The university union may be beyond redemption
Life is not terribly good these days for most university teachers. Colleges, once centres of collegiate administration run on a…
Rishi Sunak’s Confucius Institute muddle
Rishi Sunak’s promise to close down the Confucius Institutes in UK universities when he pitched for the Tory leadership sounded…
British universities are beyond redemption
There’s no doubt that the government has the best of intentions when it comes to clearing up the Augean stables…
Giving anonymity to paedophiles is a threat to our justice system
Substantial constraints on the freedom of the press tend to accumulate from seemingly small restrictions. Events last week in a…
The EU is alienating eastern Europe
For most of its 66 years of existence, a vital part of the EU’s mission has been the inexorable expansion…
Europe is falling apart on the world stage
There is rather more than meets the eye to Emmanuel Macron’s inept visit to Beijing last week. The immediate fallout…
The Tories should think again on targeting Netflix
If you want to understand the curious attitude of our government towards media freedom, look at two provisions in the…
The UK is right to refuse entry to a Quran-burning activist
Nobody came well out of the Quran-scuffing incident at Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield last month. Following calls from Islamic…
Justin Welby’s gay marriage troubles could be about to get worse
After the hash the Church of England has made of the issue of same-sex marriage, a group of MPs led…
Will Rishi Sunak admit the truth about net zero?
When Boris Johnson nailed the Tories’ environmental colours to the mast a few years ago, he probably gained votes from…
Is it right to criminalise verbal sexual harassment?
In febrile times, politicians tend to have a touching belief in their ability to pass laws and make men good.…
The EU is mired in sleaze
The last year has not been good for the European Union’s image. The Qatargate scandal rumbles on. So far, apart…
Solar farms and the trouble with net zero
Say it quietly, especially when there’s a Green listening: but there’s one certainty about Net Zero 2050. It won’t happen.…
Rishi Sunak is right to challenge Europe’s human rights treaty
Rishi Sunak senses, rightly, that tough talk on the Channel migrant issue will go down well in both middle England…
Ron DeSantis is the Republican party’s best hope
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is shaping up as the GOP’s best hope for next year’s US presidential election. Large parts…
The decline of traditional university study is no bad thing
University vice-chancellors will find some uncomfortable reading in their New Year in-tray today. Last month the chairman of accountancy giant…
Is Eric Zemmour’s court defeat something to celebrate?
Éric Zemmour is an old-style reactionary France-first politician, a little in the mould of the interwar Charles Maurras. Though unceremoniously…
Could Britain pull out of Europe’s human rights treaty?
Just as Brexit began with a few harmless-looking chips at what looked like an impregnable concrete wall, something similar may…
Abortion clinic buffer zones are a step towards the end of free speech
There is nothing like abortion to make feelings run high. Termination of pregnancy has been lawful in Northern Ireland since…
The EU’s bid to control Hungary may backfire
To anyone looking in from the outside, the ongoing argument between Budapest and Brussels over EU subsidies, which flared up again…
The Tories should defend free speech, not neglect it
The government’s Online Safety Bill is coming to look more and more like some ghastly juridical juggernaut: a vessel grimly unstoppable, even…
New Zealand’s Supreme Court is playing a foolish game of politics
If you are still trying to come to grips with our Supreme Court’s delicate relation with the politics of Scottish…
Rishi Sunak should consider levelling down HS2
If you’re after a lesson in how to lose friends and alienate people, look no further than the government’s cack-handed…
Poland wants reparations from Germany
If you think British politics is cracked, spare a thought for Europe. A spat between Germany and Poland is rapidly developing…
How Liz Truss can wrongfoot Labour over human rights
Liz Truss’s government has taken a deserved pasting in the polls for its slapdash economics, but all is not lost…
