Bombing Syria in 2013 would not have toppled Assad
In hindsight, did the US, UK and France fail to seize the chance to topple President Bashar al-Assad in 2013?…
How long will Macron’s latest prime minister last?
Emmanuel Macron has appointed the veteran centrist Francois Bayrou as his fourth prime minister of the year. First elected as…
Gukesh’s championship win is a triumph for Indian chess
Eighteen-year old Gukesh Dommaraju, from India, has become the youngest ever world chess champion – after defeating defending champion, China’s Ding…
Graham Linehan: I’m leaving Britain
To the world of comedy, where it transpires that renowned gender critical activist Graham Linehan is looking for pastures new.…
What Ed Miliband got right on Syria
It’s not every day I spring to the defence of Ed Miliband, Secretary for Environment, Net Zero and all the…
Prince Andrew’s Chinese ‘spy’ blunder is no surprise
It is fair to say that Prince Andrew has always had poor taste in friends. Notoriously, and reputation-shreddingly, he consorted…
GDP decline is not only Labour’s fault
Is the government going to create a recession out of thin air? This morning’s GDP figures from the Office of…
Labour cabinet splits over Assad
Another day, another Labour drama. It now transpires that Sir Keir Starmer’s army is in turmoil over a previous Labour…
Economy shrinks in blow for Rachel Reeves
Another day, another piece of bad news for the chancellor. The economy shrank in October for the second month in…
The surprisingly recent invention of Friday the 13th
For anyone who is even a little superstitious (and superstition sometimes feels more like an unavoidable burden than a conscious…
France’s defence spending debacle will infuriate Donald Trump
Donald Trump is right that some of Nato’s European members are essentially freeloaders. That these countries are holding talks about…
There’s no such thing as a neutral centrist
Does religion matter in politics today? It certainly does, at least if you pose as someone who is neutral, as…
What al-Jolani’s past can reveal about Syria’s future
In late February 2012 I was travelling through Syria’s Idleb province. I stayed for a few days in a town…
Social media bans and the control of centralised information
Much remains unclear following the rushed passage of the legislation banning under 16s from social media. Yet one thing is…
Climate chains – rise of the normies
Listen up deniers and right-wing nut-jobs! Our critical energy systems have been under attack for a couple of decades but…
Luigi Mangione’s bad education
Luigi Mangione is officially the “suspect” in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, but he is plainly the culprit,…
Even climate fanatics are having doubts
Time for another review of the electricity market…? Commonwealth and state ministers have established a new four-person commission, the NEM…
The Kansas City Chiefs are the luckiest team in pro sports history
On Black Friday, I attended a Friendsgiving party where I watched the Chiefs-Raiders game with a friend who is a…
Scotland’s Labour voters support two-child cap, poll finds
To Scotland, where a new poll has revealed results the Nats may be rather unhappy to see. It now transpires…
Pyongyang is keeping strangely silent on South Korea’s turmoil
North Korea has long been infamous for its hyperbolic rhetoric. While there are some subjects – such as the locations…
Have Syria’s rebels really reformed?
There were two scenes from Syria last night screened by the BBC and Channel 4 News that should give the…
How can we complain about the 2034 Saudi World Cup?
I suppose it is a mild surprise that Fifa didn’t choose Yemen to host the 2034 World Cup, as the…
Allow Shein to list in London
There are, in fairness, plenty of reasons why the City might be reluctant to embrace the Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein.…
Scotland caves to UK puberty blocker ban
Well, well, well. It now transpires that the Scottish government will follow Westminster’s lead on the UK puberty blocker ban…
Don’t blame this man for interrupting David Tennant
The curse of Macbeth strikes again. David Tennant’s turn as the Scottish psychopath was interrupted this week by a kerfuffle…
