Why Ukraine’s attack on the Novocherkassk warship matters
It was not quite in time for Christmas (which Ukraine now celebrates on 25 December, after switching this year from…
UK becomes first G20 country to halve its carbon emissions
A major milestone has just been passed: Britain has become the first major country to halve its carbon emissions. The…
The shameful legacy of Tony Blair’s Hunting Act
Most laws enacted nearly 20 years ago become uncontroversial with the passage of time. The Hunting Act, though, is not…
Has the West forgotten about Ukraine?
When Hamas murdered 1,200 people on October 7, I was in eastern Ukraine, researching a long piece for the Telegraph…
The trouble with Boxing Day
You are bloated and binged. Your bloodstream is 35 per cent blood, 60 per cent a mix of Nurofen Plus,…
Can Jilly Cooper wreck your life?
What do the names Octavia, Prudence, Harriet, and Imogen all have in common? If you don’t know the answer to…
The King’s Speech
Standing in front of a Christmas tree adorned with ornaments dedicated to sustainability, His Majesty King Charles III used every…
Is the West at war in the Red Sea?
Britain and the US are getting ever more drawn in to the conflict in the Red Sea, as Iran-backed Houthis…
The King’s speech was more Christian than his mother had dared
King Charles has been a victim of his own success. His first Christmas broadcast last year, which was both affecting and…
How I found the true meaning of Christmas in prison
What do prisoners eat on Christmas Day? Some tabloid reports might lead you to think ‘lags’ are ‘gorging’ themselves on…
Algerian Christians will face persecution this Christmas
During this Advent, churches across Britain will once again open their doors to both the regular faithful, along with not-so-faithful…
The foul truth about wood-burners
My first instinct is to rush to the attack against any think tank which calls for stuff to be banned.…
From illegal to ambassador – the incredible story of Uran Ferizi
The next Albanian ambassador to London will be Uran Ferizi. It is a remarkable appointment, not least because Dr Ferizi’s…
The mystery of the Mandaeans, the gnostic sect that worships John the Baptist
Gnosticism – the belief that the creation of the material world was a mistake, and the creator deity a bungling…
The ancient roots of Christmas ghost stories
Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is either, depending on your perspective, the ultimate Christmas ghost story or a complete subversion of the…
Are the Pope’s allies funding people smugglers?
Some of Pope Francis’s closest allies in the Catholic Church are alleged to have secretly given more than €2 million to…
Where did the Christmas magic go?
It’s late December 1982 or thereabouts, and I’m standing in a Suffolk church before hundreds of people, wearing a cassock…
Peter Dutton’s Christmas message: we live in the best country in the world
Australians will be looking forward to this Christmas; 2023 has been a year of hardships at home and adversity abroad.…
There you go. I said it. ‘Christmas!’
I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. There you go. I said it. ‘Christmas!’ Isn’t it strange how…
The EU isn’t serious about tackling the migrant crisis
Robert Jenrick is right: the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum is ‘not worth the paper it’s written on’.…
Carols by Candlelight: a true Australian tradition
The tradition of Carols by Candlelight in Australia finds its roots intertwined with the arrival of the Cornish Methodist miners…
Rishi’s rule will end with a whimper, not a bang
That best-selling 1970s toy Action Man proved the power of evolution. First, the painted hair on the initial models was…
Merry Wokemas
‘Rejoice in the birth of a brown-skinned, Middle-Eastern, undocumented immigrant.’ You might have seen this message around the place in…
When will the Premier League stop treating football fans with contempt?
The Premier League’s television paymasters, who plough billions into football, invariably get what they want. That is surely why the decision…
Who wants Amsterdam’s mega brothel on their doorstep?
Amsterdam’s red light district is an uncomfortable place for a woman to walk at night. Drunk tourists from all around…
