings, released by The Telegraph as part of our Divided Britain series, will strike fear into the hearts of unionists.

Although Labour ministers have ruled out another vote on the Union, concerns remain that Sir Keir Starmer is too weak to stand up to the First Minister’s demands.

Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, will echo that warning to pro-Britain voters at a rally in Edinburgh today, saying only her party can block Swinney from pressing ahead with another “divisive” vote on the issue.

There was a time when the issue of Scottish independence was seen as dead and buried. Now it appears ready to roar back to life.

This exclusive polling is available only to subscribers.
Continue reading

Plus, Annabel Denham: The fall and rise of the SNP – and how Farage has played his part

 

Opinion

James Kirkup Headshot

James Kirkup

Britain has lost the will to defend itself

The truth is that politicians are not prioritising national security because voters do not care

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<span style="color:#DE0000;">Stephen Pollard</span> Headshot

Stephen Pollard

Attacks on British Jews are the new normal

Continue reading

 
<span style="color:#DE0000;">Rowan Pelling</span> Headshot

Rowan Pelling

This Labour MP is right. Britain has never needed a summer of sex more

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In other news

The Duke of Sussex meets Heidi, 3, and her father in Melbourne

Your Essential Reads

US marines perform quick reaction force drills on the deck of USS Portland

America and China’s standoff over the Iran blockade won’t lead to a superpower war

Donald Trump’s war with Iran has created plenty of dangers for the world, writes David Blair, our Chief Foreign Affairs Commentator. However, an armed clash between America and China is perhaps the least likely. The US blockade of Iran has deprived China of about 1.4m barrels of oil per day. That will not be enough for Xi Jinping to risk war with America. If there is a superpower confrontation one day, it will be over Taiwan, not Iranian oil.
Continue reading

Go deeper with our Iran coverage:

Live | Israel and Lebanon leaders to hold first talks in 34 years

Starmer and Macron to cut Trump out of Hormuz patrols

Vance: Trump wants ‘grand bargain’ with Iran

Iranians have a vulgar nickname for Starmer

 

Experts say the scale and speed of displacement in Sudan has been unprecedented

Why Sudan’s war is the world’s deadliest – and getting worse

Three years into Sudan’s civil war, the scale of the catastrophe is still not fully understood – and is getting worse. Lilia Sebouai and Meike Eijsberg examine the data behind what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis: a conflict defined by mass killing, famine, displacement and the collapse of a state. The numbers are fragmentary, often contested, but the direction of travel is unmistakable.

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The Telegraph takes an in-depth look at the finances of Dale Vince, the Ecotricity boss and Labour donor

Dale Vince is an anti-capitalist rebel. So why is he paying himself millions?

Dale Vince thinks companies should be run more like NGOs than money-making machines. So why is he paying himself millions? The Telegraph takes an in-depth look at the finances of the Ecotricity boss and Labour Party donor. Jonathan Ford reports.

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Of all the Beatles, George Harrison (left) was closest to Dylan

How the Beatles and Dylan went from musical rivals to creative soulmates

Each of them had something the other wanted. Bob Dylan yearned for the Beatles’ mass appeal, while they wanted his lyrical prowess, but for a long time before meeting the artists procrastinated like jealous “lions circling each other”. A new book reveals what happened when they finally did meet, and the creative rapport that followed.

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‘My wife was never on time – so I divorced her’

For project manager Jim, his wife’s chronic lateness was an endless source of annoyance. While he sat in the car, fuming, she “wafted in on a cloud of perfume”, half an hour late. Eventually, he divorced her. For the punctual person, chronic lateness often looks like arrogance, but scientists have discovered a surprising neurological reason why some people are incapable of being on time.

Continue reading

 

Seize the day

The key phases as your brain changes – and how to protect it

Did you know that we enter old age at 66, or that adolescence lasts until the age of 33? That’s according to the inner workings of our brains, revealed by scans from Cambridge University. Neuroscientists have mapped the way the brain evolves over a lifetime and advise on how best to protect it at every age.

Continue reading

Below is another helpful article for you this morning:

 

‘My week battling Cristiano Ronaldo at padel’

Nikhil Mohindra found that the Portuguese footballer was as competitive on a court as on a pitch

Nikhil Mohindra

 

As a member of the British padel team, I’m used to friendly knockabouts with celebrities – with the likes of ex-Chelsea captain John Terry, grime star Stormzy, and even members of the Royal family. However, when I was invited to Dubai for a week of padel sparring with Cristiano Ronaldo, I saw another side of one of the world’s most competitive athletes.

Where Ronaldo is involved, nothing is left to chance. On day one, the man they call CR7 turned up with a hefty entourage, who lugged treatment tables, massage guns and red-light therapy devices into the Nas Sports Complex. I was amazed by the intensity of Ronaldo’s warm-ups and cool-downs, as well as dietary precision that extends to waking up in the middle of the night for an extra protein shake.

As for the padel itself, just being on court with Ronaldo was enough for me – I was even happy when he accidentally hit me in the body with a smash. The honours were pretty much even by the end of the week, but if we’re talking about an unforgettable experience, I felt like I was the clear winner.
Continue reading

 

Your say

Early birds

Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories.

Orlando writes...
The weather has been up to its usual April tricks, but a letter from Charles Carter gave reason to hope that spring might be – well, if not quite springing, then at least attempting to heave itself up from the sofa.

“It was a joyous moment”, he reported last week, “when I went out to our barn to see our first swallow resting on one of the beams. It was covered in red dust, suggesting that it had travelled north with the warm weather. What a plucky creature. Welcome home.”

I felt my spirits lift, reading that. Alas, for others, these birds are proving elusive.


 

“How I envy Charles,” replied Jane Tourle. “At one time we had swallows returning to the nests they had built in our garage. Each year we would help by carrying out a little maintenance. One had an annexe because of overcrowding. I kept a diary tracking their arrival. They knew when the time was right to come and also when to leave. Now there are none. We still have their nests in the garage.”


 

Lesley Thompson added: “Our swallows stopped returning to their precarious nest above our porch light. The fledglings used to fall out, so we put a foam mattress underneath to break their fall. However, we had to remove it when our cats started positioning themselves on the mattress with their mouths open. The swallows returned and thrilled us for years. Then suddenly they didn’t. We are poorer without them.”


 

However, Peter J Newton, brought good news for swallow-seekers, or those in Derbyshire, at least. “Last Thursday, while on duty as a National Trust house experience volunteer in the cellars at Calke Abbey, I witnessed the first two of the season returning to their nests in the rafters. Over the next few months, hundreds of thousands of our visitors will experience joy as they watch the chicks being fed, often for the first time in their lives. For me, the swallows’ return is always a great moment.”

Have they returned to your neck of the woods yet? Send your responses here and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of this newsletter.

Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name.

 

morning Quiz


Which airline is set to introduce the world’s first in-flight “sleep pods” for economy customers?

 

Puzzles

Panagram

Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.


 

Yesterday’s Panagram was FIREPOWER. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle.

 


Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.

Chris Evans, Editor

P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here.

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