Is Putin the reason my house is so cold?
Justin Webb is normally one of the least self-righteous BBC presenters, but he was out-Maitlising rivals on the Today programme…
The curious case of Barry Gardiner
In May 2020, in the wake of the Barnard Castle story, Emily Maitlis delivered her famous Newsnight address to the…
My new nickname for Putin
According to the new Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Russians wish to ‘put at risk…
Why is Microsoft offended by ‘Mrs Thatcher’?
The interregnum between incumbents is a well-known and often elongated process in the Church of England. I have recently witnessed…
Lockdown has made poachers bolder – and more dangerous
One midnight last month, Jon Wiltshire, who lives in a cottage just outside our Sussex village, was woken by a…
Who will be the Democrats’ Gorbachev?
As this paper has argued since the time of the Tiananmen Square massacres, this country should offer Hong Kong people…
Why are editors sharing a platform with Miqdaad Versi?
Next week, the Centre for Media Monitoring publishes its report on ‘British Media Coverage of Muslims and Islam 2018-2020’. Its…
Peppa Pig’s conservative values
I like to think that Boris Johnson’s rambling performance at the CBI this week was a satire against the organisation…
National Trust members fight back
At the National Trust’s annual general meeting last week, the voting was much more unusual than the public will have…
The cold hard truth about heat pumps
When I went to Poland not long before Covid, I found a country more bitterly divided by a culture war…
Why the baby doomers are wrong
Rarely does a piece of journalism bring a tear to my normally cynical eye, but I did find this happening…
In defence of Angela Rayner
On the one occasion when I spent any time with Angela Rayner, she was funny, direct and friendly. We were…
The legacy of Stephen Toope
Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, has begun this academic year by announcing it will be his last in the…
Is the world we value falling apart?
From time to time, people get worried and ask one another: ‘Is the world falling apart?’ I imagine this is…
The BBC exaggerates Britain’s importance in Afghanistan
This week, the media pressure was on the British government to extend the deadline for the evacuations from Kabul airport.…
It is shabby of Biden to blame the Afghans
Q. Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable? The President: No, it is not.Q. Why? The President: Because you…
Margaret Thatcher vs everyone else: the making of the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement
Diplomatic negotiations are rarely fully described by their participants in books, for two reasons. They are usually secret until much…
Joe Biden’s shabby treatment of the Afghan army
Is a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan now inevitable?The President: No, it is not. Q. Why? The President: Because you —…
What ministers won’t admit about A-levels
The tale of A-levels shows how ministers can sometimes find themselves in a position when it is simply too dangerous…
Chris Packham’s suggestions to save the world
On Monday 2 August, the BBC Today programme offered its ‘Countdown to COP26’. For the rest of the month, Amol…
The West’s moralising over climate change will cost India
On Tuesday, I chaired a session at Policy Exchange addressed by Tony Abbott, the eloquent former prime minister of Australia,…
Let’s hope the Third World prevails at COP26
On Tuesday, I chaired a session at Policy Exchange addressed by Tony Abbott, the eloquent former prime minister of Australia,…
What Dominic Cummings gets wrong
Anyone who thinks Boris Johnson lacks statecraft should pay attention to Dominic Cummings’s attacks on him. They often to seem…
The rise of the robot lawnmower
A special animus is aimed at Priti Patel, perhaps because the combination of being Indian, female and firmly Tory is…
Should trains have mask and non-mask carriages?
In deciding whether or not to wear a mask after 19 July, I am sure Boris Johnson is right that…
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