At last, a private education that wasn’t unmitigated misery
Robyn Hitchcock describes how his musical tastes were formed listening, aged 14, to Dylan, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix on the school gramophone at Winchester
A haunting apparition: Bonehead, by Mo Hayder, reviewed
A young policewoman returns to her native Gloucestershire, hoping to solve a mystery connected to a terrible past accident there
Richard Flanagan rails against wrongs ‘too vast to have a name’
‘Why do we do what we do to each other?’ he asks, citing among many atrocities the dropping of the atom bomb and the genocide of aboriginal Tasmanians
The rewards of being the ‘asylum capital of the world’
Matthew Lockwood traces Britain’s long history as a haven for refugees and argues that the nation has benefitted greatly over the centuries as a result
Dedicated to debauchery: the life of Thom Gunn
Even the most liberal-minded reader might be surprised by the amount of crack cocaine, LSD, alcohol and casual sex the poet indulged over the course of 50 years
Labour’s prison plan will fix one problem – but could cause plenty of others
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has bowed to the inevitable: acknowledging that ‘our prisons are on the point of collapse’, Mahmood…
The trouble with Ed Miliband’s North Sea oil plan
Just Stop Oil continued its campaign by spreading orange paint over road junctions in Westminster this week, but why bother…
Britain is still the world’s most successful multi-faith democracy
The swearing-in ceremonies in parliament this week have been rare in that more of them are filmed, posted on social…
Is this Westminster’s coolest MP?
Parliamentary oath-taking rarely causes excitement. MPs swearing the oath of allegiance to the Crown after an election is an archaic…
What does it mean to have a more secular House of Commons?
The House of Commons has a more secular character than ever before. Roughly 40 per cent of MPs have chosen…
Is the Russian murder machine ramping up?
Are we witnessing a new and more dangerous stage in the indirect war between Russia and the West? The news…
Starmer’s most radical prisons shake-up is still to come
When Keir Starmer gave his first Downing Street press conference last weekend, he warned that ‘tough decisions’ were coming shortly.…
Appreciate Gareth Southgate, for one last time
Gareth Southgate probably won’t be in his job in seven days’ time. If England win the final against Spain on Sunday, it will be Sir Gareth, and he’ll…
Joe Biden won’t stop making gaffes
As Biden gaffes go, I wouldn’t say that introducing the Ukrainian leader as ‘President Putin’ is particularly bad. Silly, awkward,…
How the National Rally were discredited by the French media
The day after the French left had pulled off a sensational victory in the parliamentary elections one of their newly-elected…
Labour’s sinister record on trans rights
There’s a funny saying the Cockneys have to describe something ghastly coming in the wake of something lovely: ‘After the…
Is Joe Biden in denial?
Donald Trump had good reason to gloat over Joe Biden’s press conference flub referring to ‘Vice President Trump’. It was…
Wisconsin radio station agreed to cut interview with president at Biden campaign’s behest
Days after a radio host admitted to using the Biden campaign’s pre-selected questions in her post-debate interview with the president,…
Le Pen’s win threw the French far-left into free-fall
France has been pushed into the arms of the communists
Woke and broke Britain: how fake Tories led to Labour’s landslide victory
The political landscape in the United Kingdom has reached a critical juncture, marked by a seismic shift in voter allegiance…
Biden stumbles through solo press conference
If you were expecting a Benjamin Button-style de-aging of President Joe Biden at tonight’s NATO press conference after he recovered…
Watch: Biden calls Zelensky ‘Putin’
Oh dear. It’s a day ending in ‘y’ which means Joe Biden has caused another diplomatic incident. As the gaffe-prone…
Reform members warned of Farage scam
Uh oh. It’s a busy time for elected politicians trying to work their way around Westminster and no party knows…
The ‘get Joe out’ movement gathers steam in Congress
Pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to step aside in the 2024 election, as members in Congress voice their…
Not conservative enough?
‘Not conservative enough?’ Never mind Burke, Rishi Sunak’s illiberalism is to blame for the Tory loss In the aftermath of…
