World
Blue and white-collar jobs will never be valued equally
I’ve always admired Jimmy Carr’s line on the distinction between old-fashioned communism and the newer, woker sort. ‘Instead of trying…
Why won’t Burnham commit to the 2030 defence target?
It is hard to imagine many people will miss Sir Keir Starmer now he has gone. Perhaps, like phantom limb…
Can Trump improve the ‘terrible’ Dulles Airport?
Air Force One may not use commercial airports, but Donald Trump has nonetheless taken the initiative to plan a major…
How ‘defund the police’ ideologues laid waste to Portland
Portland’s downtown area, though not without a certain residual hippy charm, increasingly resembles the Dunkirk of May 1940. Standing on…
It’s amazing how far Burnham has got by not being Keir Starmer
It’s amazing how far a prime minister can get just by not being Keir Starmer. There’s considerable political success to…
Will the wars in Ukraine and Iran merge?
This is a fraught moment, perhaps the most dangerous since the end of the Cold War. Two major wars are…
Watch: French police sit back as small boats set sail
This is jaw-dropping French Gendarmes admit today they have orders not to stop migrants – only talk to them –…
FIFA should be allowed to sell off the World Cup
It will bring in outside investors, open the doors to global money, enrich a handful of inside executives and, perhaps…
Trade unions boycott Labour women’s conference over trans ban
Labour has once again descended into infighting because swathes of its members and trade union chums remain unable to comprehend…
Burnham and Powell want to bring back stupid
When the great Tory Lord Chancellor F. E. Smith gave his rectorial address at Glasgow University in 1923 he promised…
Who will pay for Burnham’s social care revolution?
Andy Burnham has all but confirmed that tax rises are coming to fund major reforms to social care. In the…
Burnham is wrong to model social care reform on the NHS
There have been trimmings and ornaments: the bus fare cap and the performative opening of a No. 10 North in…
Why young Africans like Trump
Washington keeps asking why it is losing Africa to China. I commissioned a survey of nearly 5,000 young Africans to…
The GOP has eaten MAGA
With the death of Lindsey Graham and the disappearance of Mitch McConnell, a link to the past seems to have…
Does Lucy Powell really think ‘knight’ is an obscure word?
Knight. Through. Rewarded. Adventure. Explosion. Ok, so I know Spectator readers are of above-average intelligence, and so hardly a representative…
Why a ‘social care levy’ is a bad idea
I am not having an election because I am going to stick to the 2024 manifesto on which Labour was…
Burnham won’t reform social care with ‘cross-party consensus’
Does Andy Burnham really believe that cross-party consensus is going to resolve the decades-long stalemate on the funding of adult…
Is Burnham prepared to get tough with his NEET shake-up?
‘We’ll value the hard hat as much as the graduation cap.’ These are stirring words from newly incumbent prime minister…
How to fix education
The new prime minister’s eye catching opening announcement on education contains important truths, interwoven with equally important misconceptions. In implementing…
Patrick Bruel and the death of French seduction
Patrick Bruel was once a heartthrob pop star whose dark brooding looks fuelled a ‘Bruelmania’ fever that swept through France…
What the Saltburn cricket scandal says about the fallibility of man
You know you are in trouble when Piers Morgan describes your behaviour as ‘outrageous’. Earlier this week a cricket fan,…
We must learn from Suzy Lamplugh’s death
Forty years ago today Suzy Lamplugh, a 25-year-old estate agent, left her office in Fulham. Colleagues believed she was meeting…
What is the point of Scottish Labour?
The Scottish Labour party is a bit like cigarette-smoking or the Church of Scotland: it used to be everywhere you…
Spain’s response to wildfires has been infuriating
From my home in Ávila I usually have a splendid view of the ancient town’s medieval walls. But yesterday morning…
Macron and his diplomats can’t help talking down Americans
Diplomatic relations between France and the USA are more strained than ever following a row at the United Nations. The…
