A winter’s tale: Brightly Shining, by Ingvild Rishoi, reviewed
In a poignant story reminiscent of ‘The Little Match Girl’, two Norwegian children try to dodge social services by selling wreaths and Christmas trees when their father fails to provide for them
The Vikings never really went away
The Norsemen were settlers as well as raiders, and by the 860s had built up a ‘great heathen army’ to conquer and colonise much of Britain and the Continent
Versailles’s role as a palace of science
The vast seat of Bourbon power also doubled as a laboratory for experiments in astronomy, hydraulics, engineering, ballooning, medicine, mathematics and cartography
The joy of discussing life’s great questions with a philosopher friend
A higher form of love than romance or conjugal felicity was what Socrates offered in his dialogues, says Agnes Callard
Once upon a time in Germany: the Grimms’ legacy of revenge and gory redemption
The Household Tales only attained their standing after the brothers’ death, with the unification of Germany and the decades of nationalism that led to catastrophe
Scottish Labour admin slip-up sees party lines sent across Holyrood
Well, well, well. It’s not been a great start to the year for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party in Westminster…
How Jean-Marie Le Pen lives on
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died aged 96 on 7 January, was the personification of the travails and excesses of post-war…
Reform faces councillor exodus as 12 set to quit over Farage
Uh oh. There’s trouble in paradise this evening as it has emerged that 12 Reform UK councillors are set to…
Does Britain need China?
As Rachel Reeves, flies to Beijing , she will have plenty of support from those who claim that the UK…
The Monkey in the Mirror: Lessons from Robbie Williams’ Better Man
Robbie Williams kicked off 2025 with a headline performance at ABC’s New Year’s Eve Party outside the Sydney Opera House.…
Why Labour is cosying up to China
It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true…
Why German politicians fear Musk’s AfD interview
Over 200,000 listeners tuned into Elon Musk’s online conversation with Alice Weidel, the co-leader of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD),…
The Chagos Islands deal is uniquely terrible
Last year, a Mauritian politician raised eyebrows in Britain when he told a political rally that ‘England has agreed to…
Starmer’s grooming gang stance might not last the weekend
From the start of Elon Musk’s onslaught, Sir Keir Starmer’s position in refusing a new national inquiry into the grooming…
Does the UK have more mandarins than communist China?
Mr Steerpike was interested to read over the Christmas break that young people are currently flocking to join China’s civil…
China hawks prepare fresh headache for Labour
It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true…
In defence of prejudice
There’s always something that seems clinically compelling about a claim that we need yet more equality laws. Mary Prior KC,…
Could Elon Musk really oust Keir Starmer?
Another day, another story that risks further exacerbating tensions between the world’s richest man and the prime minister. The Mirror…
Will Rachel Reeves have to go back on her word?
Elon Musk may have moved political focus in the UK to the grooming gangs scandal, but there is another issue…
Why we should admire Mick Lynch
Rail union leader Mick Lynch has announced his retirement. No doubt there will be plenty who will breathe a sigh…
Grooming gang victims are still being ignored
The horror of organised child sexual abuse and pimping – euphemistically called ‘grooming gangs’ – is back in the news. But unfortunately…
