Features
An elegy for my libido
I’m not sure when my libido first began to decline. It was probably during the pandemic, so it went unnoticed…
Criminal candidates, grooming gangs and petrol bombings – welcome to Oldham
Everyone who’s anyone in Oldham knows Irish Imy. Born Mohammed Imran Ali in Dublin in 1980 and raised in Werneth…
Is Sarah Mullally really a fresh start for the Church of England?
Between 1999 and 2004, Sarah Mullally, the current Bishop of London, was director of patient experience for NHS England. One…
The joyless reading app being forced on my son
It was only recently that I fully appreciated how the books I read as a child formed me. A pregnant…
The politics of long hair
What is the literal cut-off point for women having very long hair (and by ‘long’ I mean where it almost…
Trump’s lessons for Europe
Donald Trump’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela has achieved much more than to bring a brutal, corrupt dictator and drug trafficker…
‘We will use the power of democracy to blow you away’: Reform plots a path to No. 10
As he made his way to lunch on Monday, Danny Kruger, the former Tory MP who defected to Reform last…
What Trump’s coup in Venezuela means for Iran
In a city awash with visual propaganda, one mural in Caracas is especially striking for the western visitor. In it,…
Team Trump won’t stop at Venezuela
Invade the world, invite the world. That pithy phrase was invented in the 2000s by Steve Sailer, the right-wing writer,…
Make mine a Moka pot
It’s strange the things that can trigger amity or affection. At the beginning of the capsule/pod coffee-maker craze, when George…
Blame the EU for your increasingly bossy car
When Eileen, a 75-year-old British grandmother, bought a brand-new car she found its advanced driver-assistance repeatedly told her the speed…
Foetal femicide has arrived in Britain
Last summer, the Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi introduced a clause to the Crime and Policing Bill that will decriminalise all…
In defence of the Freemasons
It’s a personal delight that on 29 September 1829, the first day of Robert Peel’s new force, the first warrant…
The independent bookshops that aren’t what they seem
Independent bookshops remain some of Britain’s loveliest places. Quaint, charming, precarious, they are a bulwark against blandness and offer refuge…
European countries are expanding their militaries. Why aren’t we?
Following America’s extraordinary raid on Venezuela last week, Donald Trump has pointed to Greenland, which belongs to the Kingdom of…
I walked out of my son’s nativity play
To walk out of a public performance before the end – be it the theatre, a concert or a lecture…
Should we fear falling birth rates more than over-population?
In 1980, two American academics made a bet. Julian Simon, professor of economics at the University of Illinois, predicted that…
The Boring Twenties: good British fun is being strangled
A century ago, Britain had reason to despair. A generation had been lost to war, influenza was killing those who…
Labour is doing all it can to kill off horse racing
In July, Victoria, Lady Starmer was photographed at Royal Ascot, celebrating with friends after backing the winner of the Princess…
Make mine a BuzzBallz
There are always new ways for drinks companies to make alcohol seem even more exciting. Smirnoff has added gold leaf…
The march of lazy children’s books
There’s a myth that lots of us fall for/ ‘Kids’ books are so easy to write’/ And you can see…
At 53, I’m training to be a priest
I have recently begun training for holy orders in the Church of England. I know, they’re getting desperate. My motivation…
Christmas with my soon-to-be-ex-wife
I didn’t force any hyacinths this Christmas. Most years I plant a dozen bulbs at the end of September and…
Keep children out of politics
In Citizens, his account of the French Revolution, Simon Schama wrote how the Jacobins recruited children into ‘relentless displays of…
Iranians are risking everything to convert to Christianity
Apostasy – specifically, conversion to Christianity from Islam – is punishable by death in Iran. Suspected Christians are routinely imprisoned…
