Patrick West

The problem with Labour’s ‘anti-Muslim hostility’ definition

17 December 2025 1:46 am

Some might say that trying to define ‘Islamophobia’ is a foolish enterprise, given that words these days are so wantonly…

The Bondi Beach attack shows diversity is not our strength

16 December 2025 2:34 am

In the wake of a tragedy it is only fitting that public figures issue words of condolence. But there’s a…

What Zack Polanski gets wrong about immigration

15 December 2025 5:00 pm

One of the most common arguments made by those with a liberal approach to immigration and asylum, and one you…

Gen Z can’t cope with the real world

14 December 2025 12:13 am

Everyone recognises that teenagers today are unduly anxious. Many people attribute this to a rise in smartphone use. Some even…

Pantone’s ‘colour of the year’ isn’t racist

11 December 2025 12:23 am

For those of you dreaming of a white Christmas, here’s some advice: keep your thoughts to yourselves. Or at least…

Should this academic have been banned from campus for using the ‘n-word’?

24 November 2025 5:03 pm

Is it ever acceptable to say the ‘n-word’? As you will have immediately inferred by that sentence, it’s rare to…

We don’t need white saviours to rescue us from St George’s flags

21 November 2025 4:15 pm

Trends in society always come and go, but one that shows no signs of abating is the propensity among many…

Stop saying ‘Our BBC’

17 November 2025 6:00 pm

One of the most grating and nauseating verbal constructions of our times – ‘Our NHS’ – has with grim inevitability…

Why can’t the BBC just say sorry?

14 November 2025 11:15 pm

A famous pop star once sang that sorry seemed to be the hardest word. Almost fifty years after Elton John…

Learning French taught me to love English

10 November 2025 3:24 pm

One of the greatest dangers posed by the government’s curriculum review is that it will result in children abandoning more…

We should not need a court’s permission to criticise Islam

10 November 2025 2:14 am

Those who believe in free speech, and those who are particularly concerned by plans to have ‘Islamophobia’ codified, ought to…

Why football fans stopped watching Match of the Day

19 October 2025 4:30 pm

That hoary aphorism ‘be careful what you wish for’ may be a hackneyed one, but there’s nothing football pundits like…

I visited Canterbury Cathedral’s graffiti. Here’s the worst thing about it

14 October 2025 8:36 pm

The first, and the lasting, impression one gets from Canterbury Cathedral’s new graffiti-style art instillation is just how reasonable and…

The tyranny of ‘kindness’

12 October 2025 1:38 am

The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Irene Tracey, has been giving some gloriously counterintuitive advice recently on how to safeguard…

The problem with Lenny Henry’s demand for reparations

8 October 2025 11:47 pm

The desire to seek restitution from those who have harmed or wronged us is normal. Our instinct for justice is…

Judges are finally rediscovering their common sense

6 October 2025 4:44 pm

Believe it or not, some judges in this country are starting to show signs of having a connection with reality…

The Bar Council’s black internship scheme is racist

1 October 2025 9:16 pm

Human beings fundamentally hate blatant displays of unfairness. That’s why most people abhor those who jump or barge into queues,…

No, Keir Starmer: Reform’s migrant plans aren’t racist

29 September 2025 7:18 pm

Keir Starmer’s behaviour, demeanour and language has taken a rapid and strange turn of recent. Unable to do anything meaningful…

How ID cards destroy freedom

29 September 2025 4:07 pm

Those who make the case in favour of national ID cards invariably do so on pragmatic grounds. As they have…

Starmer’s ‘reclaim the flag’ mission is doomed

25 September 2025 4:00 pm

Does Sir Keir Starmer love his country or not? It’s been hard to tell this year. His infamous ‘island of…

The danger of defining ‘Islamophobia’

22 September 2025 10:48 pm

Many people have been warning for some time about the perilous consequences of introducing an official definition of ‘Islamophobia’ to…

Nish Kumar has been cancelled – but not for the reason he thinks

19 September 2025 10:31 pm

Nish Kumar isn’t the first television comedian to throw himself into activist politics in recent times. Another former panellist on…

Britain is becoming a nation of hermits

17 September 2025 3:30 pm

The malign effects of the Covid lockdowns continue to reveal themselves. The latest confirmation of the baleful legacy of that…

Progressives can never be wrong

16 September 2025 4:51 am

The progressive and idealistic left will never admit that they are wrong. That’s because, possessed with a sense of mission…

Why Reform’s critics say they’re fascist

10 September 2025 11:06 pm

To smear your opponents as fascists or Nazis has always been the perennial temptation of those who seek to terminate…