The Week
Portrait of the Week: pornography, ‘sulky livers’ and abortion
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced £300 million more in military aid for Ukraine. Speaking by video to the…
What Angela Rayner could learn from Hera
Whatever one thinks of her politics, Angela Rayner is clearly a pretty sporting party, and the joke she made about…
Brexit’s potential is beginning to be realised
The purpose of Brexit was to strengthen Britain’s ties with both the world beyond Europe and with Europe itself, but…
What makes a ‘just’ war?
What is a just war? Those who, from St Augustine onwards, have debated the question usually begin with Cicero, the…
How controversial was Basic Instinct?
Stone me Boris Johnson threatened to unleash the ‘terrors of the Earth’ on an unidentified Tory MP who claimed that…
Letters: Workshy Whitehall has its benefits
In check Sir: Jade McGlynn (‘Conflict of opinion’, 23 April) has a point that there are many reasons for popular…
Portrait of the week: Twitter takeover, late nights for pubs and a row over leg-crossing
Home Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, said Britain assessed that 15,000 Russians had been killed in the war against Ukraine…
How can James Bond survive?
I have just got back from Cannes, where I was the president of a jury, judging TV dramas. I’ve never…
Letters: The hard truth about soft power
Soft ground Sir: We have heard much over the years from the overseas aid lobby about the value of soft…
Portrait of the week: Boris packs his bags, XR blocks bridges and Netflix viewers switch off
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, told the House of Commons that it did not occur to him that the…
Britain and the West must step up support to Ukraine
The first few weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine went so badly that it was tempting to see the withdrawal…
Ukraine, the Roman army and why morale matters
Commentators talk much about the morale of the Ukrainian troops and the edge that this has given them over the…
My secret invitation from Michael Gove
As you may have heard (if you haven’t, I’m losing my narcissistically self-promotional touch) my new TV show Piers Morgan…
Which countries have the most expensive train tickets?
Park the issue Gladstone Park in Brent may be renamed as a result of the former PM’s connections with slavery.…
How much did Emily Maitlis cost licence fee payers?
Off duty How many non-doms are there in the UK? – In the year ending 2020, 75,700 people filled in…
The French election should be a warning for Boris
In just over a week’s time, Emmanuel Macron will most likely win a second term. He has the opponent he…
To survive, Boris Johnson must do more than pose as a war leader
Attending an impromptu birthday party in the office is not the most heinous of crimes, and of course Britain’s fixation…
How do we celebrate Easter in the shadow of war?
This week has been Passiontide, which means lots of wonderful plainsong in the choir of Canterbury Cathedral as my predecessors…
Letters: The Scottish government must be held to account
Backward devolution Sir: Thanks for once again highlighting the many issues with government in Scotland (‘Sturgeon’s secret state’, 9 April).…
Portrait of the week: Boris in Kyiv, Rishi in hot water and crystal meth in a cereal packet
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, travelled to Kyiv in secret and joined President Volodymyr Zelensky for the cameras in…
The rise and fall of the Tsarist legal system
St. Petersburg University in Russia is (desperately?) inviting scholars worldwide to a conference in September celebrating Mikhail Speransky. It was…
Portrait of the week: Covid fines, cancelled flights and sunflower oil shortages
Home Jonathan Reynolds, Labour’s business spokesman, said that the government should be preparing for energy rationing, but Grant Shapps, the…
What happened to Tory radicalism?
Whatever advantages money may have brought Rishi Sunak as he rose to become Chancellor of the Exchequer, his wealth has…
The Russians aren’t the first to rewrite history
Historians in Russia have a long and craven record, now going back centuries, of being economical with the truth about…
Which foods are seeing the biggest price rises?
Palm substitutes Palm Sunday was so-called because of the palm fronds thrown before Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem. But…
