World
Why Starmer has been such a failure
There were lots of contested takeaways from the Makerfield by-election this week. But the one thing that seems incontrovertible is…
What use are the Lords Spiritual?
Defenders of the Anglican establishment often cite as one of its benefits the ‘Bishops’ Bench’ in the House of Lords.…
Tom Hiddleston must be stopped
The actor Tom Hiddleston is an Arsenal fan. Nothing wrong with that, of course. The club is a magnet to…
Paris’s Left Bank is dying
In the heart of Paris’s Left Bank, the Café de Cluny has witnessed many tumultuous events in modern French history.…
In praise of the millennial dad
By the school gates. At swimming lessons. In NCT classes, soft play centres and the baby aisle at Tesco. Everywhere…
The small Dutch town that said no to more asylum seekers
A political crisis is unfolding in the small Dutch town of Maassluis, a former fishing village which sits between Rotterdam’s…
What happened to the Bournemouth I knew?
Bournemouth, the university town I spent my studying days and where millions have visited over centuries for a coastal break,…
Why wasn’t Preston Davey’s foster carer listened to?
The video released on Thursday of Preston Davey smiling up from his highchair is difficult to watch. It captures the…
Andy Burnham is going to be yet another terrible prime minister
The line of ex-prime ministers at the Cenotaph ceremony is getting embarrassingly long. Since 2016, Britain has added four to…
Why did the Bedford train accident happen?
Investigators will be anxious to ascertain the cause of the Bedford train accident given its very unusual nature. The toll…
The Ben Stokes affair is unfortunate but funny
When the news of English cricket’s latest crisis first broke, it was tempting to laugh. It was as if reality…
Did the Iran war work?
When Donald Trump signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran earlier this week, the accepted narrative was that it was…
The BBC’s kids’ shows are worse than what’s on YouTube
Booting children off YouTube so they can spend more time watching the BBC sounds wonderfully wholesome to a generation of…
Does Ed Miliband want to ban your tumble dryer?
On the Today programme this week, Theo Bertram of the Social Market Foundation appeared to discuss his think tank’s commentary, ‘Deep Fakerfield’, on…
We found the limit of free speech at the Oxford Union
The last time the girls and boys of the Oxford Union had invited me to speak, it was about Israel,…
The hard part starts now for Andy Burnham
For his Labour critics, Andy Burnham is just Keir Starmer in a black T-shirt. They mutter that the new MP…
How the King can help save Dartmoor’s ponies
‘Rain squalls drifted across their russet face, and the heavy, slate-coloured clouds hung low over the landscape, trailing in grey…
The nine contenders to be Burnham’s chancellor
Andy Burnham is the new MP for Makerfield and is well on the way to becoming the new prime minister.…
Why Restore were humiliated in Makerfield
Finally we have an answer to the question: ‘How popular is Rupert Lowe’s party Restore?’ The answer is: ‘Less popular…
Will Vance regret being the face of the Iran deal?
After a week of international agonizing, it looks as if the first round of the latest peace talks between America…
Labour’s heading for a catastrophic collision with reality
In the giddy rush to announce yet another ‘New Chapter’ in British politics – whose chapters these days seem to…
Why the Tories really beat the SNP in Aberdeen South
The Scottish Conservative victory in the Aberdeen South by-election wasn’t entirely unexpected. New MP Douglas Lumsden is a well-known local…
Why Makerfield backed Burnham
Pollsters should generally avoid hyperbole, but what we saw last night was nothing short of an electoral earthquake. On every…
Why Andy Burnham could be tempted by a snap election
Andy Burnham has catapulted his way back to Westminster in a landslide victory, winning 55 per cent of the vote…
Will the SNP get the message after their thumping defeat in Aberdeen South?
With all the attention concentrated on Makerfield, it was easy to forget that two other by-elections were taking place yesterday,…
