The Week
What kills penguins?
Black Friday When and where did the term ‘Black Friday’ originate? — It was used to describe a collapse in…
Socrates vs Steve Bannon
The country’s champions of free speech — the police — were recently out in force to ensure that the alt-right…
Letters: There is no such thing as a ‘good’ Brexit
There is no ‘good’ Brexit Sir: David Harper claims to know ‘what the population of the UK voted for’ in…
It’s a bad deal – whichever way you look at it
During last year’s general election campaign, Theresa May declared that ‘You can only deliver Brexit if you believe in Brexit’.…
Portrait of the week: Moment of truth for Theresa May’s Brexit deal
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, defended a 500-page technical draft of the agreement on withdrawal from the European Union.…
Jo Johnson: My Brexit resignation was a revolutionary act
Jacob Rees-Mogg observed that my resignation last week was ‘the “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment in the Brexit process’. If this…
Have wildfires really got worse over the years?
Hard bitten A British tourist died after contracting rabies from a cat bite in Morocco. Whatever happened to the prominent…
Trial and punishment
From ‘The Kaiser’, 16 November 1918: What is to be done with the Kaiser? For the question must certainly be…
Call the polis
If Brussels is willing to offer the British Parliament only a dog’s Brexit, that should tell Parliament everything it needs…
Letters: Art is as important as history in the remembrance of the past
Hearts as well as heads Sir: Simon Jenkins suggests we should stop remembering and start forgetting about the first world…
What the UK can learn from the US midterms
Donald Trump can, at the very least, claim to have killed off political apathy. Americans this week voted in greater…
Portrait of the week: The US midterms, Theresa May’s Brexit plan and London’s murder rate
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, set off for St Symphorien Military Cemetery in Mons, from which she was to…
Tim Laurence’s diary: how Macron broke a gentleman’s agreement for Remembrance Sunday
How on earth should one do it? How should the centenary of the end of a war be marked? Not…
How many restaurants have actually gone bust?
It is cricket The use of a baseball expression, backstop, for possible arrangements over the Irish border could upset some…
Giving thanks
From ‘Thanks be to God’, 16 November 1918: The thought that filled the mind of the nation on Monday, and…
Tony Abbott is wholly misplaced about WTO Brexit
Hubris and nemesis Sir: Douglas Murray’s assessment of Angela Merkel’s decision to stand down as German Chancellor (‘Europe’s empty throne’,…
The NHS must reform – or it will become obsolete
Since the Budget, economists have pointed out that Britain is turning into a health service with a government attached. The…
Portrait of the week: Hammond ‘ends austerity’, Angela Merkel resigns and Leicester City’s owner killed in helicopter crash
Home Austerity was ‘finally coming to an end’, Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in the Budget. He…
The lost joy of swearing
Upon discovering that Sinéad O’Connor has converted to Islam, I was about as shocked as a Yuletide shopper hearing the…
Does using social media affect children’s mental health?
On the wagon A ‘caravan’ of several thousand Central American migrants was reported to be travelling through Mexico towards the…
Letters: American vitriol, chess politics, Desert Island Discs, rude horse names
Political vitriol Sir: Vitriol and incivility seem to be everywhere in politics just now. In the last issue (27 October)…
What is the point of Philip Hammond?
What is the point of Philip Hammond? Most chancellors have an agenda, but it’s hard to discern any purpose or…
Portrait of the Week: the Brexit march, Nick Clegg’s new job and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, found herself in another crisis over Brexit. Backbenchers whispered that 48 letters were being…
What do #MeToo women feel about downtrodden husbands?
Eight years ago, in the course of doing some research into literacy teaching in London, I visited many primary schools.…
Doctors and death
The Royal College of Physicians has suggested that doctors should learn to talk to patients about death. But talk about…
