John Harris

Dublin’s landlords would rather put their properties on Airbnb than rent to local families. There are echoes in cities around the world. By John Harris
The room Jenny Quinn shares with her 10-year-old son is about 10 sq metres, kitted out with the most basic furniture and dominated by what looks like a prison-issue metal bunkbed on which they both sleep. There is a small en suite bathroom; behind a heavy wooden shutter, the window…

The death of an American missionary on a remote Indian island has sparked a backlash in India. The Guardian’s Michael Safi describes how John Allen Chau was killed after trying to preach Christianity to one of the world’s last remaining indigenous societies who live in total isolation. Plus John Harris on the trouble with Airbnb
John Allen Chau was last seen alive on the morning of 16 November. He had paid a group of…

The Tory leave elite is dragging the country towards a disaster that the opposition could still avert by calling for a people’s vote
Over the past two and a half years, while the most vocal leave and remain campaigners have endlessly yelled at each other, Brexit has often presented itself as a case study in contradiction and complexity. Certainly, whenever I have spent time in leave-voting areas, I have always felt deeply ambivalent:…

Big tech companies are transforming societies – but their pitiful contributions aren’t enough to help governments adapt
Alongside the results of last week’s US midterms came the passing of San Francisco’s Proposition C, a measure that will tax firms with an annual turnover of more than $50m (£44m) to raise an estimated $300m extra a year to help address homelessness. Last Tuesday, 60% of voters backed it: though the proposal is now

The Good, the Bad & the Queen have been trying to figure out what’s become of England since the EU referendum. And the answers aren’t comforting
‘Well, this is weird, isn’t it?” says Damon Albarn. Six days ago, he was in Mexico City, playing with Gorillaz. Now, he and his bandmates in the Good, the Bad & the Queen are in Kent, taking turns to explain their second album in a fake American…