Is Liz Truss a Tory Jeremy Corbyn?
Many years ago, when the earth was young and leaving the European Union was a position espoused only by those…
Putin’s energy war has changed Germany’s relations with Russia for good
After months of speculation and handwringing, it has finally happened: Germany and the rest of Europe are now receiving no…
Liz Truss will come to regret her ‘bonfire’ of workers’ rights
Liz Truss is right about sex and gender. But if she is to get the country through the next winter…
The EU is hoping to catch Liz Truss on the backfoot over Brexit
A vital part of gamesmanship, according to the British author Stephen Potter, is to disconcert your opponent before they have joined…
Sydney: no petrol or diesel cars, no gas, no future
New South Wales is in for an energy nightmare, and it makes no difference whether they vote Labor, Green, or…
The strange effort to ‘decolonize’ global health
“Global health” has emerged in the last decade or so as one of the growth areas in the medical and…
The perversion of the English language
Language is a powerful vessel. It defines how we think, speak, write, and communicate. If you control language, you control…
Australia died when Zoe Buhler was handcuffed
On September 2, 2020, a young pregnant woman in Ballarat, Zoe Buhler, had several police officers turn up at her…
Power crisis in Europe
As summer mellows into autumn, Europeans are beginning to prepare for winter. This is bad news, as the winter of…
Apologies are not enough
Last week in the Parliament of Victoria, I called for Premier Daniel Andrews to apologise to a Ballarat mum who…
Is it time to defund the humanities?
Much of the cost of running our universities and other centres of higher education is borne by government, meaning the…
Only an ‘un-conservative’ measure can solve the energy crisis
The UK economy has so far held up reasonably well in the face of the rise in energy prices. But…
Beer and loathing: Why Russians loved and hated Gorbachev
A paradox about Mikhail Gorbachev for my generation of Russians – I was seven years old when he became general…
Why Poland wants Germany to pay war reparations
Poland commemorated the 83rd anniversary of its invasion by Nazi Germany this week. To mark the occasion the leader of…
Will Liz Truss’s Tory party practice what it preaches?
The Tory party is very good at pointing out — and profiting from — how the Labour party often values…
Will Chad become Africa’s next warzone?
If you went to Doha this summer, you may have seen some militiamen from Chad. Perhaps at breakfast. For the…
Vaccines disguised the errors of our lockdown policy
Liz Truss’s statement that she would never authorise another lockdown and The Spectator’s interview with Rishi Sunak have triggered a…
The case for energy nationalisation
We are living through an energy crisis unlike anything since the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979. The average household…
Father’s Day
Father’s Day is too often written off as a Hallmark Holiday. Yes, it is a recent social construct, but when…
Cancelling the Cashless Debit Card: ideology trumps reality
The Albanese/Labor government was elected with a manifesto that included discontinuation of the compulsory cashless debit card (CDC); the bill…
Higher taxes: that old chestnut?
Why was I not surprised when Ross Garnaut started touting higher taxes for the mining industry to solve our current cost…
The problem with parliament’s partygate inquiry
Boris Johnson has recently employed the services of the lawyer Lord Pannick, who has given his legal opinion on a…
Why it’s still worth asking questions on lockdown
Rishi Sunak’s interview in last week’s magazine has inspired a lot of comment. Two this week: Lee Cain, ex-No. 10…
Macron is blaming Putin for his own net zero folly
France is at war again, or as good as, according to Emmanuel Manuel’s recent rhetoric. This time the enemy is…
Putin’s closure of Nord Stream 1 has left Britain exposed
Few will be minded to believe Russia’s explanation for cutting off Nord Stream 1 pipeline – that it is a…
