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James Rothwell Berlin Correspondent in Magdeburg |
Germany celebrates its Unity Day next month, but the triumph of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) in Saxony-Anhalt has exposed how divided the country is.
Thirty-six years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former communist East remains psychologically, economically and politically another country.
The unprecedented performance by the AfD in this eastern state election could have consequences far beyond its borders.
Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) is in a full-blown crisis after coming a distant second place. The AfD secured an astonishing 44.5 per cent of votes, according to an exit poll. The CDU trails on 18.5 per cent, even worse than polling predicted in the run-up to the vote.
Ulrich Siegmund, the AfD state leader in Saxony-Anhalt, campaigned on forging closer ties with Russia, returning refugees to their countries of origin and banning rainbow flags in schools.
His party pledged to separate refugees from German children in classrooms and promote a more positive vision of Germany in history lessons, with less emphasis on the Second World War.
There was an extensive “brain drain” from East to West in the years after reunification. The population that remains in the East is ageing, resentful and speaks of a two-tier society.
State-owned factories, once cast-iron guarantees of lifetime employment, have been sold and dismantled, costing more than 2.5 million jobs and leaving behind a post-industrial desert.
Unsurprisingly, in these poor regions, anxiety about immigration is more acute than in the richer and more socially liberal West.
The AfD is expected to win another state election in the East, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, later this month. Recent polls show the party far in the lead at the national level, with nearly 28 per cent support, while the CDU is down to 21 per cent.
The results lay bare an identity crisis in Germany: should it be a centrist, pro-Nato liberal democracy, or a radical Right-wing ally of Vladimir Putin?
This article is available only to subscribers.
Continue reading ➤
Full story: Anti-migrant AfD hails history-making election win ➤
Daniel Johnson: This is a humiliation for Germany’s political establishment ➤ |
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Eir Nolsøe Economics Correspondent |
Few policies are as loved by voters and loathed by economists in equal measure as the triple lock.
In a rare intervention, British bosses have now come out against it, calling on Andy Burnham to axe the voter favourite.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents more than 65,000 firms, urged the Prime Minister to use the savings to cut employer taxes for 21- to 24-year-olds.
The triple lock dictates that state pensions must rise in line with the highest of either wages, inflation or a baseline 2.5 per cent.
The BCC wants the lock unpicked, leaving state pensions linked only to inflation. This is the first time any major business group has explicitly called for the triple lock to go, in a controversial attempt to shift the focus to how to help young people.
It’s notable that this messaging has come after Andy Haldane was made BCC president earlier this year.
Haldane briefly advised Burnham when he was vying to become prime minister. Meanwhile, Lord O’Neill, Burnham’s most senior economic adviser during the campaign, also last week urged him to scrap it.
Such pleas will probably fall on deaf ears despite the perilous state of public finances, with the latest polling from YouGov showing Labour and Reform neck-and-neck.
It would take a brave politician to decide this was the moment to risk the wrath of Britain’s pensioners.
For subscribers only ➤
David Blair: The state pension triple lock has to go ➤ |
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Dominic Lawson It is 32 years since my first column for The Telegraph. I was curious to see what sort of world I was then interpreting for readers Continue reading ➤
Nicole Lampert Ed Miliband isn’t a ‘Jew hater’, but he is trying to appease people who are Continue reading ➤
Michael Mosbacher We are spending too much educating children who don’t want to learn Continue reading ➤ |
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Immaculate in a dark grey suit at Birmingham’s NEC, Jordan Bardella signed a significant small-boats pact with Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK. Yet, with a warning that “the world that is coming does not forgive naivety”, France’s Right-wing front-runner to become prime minister has far wider ambitions: overhauling European borders, enforcing strict assimilation and dismantling Emmanuel Macron’s economic legacy. Continue reading ➤ |
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Immigration has always been a buzzword on the US border with Mexico, but it is now one of the reasons Donald Trump supporters are turning their backs on the US president. Many residents in Laredo, Texas, think he’s gone too far, as each week brings news of another ICE arrest. They live in fear they will be deported. Some have even moved to Mexico, driven out by rising costs on the US side of the Rio Grande. The midterm elections in November will prove a crucial litmus test for Trump and the wider Republican Party. Did Latino voters swing to the Right, or did they place a one-off bet on Trump? Continue reading ➤ |
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A seaside town at the heart of Reform UK’s rise could also become its biggest test. In Blackpool South, thousands depend on benefits targeted by the party’s proposed £50bn spending cuts. Yet locals are far from united: some demand tougher action on claimants, while others fear genuine disabilities will be overlooked. With economic inactivity well above the national average, Blackpool offers a glimpse of the political gamble Reform is taking. Continue reading ➤ |
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Rachel Morley, director of Friends of Friendless Churches, at St Peter’s church in Marksbury |
A tiny Norfolk church with seven worshippers and a leaky roof hardly sounds like a national emergency. Yet St Peter’s in Marksbury has become a test of what Britain is prepared to lose in the name of economy. Can the value of parish churches really be measured in congregations, balance sheets and community use? Or do some places deserve to be preserved simply because they carry the memory of generations? Continue reading ➤ |
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You may have been damaging your brain for years without realising it. The good news? Some of those changes are not necessarily permanent. From growing new neural connections to rebuilding parts of the memory centre, scientists are discovering the remarkable powers of the adult brain. Niamh Walsh explores what we can reverse, and how quickly. Continue reading ➤ Here is another article that I hope you’ll find helpful this morning:
- Beneath the restless roll of the world’s oceans lies a network of hidden sanctuaries. These are the marine wonders you must see in your lifetime, and how to visit them.
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CAPTION COMPETITION WITH... |
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Matt Pritchett Cartoonist |
Hello! This week we’ve got a strawberry playing tennis... obviously. Good luck to all, and congratulations to Louise Loakes, who made me laugh with her Snowdonia entry below.
Submit your caption here ➤
P.S. For an inside look at what inspires my weekly cartoons, you can sign up for my personal newsletter here. Catch up on last week’s here. |
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Welcome to the latest in our series of reader makeovers, writes Sonia Haria, our Beauty Director.
At the start of summer, I asked the readers of The Telegraph’s Fashion and Beauty newsletter to contact us if they were interested in a hair and make-up makeover. We were inundated with worthy applicants.
We invited three readers to come to London for a special makeover day. I called in the services of Lisa Eldridge, an award-winning make-up artist, and Luke Hersheson, a leading hairdresser.
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‘Pint or a half?’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...
What is the perfect quantity of beer? Oliver Bennett and Tomé Morrissy-Swan recently went head-to-head on this question.
There was a time when I would have thought that there was no debate to be had: pints were, of course, the only respectable measure. These days, though, I do occasionally catch myself reflecting that 568ml is quite a lot of liquid. That said, a half still feels comically slight to me, and I suspect I’ll never entirely master the art of ordering one without sounding faintly apologetic.
Where do Telegraph readers stand? Well, the pint certainly had no shortage of defenders. Jim Henny wrote: “As a nearly 50-year-old male, I can’t think of any scenario where I might order a half. Might as well not bother.”
I also enjoyed this, from Ron Giddnes: “My wife’s plain-speaking Geordie uncle, when asked whether he wanted a pint or a half, replied that he had tried a half once but didn’t like it.”
Malcolm Monaghan, meanwhile, identified a genuine hazard of smaller measures: “A friend went through a short phase of switching to halves, in an attempt to reduce his alcohol consumption. It was a disaster. He’d scoop the wee measures, and ended up drinking about 50 per cent more than the rest of us who were on the pints.”
Yet there was nothing approaching a consensus. Martin Lill countered: “I love a proper pint of English ale in a proper English pint glass. With the recent explosion of excellent and innovative craft ales, we often drink halves, enabling us to try more. In the case of some of the stronger imperial stouts and IPAs (at 10 to 15 per cent), the option of a third is also good. There is a time and place for everything.”
Mark Pangborn added: “As an ‘old timer’, I find it difficult to keep up with friends drinking pints (being, somewhat ironically, pint-sized myself), so have decided to drink half pints. It saves embarrassment on the homeward journey and a thick head the following day.” Pints or halves? 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. |
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1940 | The Blitz begins as the German Luftwaffe bombs London for the first of 57 consecutive nights (you can see how we covered this below)
1968 | Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham make their live debut as Led Zeppelin (then known as The New Yardbirds) in Denmark
1996 | Rapper Tupac Shakur is shot several times and dies six days later
2025 | Pope Leo XIV canonises teenager Carlo Acutis after his death at 15 years old, making him the first millennial saint
Birthdays: Toby Jones (60), Chrissie Hynde (75), Julie Kavner (76)
Plus, in the news today, locals in Hailsham have been asked to report sightings of a “quite friendly” mammal who escaped from the zoo. What kind of animal is on the loose? 1. Sloth
2. Pangolin
3. Armadillo
4. Capybara
Click one of the options to reveal the answer... |
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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 WORLDLIER. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. |
Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback at fromtheeditor@telegraph.co.uk.
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor |
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