The Week
The EU ‘elections’ vindicate Brexit
If Britain had not left the European Union, we would be going to the polls this week as well as…
Letters: why the Tories need to lose
Back to blue Sir: What a pity your leading article (‘The valley of death’, 25 May) did not reach Downing…
Why won’t Rishi honour our £1,000 bet?
When I interviewed Rishi Sunak in February, I told him I thought his Rwanda plan for ‘stopping the boats’ was…
Portrait of the Week: Sunak’s downpour, national service and the ‘triple lock plus’
Home Parliament was dissolved, leaving no MPs until the general election on 4 July. With hours to go, Diane Abbott had…
How many countries have conscription?
Halfway points Rishi Sunak told us we would have an election in the second half of the year, and we…
What Labour lacks
Has Keir Starmer promised anything so far, during this general election, that will make anyone’s life significantly better? The clearest…
How to crack election jokes like a Greek
As the party of the lost and the party of the losers square up to each other, the next few…
Olive oil was the key to Roman excellence
Owing to a rise in temperature in southern Europe and a reduction in rainfall, the production of olive oil this…
How dangerous is it to fly by helicopter?
Crime without borders How many nations are signed up to the International Criminal Court? – 124 signed the Rome Statute…
Letters: save our churches!
Free the C of E Sir: Patrick Kidd’s article on the shortcomings of today’s Church of England maintains the importance of the…
Who has the worst voice in parliament?
For the first time in more than two decades we are dog-less, and the house feels horribly empty. Our Patterdale…
Portrait of the Week: Infected blood apologies, falling inflation and XL bully attacks
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said: ‘I want to make a wholehearted and unequivocal apology’ for a ‘decades-long moral…
A summer election is suicide for the Tories
As soon as Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons that ‘there is going to be a general election in…
Aristotle’s advice for young protestors
In his Art of Rhetoric, Aristotle (384-322 bc) sets about identifying the various headings under which you can be persuasive…
Letters: how to get the uni protestors out
Soft left Sir: I read with a certain wry amusement in Yascha Mounk’s piece that ‘activists’ occupying Columbia were demanding…
Britain should embrace the AI revolution
Rishi Sunak’s big speech this week was easily lampooned. Having accused Keir Starmer of ‘doomsterism’, the Prime Minister warned that…
Portrait of the Week: Natalie Elphicke defects, wages rise and Switzerland takes Eurovision
Home The parliamentary Labour party shook itself uneasily after Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover, crossed the floor of the…
The day Keir Starmer cried on me about his childhood
I have had a good idea. It may even be an important idea. See what you think. The other day…
When was the last genuine royal tour of Nigeria?
Royal welcomes The Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Nigeria last week. When was the last genuine royal tour of…
My Britney Spears Theory of Action
Every week I check the weather in Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Svalbard. It’s about as close as you can…
Portrait of the week: Tory defections, local elections and a China defence hack
Home The local elections proved dreadful for the Conservatives but not quite perfect for Labour. The Conservatives lost 474 of…
Tories for Starmer
Nick Boles was once at the heart of a mission to renew Conservatism. He was one of a small number…
Letters: the Tory party has gone mad
Right is wrong Sir: Katy Balls’s article ‘Survival Plan’ (4 May) starts from a false premise. The problem is not…
