World
Iran and the crisis in the European mind
The politics of the Iranian war feature an observable gap between interest and action for nearly all parties. The Americans…
Smartphones are making us stupid
For some years now Private Eye’s ‘Dumb Britain’ section has been regaling its readers with examples of contestants giving ridiculous and…
Does Rachel Reeves know anything about AI?
Like Harold Wilson and his ‘white heat of technology’, Rachel Reeves is presumably hoping that blathering on about AI and…
English Tourism Week won’t save the tourist industry
‘English Tourism Week’, which runs until 23 March, kicked off with a jaunty reception in Downing Street. Various ‘celebratory’ and…
Why is America always at war?
Sizable minorities on both the left and the right want America to intervene in fewer foreign conflicts and to exercise…
The illusion of Iranian regime change
Supporters of regime change in Iran have long argued that if the United States and Israel weakened the country’s rulers…
What we get wrong about defence spending
The combined US-Israeli strikes against Iran have displaced the Russia-Ukraine war from the headlines and brought British defence policy into…
Why haven’t the Lib Dems ditched Ed Davey yet?
If Sir Ed Davey’s stunts were ever funny, the joke has long since worn off. At the Lib Dem spring…
The welcome demise of NCP
It will probably come as a surprise to anyone who has paid £10 per hour or more for one of…
Starmer’s lecternmania is out of control
When I woke up yesterday morning, almost the first thing I saw was the announcement that Keir Starmer was to…
Israel blows up Ali Khamenei’s jet
Situation update Israeli forces carried out strikes across Iran over the past 24 hours, hitting targets in Tehran, Shiraz and…
The real reason the Guardian is so hostile to Gail’s
Nothing good has ever followed the words ‘we need to talk’, ‘terms of service update’, or ‘by Jonathan Liew’, and…
Official Ireland is embarrassed by St Patrick’s day
Some readers may remember a particularly infamous episode of The Simpsons which saw the town of Springfield descend into anarchy…
Paul Ehrlich’s bad ideas won’t go away
I am sorry to hear of the death of Stanford University Professor of Biology Paul R. Ehrlich at the age…
Should Nato help America defend the Strait of Hormuz?
As soon as Operation Epic Fury, America’s latest campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, got underway on the last…
Iran’s first gayatollah?
Something queer’s afoot in the Islamic Republic. As Mojtaba Khamenei was announced as Iran’s new Supreme Leader last week, reports…
Did the death of Shakespeare’s son really inspire Hamlet?
Just as each age refashions Hamlet in its own image, so I suspect we have got our own Hamnet. The…
Keir Starmer’s ridiculous Iran grandstanding
Downing Street’s briefing room increasingly looks like a municipal crematorium. It is a depressing feast of cheap teak and black…
Why tyrant chefs thrive in fine dining
René Redzepi, the chef behind Noma, will have plenty to discuss with his therapist. A report in the New York…
The truth about ‘progressives’ like Bob Vylan
Maybe it’s because I’m getting on in years, but I remember when being “progressive” meant supporting women’s rights, believing in…
Marine Le Pen’s rise seems unstoppable
The first round of voting in France’s municipal elections has laid bare the country’s deep fractures. In a turnout of…
Iceland is tiptoeing into the EU
A few weeks ago, Icelanders were busy worrying about tax increases, growing inflation, unemployment and immigration. The government was worried…
Reform is right to take on the civil service blob
Last week Reform UK scandalised Whitehall. If they take power, they said, they would take a hard look at the…
The Oscars was as exciting as a Keir Starmer speech
The results of this year’s Oscars were so predictable as to be entirely unexciting. Months ago, the pundits had called…
Campus anti-Semitism is dragging Britain to a dark place
Would you share a house with someone black? Even to pose the question, let alone to say no, is to…
