Columns
Legal immigration is an absolute nightmare
A personal note this week, as 15 October 2025 marked an occasion of sorts: when my husband’s and my Portuguese…
The pathology of politics
Researchers from Imperial College London this week released an analysis of the health of voters in the UK. In a…
Robert Jenrick is right
I’ve just got back from doing a spot of shopping in my local town – and do you know what…
Who will stand up for motherhood?
Scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University have created the beginnings of a baby using not human eggs, but…
In defence of Chris Cash
Can you be a spy by mistake? If, with no treacherous intent, without ever intending to disadvantage your own country,…
The real war is to come for the Tories
British politics often resembles a golden-age murder mystery, with multiple parties sitting anxiously on the sofas/green benches waiting for the…
Starmer has bought himself time. Can he use it wisely?
The Labour conference in Liverpool was a curiously upbeat affair. Much of the good spirit came from schadenfreude at the…
The Murray Test for TV drama
It is almost a century since Ronald Knox wrote his ‘Ten Commandments’ for detective fiction. Most of them still hold…
Transgenderism proves people will believe anything
For years, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) has wrapped itself in a guise of medical expertise, advising…
Crime and no punishment in Khan’s London
Those of us trapped in Mayor Sadiq Khan’s low traffic neighbourhood scheme are now obedient, resigned. We expect a car…
First they came for the Jews…
It was moving to watch Keir Starmer announce this week, from a corridor in Downing Street, that his government has…
Hard-won gay rights will be easily lost
In the Palace of Westminster a fortnight ago, I spoke at a reception celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Tory…
What’s really behind Reform’s rise
It is the question dominating bars and fringe debates this party conference season: what exactly is driving Reform UK’s popularity?…
Let’s just ignore the Church of England
How important do you think it is to know what the Church of England thought about that ‘Unite the Kingdom’…
Starmer’s battle against the King of the North
After Keir Starmer’s calamitous fortnight, the No. 10 official was reflective: ‘Some people say: “Your worst day in government is…
Is Charlie Kirk’s murder really a ‘watershed’?
The Charlie Kirk assassination has triggered a spate of duelling death counts. The usual media suspects on both sides of…
Who marches against Tommy Robinson?
Isn’t it time we banned such marches as the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, given the thuggery and lawlessness which ensued?…
The political resurrection of Christianity
There is a passage in Milan Kundera’s novelisitic essay ‘Testaments Betrayed’ where he writes about the nature of history. Man…
The return of Keir vs Andy
When Labour MPs met to hear from their leader on Monday, there was one group who felt particularly aggrieved. In…
How to raise a patriot
‘Good news for patriots,’ said one of our most celebrated national newspapers this week: ‘Your numbers are likely to swell.’…
Beware the restless, shifty liars
I have only been to Alexandria once, some years ago, when Hosni Mubarak was still in power, but it struck…
The misplaced sympathy for Angela Rayner
One evening last week I came home, flipped on the TV and saw on the news what must surely be…
The truth about the trans school shooter
True, one of the earliest school shooters, Brenda Spencer, who shot up a playground in San Diego in 1979, was…
Can anyone save Britain from self-destruction?
Tens of thousands of people turned out on the streets last week to protest against mass immigration. The protestors were…
‘He’s like a passive-aggressive Gordon Brown’: inside Keir Starmer’s No.10 reshuffle
Isaac Levido, the Tory election strategist who helped secure Boris Johnson’s landslide victory in 2019 and saved the Tories from…
