World
How to break your phone addiction this New Year
As we finally emerge from the food coma of the Christmas blowout, our attention turns to New Year’s resolutions –…
The Steerpike Awards of 2025
So. Farewell then 2025. The Chinese Zodiac calendar called this ‘The Year of the Snake’ – and my goodness Westminster…
Do Putin’s New Year platitudes suggest he is tiring of ruling Russia?
Russia is still known for a great deal of innovative programming, but one area where there is concern it is…
Sophie Winkleman is right: parents can’t tackle the screendemic alone
The actress Sophie Winkleman has been honest and punished for it. As one of Britain’s foremost campaigners against the digitalisation…
Are we witnessing the end of Iran’s Islamic Republic?
Iran’s clerical establishment has spent nearly half a century insisting – always with that brittle certainty peculiar to ideologues –…
A New Year ‘Honour’ is nothing to be proud of
I’ve long loathed the idea of the ‘National Treasure’. Even typing the words made my eyes briefly cross with extreme…
Why Brigitte Bardot terrified men
My teenage self was right. Brigitte Bardot, who died this weekend, symbolised sex and freedom. It’s why I had a…
The bitter truth about New Year’s Eve
New Year’s Eve is the party we don’t need but can’t get rid of. The location varies according to geography.…
Shoot an elephant to save Africa
Africa’s elephants are out of control, and the continent’s people, and plants, are paying the price. Far too many elephants,…
AI is killing the art of speechwriting
‘Where are the snows of yesteryear?’ lamented the French poet François Villon. Professional writers around the world are devising their…
Tags for asylum seekers are a huge distraction
There’s a strange pattern in how the UK discusses policy, and once you notice it you realise it’s everywhere. What…
I have a ‘zero bill’ home – and you’re paying for it
Ed Miliband has given up trying to promise £300 a year off our energy bills. He is now dangling the…
Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s proxy war in Yemen
The escalation that emerged overnight in southern Yemen did not originate on the battlefield but in a relatively quiet logistical…
Why did so many luvvies fall for el-Fattah?
It is not only our hapless Prime Minister who supported the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah from an Egyptian prison,…
What is going on with Meghan and Archewell?
Lucky subscribers to ‘As Ever’, Meghan Markle’s Pravda-esque newsletter, were given an exclusive insight this festive season into how the…
France is becoming used to gratuitous violence
France seems to be witnessing more gratuitous attacks and stabbings. On Boxing Day afternoon, in the middle of central Paris,…
Don’t assume Donald Trump wants nuclear Armageddon
Donald Trump is plotting to turn Britain into a ‘nuclear launchpad’, according to a startling report in the Daily Mail.…
We’ll never escape Britain’s stupid class system
Britain’s class system has always been a load of self-defeating, nonsensical garbage with no obvious purpose. But, remarkably enough, it…
The worst thing about being an Iranian in Britain
What’s the most annoying thing about being an Iranian in Britain? Since coming to the UK a year ago, I’ve…
Reform offer removal van to Tory HQ
It is the season of goodwill to all men. So, in the spirit of brotherly love, Reform staff have today…
Could Alaa Abd el-Fattah have his British citizenship revoked?
It’s a difficult Monday for the Prime Minister. Shortly after Keir Starmer expressed his ‘delight’ that Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd…
Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s apology changes nothing
Call me an old cynic, but I knew from the moment that the Alaa Abd el-Fattah affair blew up what…
Why you are probably a hero
The Bondi murders painted a picture constituted out of the contrast between shade and light. This was the chiaroscuro massacre.…
The British state radicalised me
The liberal state and its journalistic and academic outriders fret constantly about the radicalising influence of under-regulated social media, but…
Brigitte Bardot’s rejection of fame was her most radical act
In 1956, Brigitte Bardot was invited to the Royal Command Film Performance in London, where she would be presented to Queen Elizabeth…
