World
Official Ireland is embarrassed by St Patrick’s day
Some readers may remember a particularly infamous episode of The Simpsons which saw the town of Springfield descend into anarchy…
Paul Ehrlich’s bad ideas won’t go away
I am sorry to hear of the death of Stanford University Professor of Biology Paul R. Ehrlich at the age…
Should Nato help America defend the Strait of Hormuz?
As soon as Operation Epic Fury, America’s latest campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, got underway on the last…
Iran’s first gayatollah?
Something queer’s afoot in the Islamic Republic. As Mojtaba Khamenei was announced as Iran’s new Supreme Leader last week, reports…
Did the death of Shakespeare’s son really inspire Hamlet?
Just as each age refashions Hamlet in its own image, so I suspect we have got our own Hamnet. The…
Keir Starmer’s ridiculous Iran grandstanding
Downing Street’s briefing room increasingly looks like a municipal crematorium. It is a depressing feast of cheap teak and black…
Why tyrant chefs thrive in fine dining
René Redzepi, the chef behind Noma, will have plenty to discuss with his therapist. A report in the New York…
The truth about ‘progressives’ like Bob Vylan
Maybe it’s because I’m getting on in years, but I remember when being “progressive” meant supporting women’s rights, believing in…
Marine Le Pen’s rise seems unstoppable
The first round of voting in France’s municipal elections has laid bare the country’s deep fractures. In a turnout of…
Iceland is tiptoeing into the EU
A few weeks ago, Icelanders were busy worrying about tax increases, growing inflation, unemployment and immigration. The government was worried…
Reform is right to take on the civil service blob
Last week Reform UK scandalised Whitehall. If they take power, they said, they would take a hard look at the…
The Oscars was as exciting as a Keir Starmer speech
The results of this year’s Oscars were so predictable as to be entirely unexciting. Months ago, the pundits had called…
Campus anti-Semitism is dragging Britain to a dark place
Would you share a house with someone black? Even to pose the question, let alone to say no, is to…
Labour blunder on ethics (again)
In opposition, Keir Starmer was at pains to emphasise how different he would be to those wicked old corrupt Tories.…
Richard Tice’s tax trickery shows he is a true patriot
Reform’s Richard Tice has been the subject of what I fear is intended as a hit-piece in the Sunday Times. “The Deputy Leader…
Britain can learn from Trump’s moral clarity over Iran
Two weeks into the war in Iran, Donald Trump’s critics have intensified their attacks not only on his conduct of…
Stop crying wolf about World War Three
You sometimes wonder if people who put together newspapers these days have ever heard the story about the boy who…
Roald Dahl’s antisemitism feels painfully familiar
Me on Broadway. Not a phrase that immediately comes to mind, and certainly not one that occurred to me in…
Sunday shows round-up: Miliband says drones may be sent to open the Strait of Hormuz
Ed Miliband: Government may send drones to get Strait of Hormuz open The backlog of oil tankers unable to pass…
Hungarian independence day makes me think about Britain
One of the most important and dramatic dates in Hungarian and European history is 15 March 1848. The dashing poet Sandor Petofi recited the stirring ‘Nemzeti dal’ (‘National song’).…
Iran doubles down on the Strait of Hormuz blockade
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States is seeking an international naval coalition to reopen the Strait of…
Trump’s quest for a ‘Greater North America’ is in full swing
With world attention focused on the US-Israel assault on Iran, US Secretary of War Peter Hegseth delivered a speech last…
What Britain can learn from Israel’s female fighters
It is impossible to imagine the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) functioning without its female soldiers. In the last week alone,…
Good riddance Rene Redzepi
This week, Rene Redzepi – often credited as having created the world’s greatest restaurant – stepped down amid explosive allegations…
Why are men in the gym so annoying?
Being of menopausal age, I obey instructions and regularly lift weights (menopausal women are meant to lift heavy stuff and…
