Features
‘There’s an awful lot more bile now’: Jonathan Lynn on how politics has changed since Yes Minister
A few years ago, everyone in Westminster was obsessed by The West Wing, but a decade of chaos and populism…
The guilty men: the ideologues who undermine Britain
When Britain handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, Tony Blair was in melancholic mood. The newly elected prime…
A lament for the landline
Two years ago my quality of life began to go downhill. It happened when BT Openreach gave our old copper…
Amelia: the purple-haired goth girl who became a nationalist icon
It has been obvious for some time that there are basic concepts that the liberal British Establishment simply does not…
How we all got hooked on Calpol
At the present count, we have 14 syringes. Some are stuffed in kitchen drawers, but I have also found an…
Pity the modern-day spy novelist
I write spy thrillers that attempt to deal authentically with the world around us. The Syrian civil war. Spy games…
Why is Ukraine trying to cancel Swan Lake?
Two of Ukraine’s most famous ballet dancers face dismissal, cancellation and possible mobilisation into the army. Their crime? They dared…
Welcome to XL bully death row
‘There’s no way of finding out what’s really happening in there,’ says Aaron Rainey, an XL bully expert who advises…
Why I took my eight-year-old son wine-tasting
My eight-year-old son’s eyes widened when I unwrapped a Christmas present I got from my parents: a bottle of cherry…
Robert Jenrick: Why I defected to Reform
Those pondering why Robert Jenrick defected to Reform UK have focused on the political momentum of Nigel Farage or the…
Arctic role: what does Trump really want from Greenland?
Donald Trump has probably not read Machiavelli, even the short one, The Prince. Machiavelli’s most famous advice was that it’s…
The Chinese takeover of Britain’s public schools
Roedean is now known as ‘Beijing High’. Cheltenham Ladies’ College is ‘Hong Kong College’. In the country’s most elite boarding…
The EU vs the farmers
It was a weekend of mixed emotions for the European Union. There was the news from Donald Trump that he…
‘Pray your boilers don’t fail’: the Church of England is in the grip of eco-zealots
It came to pass in 2020 that a decree went out from the General Synod that all the Church of…
Heaven is an Airfix Spitfire
Last weekend, I sat in my kitchen to build and paint an Airfix model. I’d experimented before with mindful colouring…
The five Haldanean principles that could reshape Britain
If Reform get into government, there is one man they seem likely to turn to for guidance. He is an…
A fogey’s guide to cryptocurrency
All innovations seem unseemly to fogeys. When bitcoin, the first of the cryptocurrencies, was launched in 2009, we dismissed it…
No, the internet is not bad for your child
The forces arranged in favour of banning social media for under-16s are powerful and wide-ranging. The unlikely alliance includes the…
Under 50? You’re never getting a state pension
Last week the Bank of England was warned to prepare for a financial crisis triggered by the discovery of extraterrestrial…
Want to get rich? Invest like an American
Ramit Sethi wants to make you rich. He is not a household name in Britain, but the Stanford psychology graduate…
Is any other investment as good as gold?
Last year might have proved a good time to own shares in the chip-maker Nvidia, along with the booming American…
Iran’s cheerleaders are on borrowed time
Predictions ageing poorly is an occupational hazard for journalists and commentators. But few have gone as sour as those made…
The rule of the Ayatollahs is broken. What happens now?
‘Help is on the way,’ promised Donald Trump to the people of Iran defying the Islamic Republic. In the same…
Iran’s useful idiots: British complicity in Tehran’s terror
It is still unclear what will happen next in Iran. I fervently hope the current protests will cause the tyrants…
The Kremlin’s plan to create a new wave of Ukrainian refugees
What is the limit of Ukrainian civilians’ endurance? In nearly four years of relentless war, Ukraine’s people have faced summary…
