Westminster

Remainers should be honest about the costs of Brexit

16 April 2023 4:01 pm

Those opposed to leaving the European Union repeatedly accuse Brexit of being based on ignorance fed by lies. The ‘lie’…

Sunday shows round-up: Penny under the spotlight

17 July 2022 8:49 pm

Penny Mordaunt – I’m being smeared over self-ID claims No Conservative party leadership race is ever without drama. With the…

The dangers of televising lobby briefings

13 March 2021 9:00 am

The dangers of televising lobby briefings

My run-in with Westminster’s TV news circus

14 December 2019 9:00 am

Leaving an evening meeting in Westminster on Monday night, I walked to Charing Cross. Approaching the public path which runs across…

Britain is following in the footsteps of Africa’s former failed states

5 October 2019 9:00 am

Kenya   ‘In the past months the people of Uganda have been following with sorrow the alarming economic crisis befalling…

The unbearable pointlessness of Parliament

15 December 2018 9:00 am

Christmas books pages usually invite columnists to nominate their publishing event of the year. Well, here’s a corker: The Ties…

Jeremy Corbyn’s economic policies might sound daft – but he radiates rebellion. Photo: Getty

Corbyn dares to be different – why don’t other MPs?

22 September 2018 9:00 am

One of the better plays at the National Theatre in recent weeks has been about a 21st-century banker, Judy, who…

The Westminster sex scandal is what psychologists call ‘displacement activity’

11 November 2017 9:00 am

There are three reasons why Britain’s political and media world finds itself in the present ludicrous uproar over sexual misbehaviour…

Sorry for touching your knee Michael Fallon – I exploited you to get ahead

11 November 2017 9:00 am

This one goes out to all the male MPs I’ve taken to lunch. I want to apologise to each and…

The London prep school circuit is a horrible racket

21 May 2016 9:00 am

Prep schools are a soul-sapping waste of money

In fear we trust: how the Tories became addicted to negativity

30 April 2016 9:00 am

Strange as it may seem, there are still people around David Cameron who regard the Scottish referendum campaign as a…

How is Britain going green? By shutting down industry

2 April 2016 9:00 am

A fortnight ago, the energy minister, Andrea Leadsom, declared grandly that Britain, alone in the world, would commit to a…

It’s not just the Russians – there is no morality in top-level sport

14 November 2015 9:00 am

Why do transgendered people need separate toilets? I thought, according to the prevalent orthodoxy, that the new gender they had…

The clock towers bigger than Big Ben

24 October 2015 9:00 am

Bigger Bens Big Ben will have a £29m refurbishment. Who has the biggest clock tower? Kremlin Clock: Installed on the…

Can the Great British public be made to care passionately about the EU referendum?

17 October 2015 9:00 am

It’s early days, I know, but the Outers have convinced me. Britain will not collapse into chaos and penury if…

Why won’t the Met speak out on Tom Watson’s biggest claim?

17 October 2015 9:00 am

Why won’t the police say that they have found no evidence whatsoever of a paedophile network linked to Parliament?

The Tories must move quickly to recruit ex-Labour voters. Here's how

19 September 2015 8:00 am

David Cameron might not be remembered as the best prime minister in modern British history but he will probably be…

We don’t need an elected Lords – just a much smaller one

22 August 2015 9:00 am

Something needs to be done about the overstuffed House of Lords

Look beyond the Sewel video: the House of Lords still works

1 August 2015 9:00 am

The shaming of Lord Sewel was a classic tabloid exposé. The fact that a peer of the realm (albeit one…

Ruth Davidson: on the campaign trail with Scotland’s top Tory

9 May 2015 9:00 am

Scotland’s top Tory is a moderniser’s dream

Is this election a Champions League game? Or Millwall vs Brighton?

11 April 2015 9:00 am

I’ve been trying to think of a good football analogy to describe the battle between the two main parties as…

What Ukip wants: get Farage elected, then prepare for a Labour collapse in the north

7 March 2015 9:00 am

Inside the party’s Mayfair headquarters

How an Oxford degree – PPE – created a robotic governing class

27 September 2014 9:00 am

Britain is now run by Oxford PPE graduates. The consequences have been disastrous

Doctor Scroggy’s War (Photo: Mark Douet)

Charles III is made for numbskulls by numbskulls

27 September 2014 8:00 am

Suppose Charles were to reign as a meddlesome, self-pitying, indecisive plonker. It’s a thought. It’s now a play, too, by…

Justine Greening interview: 'It's about understanding what it's like to start from scratch'

6 September 2014 9:00 am

Justine Greening says that the Conservatives will not win big until they really home in on social mobility