The Week
Which royals have appeared in court?
Political frenemies Nigel Farage accepted Robert Jenrick into Reform UK in spite of having previously called him a ‘fraud’ (for…
The real reason Farage wants Kemi gone
The invitation came from Ewan Venters, a Scot who currently steers the Paul Smith brand, and the venue was Angela…
Only divine intervention can save Labour
A party that can foretell the future stands a very good chance of success. Given Labour’s record of U-turns, they…
Letters: A teacher’s lessons for Rod Liddle
How to kill reading Sir: I am appalled by the response to Andrew Watts’s concerns about the teaching of reading…
Our duty to British Jews
Are Jews safe in Britain? To even have to ask the question is extraordinary. But a recent survey has found…
Portrait of the week: Digital IDs ditched, unrest in Iran and an app to check you’re not dead
Home The government dropped plans to make digital ID compulsory to work in Britain. Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister,…
Get me out of New York
I reached New York for the premiere of the fourth series of Industry in a mild state of delirium. I…
How many pubs are left in the UK?
Net freedoms The government was pressed to ban X over charges that Elon Musk’s AI app Grok is being used…
The ancient case for a referendum on assisted dying
One rather hopes the assisted dying bill will be talked out in the House of Lords. We have no say…
Letters: The real reason Gen Z aren’t having sex
No EU turn Sir: Before Dr Brian Mathew’s letter on ‘How to restore prosperity’ appeared (10 January), the FT printed…
Donald Trump is confronting a reality that Europe has ignored
Donald Trump’s rendition of Nicolas Maduro was a brilliantly executed coup. It was also an exhibition of America’s hard power,…
Portrait of the week: US strikes Venezuela, China taxes contraceptives and happy anniversary to the Birmingham bin-strikers
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said Britain was not involved ‘in any way’ in the US strikes on…
Another year without an Oscar
With the close of 2025 I crowned a tumultuous year in which I got married, moved house and saw Evelyn,…
What a shame Andrew Tate didn’t live in ancient Greece
Has any public figure of recent memory ever admitted to feeling shame for anything they have said or done? As…
Jack Rankin: No to Reform
No to Reform Sir: Perhaps because I have been candid about the Conservative party’s failures in office, I am mooted…
What went up – and down – in 2025?
Erasmus in England The government is to rejoin the Erasmus scheme, which allows students at British universities to spend time…
Who’s up to the challenge of restoring Britain’s prosperity?
In 1956, Malta held a referendum on joining the United Kingdom. Since the islands were economically reliant on the Royal…
Heroes have faults too
The chief function of the prime minister is to take the blame, and Sir Keir Starmer can no more escape…
Portrait of the week: Farm tax backdown, trail hunting crackdown and anti-misogyny courses for 11-year-olds
Home The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans to criminalise trail hunting ‘amid concerns it is being…
How the ancients anticipated the apocalypse
What with the threat of global warming and nuclear war, the new year might start with a big bang. The…
Letters: Don’t let Labour kill off trail hunting
Man with man to dwell Sir: Your editorial (‘All ye faithful’, 13-27 December) suggests that scepticism about Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s (Tommy…
Who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh?
Pooh-pooh Christmas Eve marks the 100th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh, which first appeared in a short story in the Evening News…
The radical message of Christianity
A meeting planned in secret. A message deemed subversive. The authorities both antagonised and confused. The gatherings of the early…
My farewell to In Our Time
I set up In Our Time 27 years ago. I had been shunted from Start the Week to what was…
Portrait of the year: Trump’s tariffs, the definition of biological sex and the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
January Downing Street said Rachel Reeves would remain in her role as Chancellor of the Exchequer ‘for the whole of…
