In the headlines

Andy Burnham said British politics “needs a new script” as he launched his campaign for the Makerfield by-election this morning. The Greater Manchester mayor said a vote for him was a “vote to change Labour” but insisted the by-election was not a “stepping stone” to becoming prime minister. Meanwhile, the Green Party’s candidate, who shared posts describing the attack on Jewish ambulances in north London in March as a “false flag” operation, has withdrawn from the ballot less than 12 hours after his candidature was announced, citing “personal and family reasons”. The police investigation into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is considering a number of offences, including sexual misconduct and corruption. Thames Valley Police are appealing for potential victims and witnesses after uncovering evidence in searches at the former prince’s various homes. English Heritage has unveiled a seven-metre-tall replica of a prehistoric neolithic hall, which will form part of the Stonehenge visitor centre. The structure (below), which will open to the public this summer, was built by a team of volunteers over nine months using flint axes, chalk daub and thatch.

Comment

Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran, in 1959. William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty

Iran has good reason to be wary of the West

There’s a reason Iran is so obsessed with seeing off meddling foreigners and gaining nuclear weapons, says Peter Frankopan in UnHerd: “history”. Today’s Islamic Republic reserves a special ire for the US and Israel – the “Great Satan” and “Little Satan” respectively. But Britain, France and Russia have all been hated too, in their time. And you can see why. Since the early 19th century, the once-all-conquering Persia (renamed Iran in the 1930s) has found itself repeatedly caught between stronger imperial powers. Defeats in the Russo-Persian wars (in the early 1800s) led to the humiliating loss of vast territories in the Caucasus, including what are now Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. London, obsessed with protecting India, used Persia as a battleground in the “Great Game” against Russia, as bankers, diplomats and spies infested Tehran, ready to defend the “jewel of the British Empire” at any cost.

Throughout, Iran’s tiny ruling elite – the old Qajar dynasty and then the British-backed Pahlavis who supplanted them in 1925 – has made foolish deals with foreign imperialists, taking huge loans from banks in London and Paris, or selling concessions on ludicrous terms. In 1827, the Anglo-German entrepreneur Paul Julius de Reuter was able to buy rights encompassing not only “the mines of coal, iron, copper, lead and petroleum” across the whole of Persia, but also options to build roads, public works and other infrastructure projects. An incredulous Lord Curzon called it “the most complete and extraordinary surrender of the entire industrial resources of a kingdom into foreign hands that has probably ever been dreamed of, much less accomplished, in history”. In 1908, William Knox d’Arcy secured similar terms for Persia’s newly discovered oil. Is it any wonder Iranians, having had a revolution against all this, won’t give it up without a fight?

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Fashion

This season’s fashion trend is “Posh Grandpa”, says Jess Cartner-Morley in The Guardian. Retro and refined, the look incorporates old chap classics like tasselled loafers, baggy trousers, Henley button-ups and soft tailoring paired with something modern to “jolt the eye” – a leather jacket, some angular sunglasses – so things don’t “veer into pastiche”. Inspiration can be found in Harry Styles, David Hockney, Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme and Alexa Chung. A touch silly, sure, but “a life well-lived is always a good look”.

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