World
Why Birmingham council went bust
There’s a bit too much schadenfreude from Tories over the effective bankruptcy of Birmingham Council. Its ‘Section 114 notice’ is…
Bring in the Gen X politicians!
American politics has become a tug-of-war between two generations. Boomers (and those older) dominate positions of power even as their…
Kemi becomes the Tory members’ favourite
When the king abdicates, who inherits the throne? Following Ben Wallace’s departure as Defence Secretary, it seems that Kemi Badenoch…
What France’s rubgy racism row reveals about the French left
Emmanuel Macron spent Monday morning in the presence of the French rugby team and for once he spoke without ambiguity.…
Are civil servants taking their revenge?
Jonathan Slater, a former top mandarin at the Department for Education (DfE), has laid the blame for the school building…
An impeachment inquiry looms
The signals coming from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are that his Republican majority will soon launch a formal impeachment investigation.…
Why Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable had to go
Simon Byrne, the Chief Constable of Northern Ireland’s beleaguered police force, has stepped down. It’s about time. The country’s police…
How did the ONS get its GDP figures so wrong?
The Office for National Statistics let a bombshell drop on Friday. Halfway down the first page of their grippingly-titled document…
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic problem
Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and your seat backs and tray tables are…
Sunak faces another tricky Tory by-election
It never rains but it pours for Rishi Sunak. Just when a new term loomed, with the encouraging news that…
Sunak has resorted to relying on rain to stop the boats
There is something curious about even the very modest degree of success the Prime Minister has been able to herald…
Silicon Valley’s curious obsession with building old-fashioned communities
It’s a peculiar thing about billionaires: they don’t half have a weak spot for building ideal communities from the ground up. You could…
How did the Tories not see the school concrete crisis coming?
How did they not see this coming? Normally that question is one of the laziest you can ask in Westminster:…
Fact check: would independence cut Scotland’s energy bills?
Good old Humza Yousaf: the one-man walking cure for imposter syndrome. Scotland’s First Minister was out making the case for…
A tribute to the lost art of letter writing
There are many good reasons, we’re constantly told, for millennials and Generation Z to resent their elders. What they can…
The terribleness of a progressive Bond
The latest Bond villain is Nigel Farage. Not literally, of course. But he was clearly a major inspiration for the…
China’s ‘standard map’ is a chilling reminder of its imperial ambitions
The Chinese Communist Party’s ‘standard map’ is updated each year to include Beijing’s ever-extending territorial claims. Neighbours see it as…
Will Paris’s ban stop e-scooters killing people?
Rental e-scooters have been banned from Paris since Friday after residents of the French capital were asked to decide their…
The forgotten end of the second world war
Two weeks ago, VJ day (Victory over Japan day) celebrated the end of the Pacific War. On 15 August 1945…
The Pope is wrong about Russian imperial greatness
Popes may make claims to infallibility but they certainly make mistakes, and Pope Francis is likely to get a dressing…
How Sinn Fein captured Northern Ireland’s police force
Policing any part of the United Kingdom is a difficult enough task these days. Policing the part of it where…
Might a Tory defeat in 2024 be something to celebrate?
When a party’s own natural supporters decide they have good reason to turn against it then the writing is normally…
What if Biden backs out?
President Biden has declared he’s running for a second term, but it’s far from certain he actually will. His infirmity…
Ukrainian pupils face an impossible dilemma
Today, almost five million Ukrainian pupils have gone to school – in person or remotely. Most didn’t have festive assemblies…
Inside the No. 10 shake-up
Thursday’s cabinet reshuffle may have been minor but the No. 10 shake-up is proving more substantive. Amber de Botton has…
