Britain
Brexit means Boris
A few months before he died in 2007, the famous journalist Bill Deedes asked if I would come to see…
Anger? Yes. But in another country, leaving the EU would mean bloodshed
Did any of us, whatever our opinions, expect the level of blustering indignation that has emerged since the 2016 referendum?…
Why local radio is thriving
It’s 50 years since the first local radio stations were launched by the BBC in yet another instance of the…
Our big fat problem
The good news is that Theresa May has dropped the threat to withdraw universal free school meals. Thank God (and…
Continental drift
It is a long time since the term ‘sick man of Europe’ could be applied to Britain. France is now…
Purge of the posh
Should employees be judged by their parents’ income?
Losing faith
A landmark in national life has just been passed. For the first time in recorded history, those declaring themselves to…
The Tory dogfight
The Brexit campaign has only just started to demonstrate its strength
You’ve been framed
The photographer Martin Parr claims to like ordinary people, but are his pictures celebratory or mocking, asks Stephen Bayley
The EU must change
David Cameron’s attempt to renegotiate Britain’s EU membership has served as a powerful reminder of the case for leaving. The…
Emma Thompson’s wrong, and not just about the EU
At first glance, Emma Thompson’s intervention in the Brexit debate earlier this week didn’t make much sense. Asked at the…
State of the Union
Last year, the United Kingdom came within 384,000 votes of destruction. A referendum designed to crush the Scottish nationalists instead…
It is time to join the fight against IS in Syria
The Islamic State is as monstrous an enemy as we have seen in recent history. It crucifies and decapitates its…
The pretend war: bombing Isil won’t solve the problem
Britain, France and America are in a protracted fight against Islamic radicalism. Pity our leaders have no idea how to win it
Get ready: these climate change talks might actually do something
The Prince of Wales is right, and I appreciate that this isn’t something people say very often. Now and again,…
Approachable abstraction
Fifteen million pounds and a hefty slice of architectural vision have transformed the Whitworth from a fusty Victorian art temple…
The caliphate strikes back
Isis could be on the brink of creating a terrifying new world order
Will Spain learn?
One of the unforeseen consequences of the reunification of Europe after the Cold War has been a resurgence of independence…
Long life
When Robert Peston, the economics editor of the BBC, interviewed George Osborne on television in an open-necked shirt with collar…
Sick and tired
When the link between tobacco and lung cancer was first established in the early 1950s, one obvious question arose: should…
Diary
‘Hello. I’m lesbian threesome,’ the young lady tells Taki. ‘And I’m Mongolian rampage,’ says the young man beside her. We’re…
This is England
At the Turner Prize dinner of 2003, as the winner, Grayson Perry, took a photo call with his family wearing…
Let Greece go
To listen to Greek government ministers addressing the outside world during their breaks from negotiations with eurozone leaders this week,…
What you’ll never find in the road atlas
Picture the map of Britain. Its strangely cadaverous shape, blobs of population and routes between them seem as familiar as…
Without patriotism, there’s no civilisation
Is it racist to be patriotic? Is patriotism, by definition, small-minded and exclusive? When you strip away the onion layers…
