World
The best winter wines
Winter is a natural moment for a little recherche du temps perdu. For my band of serious thinkers, the usual…
There’s only one way to end the war in Ukraine
Donald Trump has told Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. ‘Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous war!’ he…
Axel Rudakubana should never have been free to kill
Coulter’s Law, named after its originator, the right-wing polemicist Ann Coulter, holds that the longer it takes the authorities or…
Trump is not fooling this time
It is said that the adage “he who hesitates is lost” is an adaptation of a line from Joseph Addison’s…
Braverman calls on Tories and Reform to ‘unite the right’
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK has had a rather good few months, with a number of opinion polls showing the Clacton…
Australia can’t blame foreign actors for its anti-Semitism shame
Australia is supposed to be a nation of tolerance and acceptance – the one place in a troubled world where people…
The real reason female footballers aren’t on birthday cards
Oh dear… it appears that birthday and greetings cards are sexist. This is, at least, the claim of a group…
I don’t beg your pardon
The government can take away your liberty for moving furniture, I get that now. When it makes you into a…
This was Badenoch’s best PMQs yet
Kemi Badenoch had her best Prime Minister’s Questions yet today. She alighted on a topic that Keir Starmer really struggled…
The truth about ‘stupid’ footballers
I’ll always remember a conversation I had with someone just after I’d interviewed the footballer Frank Lampard. ‘What was he…
Starmer’s academies U-turn
Today’s PMQs won’t go down in history as Sir Keir Starmer’s finest half hour, with the PM losing marks over…
Classical music is worth the effort
Last week I attended a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.3 at the Barbican Centre in the City of London. Gustavo…
How Donald Trump could really help Ukraine
There was surprisingly little in Donald Trump’s inaugural address about Russia and Ukraine, aside from a vague pledge to ‘stop…
Five failings of the assisted dying committee
Back in November, MPs waved through Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill by 330 votes to 275. Some of those who…
BBC under fire over Trump coverage
Uh oh. The Beeb’s back in the spotlight – and this time it’s over some rather interesting reporting on the…
Prince Harry has won a Pyrrhic victory over the Sun
So, in the end, Prince Harry folded. His much-ballyhooed case about News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun, which was…
Are we missing the point about the ‘Amazon killer’ Axel Rudakubana?
‘The Amazon Killer’, screams the Sun front page today. ‘Total disgrace he was able to buy knife on Amazon,’ says…
Why Britons can’t stop stealing
We were once known as a nation of shopkeepers. We are now a nation of shoplifters. As the Times reported last week,…
Rachel Reeves’ tinkering won’t rescue Britain’s economy
The news just seems to get worse for Rachel Reeves. After the slight relief of last week’s inflation and GDP…
Donald Trump is a president in a hurry
“The First Hundred Days” was the iconic phrase for Franklin Roosevelt’s rapid-fire acts as the new president. Donald Trump intends…
Nine reasons why Trump means business this time
Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, every new US administration has been judged on its first hundred days, but it is in…
Is Starmer right about the ‘new’ terror threat?
Sir Keir Starmer was explicit in his response to the Southport attack: Britain faces a new terror threat from “loners,…
What Trump’s executive orders will do
The newly sworn-in President Trump had a busy inaugural day. Between swearing into office and waving a saber around while…
Trump’s inauguration ball was a night to remember
After a packed first day in office, starting with an indoors swearing-in ceremony followed by a celebration at Capitol One…
Trump’s speech was one of the most rousing and substantive in American history
The mood in Washington, at least in the quarters I frequented, has been almost giddy these past few days. I watched…
