On assisted dying, sense prevailed
Sequels to horror films can be a mixed bag. Some become classics in their own right, others fall into the…
Long live death’s dark humour
One of the things people don’t tell you about grief is the humorous side of it. Many will warn that…
Andy Burnham resembled an extreme train enthusiast at PMQs
Today was Andy Burnham’s second Prime Minister’s Questions and also his last one for five weeks. The mini-recess for the…
Why has John Healey started speaking like Confucius?
John Healey had been sent to Coventry, something he will have to get used to after his budget next month,…
Reform conference has an air of unreality
It hasn’t been a glittering 24 hours for Reform UK. To lose one senior official might be regarded as misfortune…
Andy Burnham is about to face a hard lesson
There was a cautious cheer for Andy Burnham as he stood up for his first PMQs. MPs were perhaps cautious…
Andy Burnham’s ‘triple helix’ is bizarre, meaningless guff
Andy Burnham was at the government despatch box for the first time in nearly 17 years, having had the sort…
Bond’s identity crisis mirrors Britain’s
Sometimes I wake up in the night disturbed by dreams of James Bond. Surely, you might say, that’s the point…
The Victorian moralising of the Home Office’s migrant rape advice
The legacy of the Victorians is everywhere; we depend on them for our sewage disposal, our railway networks, much of…
What Clacton taught us about Nigel Farage’s path to power
The Clacton by-election was finally over. Even by the standards of August news stories, it had grown pretty stale pretty…
Why is the C of E still devoted to woke?
The Church of England can always be relied upon to walk into a room just as everybody else is leaving.…
Kehinde Andrews is the Hiroo Onoda of the Jason Arday saga
Summer is a time for fleeting joys. Be it friendships, romances or hilarious stories about charlatan academics at the University…
It’s the ideology, stupid
What do Nigel Farage, gender-critical feminism, masculinity, generalised homophobia and GB News have in common? All have been blamed in…
It’s amazing how far Burnham has got by not being Keir Starmer
It’s amazing how far a prime minister can get just by not being Keir Starmer. There’s considerable political success to…
I’m so glad that Big Ange is back
Big Ange is back. From a sketchwriter’s point of view I have to say that this is marvellous news. Rayner…
Put on a suit and tie, Prime Minister
A brass fanfare; a wide establishing shot of five men in three-piece suits, seated in a library of leather-bound tomes…
What is the point of the Lib Dems?
The Liberal Democrat party of Russia and the Liberal Democrat party of the United Kingdom are not, on the face…
Burnham’s coronation speech was sub-Disney schmaltz
As coronations go, this was a particularly flat one. Instead of Zadok the Priest we were treated to New Order.…
Keir Starmer’s biggest problem was always right behind him at PMQs
‘You’ll miss him when he’s gone!’ Lots of people have said this to me. It’s true I have had the…
The terminally mediocre were on full display at DPMQs
Sir Keir Starmer was away this week. Nothing new there of course; indeed, it seems the thing which will change…
Farage versus the world
He probably won’t want to hear this but there is an air of General De Gaulle about Nigel Farage. De…
Did anyone vet Big Ange’s LBC love-in?
‘What’s Big Ange up to?’ was a question Sir Keir Starmer had to ask himself basically every day of his…
Starmer’s Wile E Coyote defence spin
The Prime Minister began today’s PMQs by wishing a ‘happy 78th birthday’ to the NHS. This is the sort of…
Will Starmer’s last defender please turn out the lights
There are still people out there – with access to the full gamut of unblunted cutlery – who maintain that…
Andy Burnham’s tragic Blairite tribute act
‘What a fitting venue to be sat in – The People’s History Museum’. So began the introduction to Andy Burnham’s…
