Features
Starmer must move fast without losing his head
When Keir Starmer’s Labour party gathered on Monday to celebrate their election victory, the difficulty was finding a big enough…
The secret diary of Sue Gray
Once we entered Downing Street a No. 10 protocol adviser took Vic upstairs to show her the facilities in the private…
Don’t bribe your dog with treats
‘Do NOT look Lulu in the eye. Keep your voice low and soft and ignore her barking. Do NOT make…
The C of E needs to talk about sex
My friend Andy is getting married. It’s about time – he and his girlfriend have a one-year-old daughter. He wants…
Israel says it’s ready for another war
According to my phone, I’m in Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport. Except I’m not. The Israel Defence Forces have scrambled the…
Gins in tins – the Yummy Mummy’s ruin
I’m writing this in my car, laptop on knees and a delicious can of Tanqueray Flor de Sevilla gin and…
Does Keir Starmer’s atheism matter?
Good Friday, 2021, at Jesus House For All Nations church in Brent, north-west London. Face masked, head bowed, hands clasped,…
It’s payback time for voters
It won’t be much comfort to Rishi Sunak, but he’s not the only world leader being put to the electoral…
What the National Rally means for France’s foreign policy
The electoral turmoil in France threatens its status as a world power. Friendly nations are despairing; rivals and enemies are…
Jill Biden’s relentless pursuit of power
At rallies, Joe Biden often speaks after his wife. ‘My name is Joe Biden and I’m Jill’s husband,’ he begins.…
Childcare is mothercare
When I was a small child, my mother left me in the charge of an elderly neighbour so that she…
The Orban acolyte who became his fiercest critic
All sorts of people are grateful to Peter Magyar for bounding into the arena of Hungarian public life. Journalists, chiefly.…
The youth vote is turning right
Young people are supposed to drink a ton, have a lot of sex, hang out with their friends at every…
My garden decor advice for Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson has three lifesize, carved wooden elephants in his garden, given to him by his wife for his 60th…
The day I met a sun priest
Palomino, Colombia I’m in a truly wonderful place: the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It’s got more bird species than most…
Putin is trying to annexe people, not just land
On 1 September 2021, six months before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was speaking at the All-Russian Children’s…
How Nigel Farage became the left’s greatest weapon
Nigel Farage is about to turn British politics upside-down for a third time. His Ukip insurgency forced the Tories to…
Can independent candidates pose a threat to Labour?
Nigel Farage says that Britain is ready for a ‘revolt’, and he’s not the only candidate in this election committed…
France’s ‘Somewheres’ want revenge
The builder who has been working on my house in Burgundy will be voting for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally…
My return to Ukraine
I arrive at Lviv station just before 9 a.m. As the clock strikes, the conductor announces a minute’s silence: a daily…
How body cams create a culture of fear
Thanks to an underage relative who’d stolen my driving licence, I recently found myself ID-less at the local Co-op. I…
England’s hooligan days are over
In downtown Düsseldorf, a district known as ‘the longest bar in the world’, hordes of happy England fans belted out…
The grubby world of political betting
If you’re going to fleece a bookies, it would be wise to ask a friend to place the bet on…
Don’t outlaw ‘Islamophobia’
‘One of the things that’s coming up over and over again is Islamophobia,’ says Keir Starmer in a campaign video,…
How Keir Starmer plans to rule through the courts
Never mind Labour’s promise not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT – the party will soon be jacking…
