Columnists
‘Let Keir be Keir’: inside the cabinet’s away day
Labour ministers face a range of terrible political choices, but when the cabinet met for an away day at Chequers…
What I’ll miss about Norman Tebbit
This column comes to you from Auckland Castle, former palace and hunting lodge of the Prince Bishops of Durham. We,…
Don’t compensate drivers for mis-sold car loans
Surprisingly big numbers are the theme of this week’s column, several having flashed up to disturb the pleasures of a…
How governments gaslight
The posters now plastered around German public swimming pools are so hilarious that you may have seen them already. Keeping…
The reign of Rayner
Angela Rayner declined an invitation to a hen do last weekend where the entertainment included axe-throwing. ‘She was worried about…
My tips to avoid arrest by the Met
An interesting event occurred in London at the weekend. A young man who goes by the name of Montgomery Toms…
The unspoken truth about 7/7
Did you take part in any of the mysterious commemorations last weekend? The newspapers were full of it – something…
What hope is there for today’s unlucky graduates?
I’m fresh out of advice for those now leaving university and wondering how on earth they’re going to make a…
How Labour governments always end
Couldn’t we just skip to the end? I’m old enough to have seen this so often: must I sit through…
My idea for a new grooming gang inquiry
It’s disorienting but satisfying that Labour now accepts that Asian grooming gangs exist. Some of my left-identified friends are even…
Tim Davie shouldn’t quit over Glastonbury
There probably never has been a time when a governing party much liked its MPs. If you are on a…
Farage is the pacesetter of British politics
For the past year, Nigel Farage has served as the great pacesetter of British politics. Reform UK has shot to…
And now let’s bomb Glastonbury
A small yield nuclear weapon, such as the American W89, dropped on Glastonbury in late June would immediately remove from…
Who really built this country?
Anyone who has visited Canada or Australia in recent years might have noticed an interesting new tradition. This is the…
The hidden costs of Angela Rayner’s Employment Rights Bill
One peril of a sudden adverse turn of global events is that it provides cover for bad domestic government. If…
The dangers of toxic femininity
The American critic and classicist Daniel Mendelsohn has just published a new translation of The Odyssey. In his superb introduction,…
Come friendly bombs and fall on Iran
It is heartening to see the lefties out marching in defence of mullahs and their enlightened rule of Iran. The…
Is the Met finally getting tough on pro-Palestine protests?
It was airily pleasant to walk round Parliament Square on Monday morning. I had come up to London to go…
Small boats are causing Labour big problems
Summer is here – and for some in Labour it cannot come soon enough. After a tricky first year in…
‘Trans rights’ has never been a civil rights issue
Indisputably a nutjob, Chase Strangio is the soul of nominative determinism. The lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union is…
The real reason birth rates are falling
Last week the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released its State of World Population report. According to the Guardian: ‘Millions…
Why the Tories should oppose regime change
As a minister I lived by mantras: simple principles that summed up how I believed you got things done. Faced…
The tangled bureaucracy of appointing an Archbishop
Cardinals elected the new Pope within a fortnight but it will take almost a year to choose our next Archbishop…
My modest proposal
It’s surely time we dropped our cynicism and got behind the government’s National Abortion Drive, another noble attempt to kickstart…
Mark Carney, the mischief-making pin-up
Well, would you look at Mark Carney. Just three months ago I described the incoming prime minister of Canada and…
