Columns
Could Derbyshire survive on its own?
Since at least the beginning of this century there has been a mood abroad – cultural as well as political…
The myths around immigration
After the media bigged up the expiration of America’s Covid-era Title 42, which enabled the US to block entries into…
Daniel Penny and the problem with have-a-go heroes
I have always liked the phrase ‘have-a-go hero’. It sums up a certain type of person who can emerge from…
Tories beware: the Lib Dems are back
Every prime minister has at least one guilty pleasure; Rishi Sunak has several. Colleagues tease him for his taste in…
Who gets to decide what is ‘harmful’?
Three years ago this week marked my first misgivings about the government’s Covid lockdown. Sure, I was late to that…
Meet Millennial Millie, the new swing voter
An election looms and political parties are already talking ‘voter demographics’. Every few years, the wonks of Westminster pick a…
Sue Gray, Simon Case and a tale of two appointments
When Boris Johnson appointed Simon Case to the Cabinet Office, he believed that the youngest cabinet secretary in a century…
What King Charles gets wrong
Marooned in London for a day between meetings, I walked for miles in an attempt to find something good to…
The cost of mass migration
Way back in the long distant 1990s, net migration into this country used to be in the tens of thousands…
On looking without seeing
Guadix is a windy, dusty town on the slopes of the dry side of the massive ridge that is the…
I’m a sucker for Tucker Carlson
I was asked on Tucker Carlson Tonight only once, while in New York about two years ago, and I turned…
The pathology of anti-Semitism
One of the best ways to work out that somebody has not thought deeply about anti-Semitism is if they say…
I’ve missed you, Diane Abbott
I thought I had forgotten about Diane Abbott, but in fact there has been a Diane-sized hole in my life…
Is Donald Trump America’s Marine Le Pen?
‘Democracy,’ said H.L. Mencken, ‘is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.’ As we approach 2024, America…
Here’s why the NHS is broken
I was having tea with my neighbour in her second-floor flat when a man, a stranger, appeared in the room.…
What is the point of Humza Yousaf?
A seized luxury campervan, a raid on a politician’s home and two arrests. The latest twists in Police Scotland’s investigation…
Ireland’s violent men of peace
It was from the Northern Ireland conflict that I first learned how language – like everything else – can be…
I shed a tear for the SNP
For people who take politics seriously and very earnestly, such as myself, the present debacle within the Scottish National party…
How to lose sales and alienate people
In some quarters, American enterprise is alive and well. Established in 1929 to promote consumer protection, the conservative non-profit Consumers’…
The problem with St Paul
On Easter Saturday, I wrote for the Times about the victimhood of Christ, describing this as a regrettable foundation for…
The gloves are off in the Labour party
When Rishi Sunak became Tory leader, the party was 30 points behind Labour: that kind of deficit has historically been…
The police are a law unto themselves
The journos weren’t very impressed with Nicola Sturgeon’s house. Never mind the plod staring like morons at her barbecue or…
Lessons in parenting – from the French
I am actively contributing to the decline of the West and to the collapse of our civilisation. I realised this…
In defence of Picasso
‘Well, they can’t cancel Picasso.’ That was my optimistic take some months ago when a friend in the art world…
It’s springtime for Rishi
Two years ago when the Tories won the Hartlepool by-election at the local elections, the political mood was summed up…
