Only a fool won’t welcome the NHS chickenpox vaccine rollout
It’s rare that any government – not least Keir Starmer’s – does something to which there can be no even…
Robin Westman and the unstoppable tide of ‘slop violence’
On Wednesday, doing my laundry, I decided to turn on the TV for the first time in decades. Breaking news:…
What the Bell Hotel case reveals about two-tier Labour
It’s a mark of the absurd legalism of Britain’s political system that after a month of fierce protests and years…
Rayner’s stamp duty saving could cost her
Angela Rayner’s living arrangements are causing the Deputy Prime Minister a headache. The Daily Telegraph has today splashed on claims that Rayner…
A dual crisis is looming for France
Financial crises are often linked to a political crisis. On 8 September, the French government will submit itself to a…
Topshop’s return doesn’t mean the high street is safe
You probably won’t see Kate Moss gossiping with a Spice Girl or two by the changing rooms, but for anyone…
Why Rachel Reeves will keep designing terrible taxes
I suspect most of us long ago gave up on expecting any humility from our politicians – indeed, the less…
Trump’s big Bolivia opportunity
After nearly two decades of reign over Bolivia, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party was banished at the ballot box…
How Democrats failed Minneapolis
What happens after an unspeakable tragedy? One that comes on an idyllic late August day in Minneapolis that signaled the…
Unrecognise Palestine
The news that Iran was behind at least two of the recent antisemitic attacks in Australia is horrifying, but not…
Dark and ravaged places
Destiny was the first work commissioned under Anne-Louise Sarks’ directorship of the Melbourne Theatre Company and it’s appropriate that it…
Aussie life
The vote to cut HECs debt just went through parliament. Clever politics targeting the youth vote yet all I remember…
Language
A Speccie reader (Noel) wants to know if the media is using ‘decimated’ correctly, when a commenter calls on Hamas…
Reeves’s glum Budget briefings are hurting the economy
Rachel Reeves’s error before last autumn’s Budget might have been written off as the act of a ministerial rookie. She…
Was the Minneapolis shooting an anti-Catholic hate crime?
‘Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,’ said Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey, standing near the scene…
