Features
Fear, loathing and backstabbing – the battle to replace May has begun
To most of the cabinet, it does not matter if Theresa May announces a timetable for her resignation: they can’t…
As an ex-Brexit minister I can tell you – May’s ‘plan’ was built on sand
Management books often repeat the dictum: ‘If there’s one thing worse than making mistakes, it’s not learning from them.’ So…
Victorian lady travellers aren’t feminist role models – they were tyrants
They cut virgin paths through tropical forests, paddled dugout canoes over West African rapids, sailed along the Yangtze in a…
In Ukraine’s presidential elections, life is imitating Netflix
Servant of the People is a hilarious Ukrainian situation comedy currently running on Netflix. It opens with a young high-school…
Netflix and kill: the creepy obsession with true crime
Thumbing avidly through Heat magazine recently in a fevered search for the latest on the Cheryl/Liam/Naomi infernal triangle, I was…
We should take a hard look at our reporting of Trump and Russia
Washington REVERSE FERRET! When he edited the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie used to throw open his office door and bellow this…
The UK’s great porn firewall experiment
In just a few weeks, the government begins its crackdown on porn. From April, all UK-based internet users will be…
Rhubarb: the most eccentrically British fruit
The tale of forced Yorkshire rhubarb has the makings of a David Lean film. Frosty Slavic beginnings, wartime devotion, steam…
Theresa May’s Brexit strategy has humiliated Britain
The government has lost the ability to run the country. It is no longer in charge of its own destiny,…
Brexiteers and Remainers can’t both be right about Bercow’s ruling
Has there been a Brexit disaster? It depends on your point of view. When John Bercow ruled that the Prime…
Speaker-speak: the maddening rhetoric of John Bercow
Much has recently been written about the incumbent Commons Speaker, from (vigorously denied) allegations of bullying to (less vigorously denied)…
When will Britain stop poaching the world’s medics and train our own instead?
For years, Britain has been failing to train enough doctors and has been importing them instead. This has been a…
‘The Islamic State will never die’: their territory is gone but the jihadis are always with us
Beirut As I write, Isis is still holding out on a few hundred square yards of dirt in the village…
We thought New Zealand was safe from extremism. We were wrong
In a blink, everything has changed and yet nothing has changed. Life goes on. The long, hot days of a…
Why do we love The Archers, when all the characters are loathsome?
OK, Archers fans out there. All five million of you. Ask yourselves a straightforward question. Why on earth do you…
A viral hit: how the Christchurch killer weaponised internet culture
‘Remember, lads: Subscribe to PewDiePie.’ With these words, the killer began broadcasting his slaughter of 50 worshippers at two mosques…
The triumphant return of the British beaver
I know a magical West Country woodland where a sunlit stream meanders through the great oaks, with a series of…
Meltdown: three years on and we are no closer to a Brexit resolution
Almost three years have passed since Britain voted to leave the European Union, and yet we are still no closer…
How likely is an imminent general election?
When a British government loses control over parliament, the natural remedy is to hold a general election. Why prolong everyone’s…
The way to change anti-vaccine campaigners’ minds
What a baffling group of people anti-vaxxers are. They rail against one of the miracles of modern medicine, peddling scare…
The case for prosecuting Bloody Sunday ‘Soldier F’
It is more than 15 years since the Bloody Sunday soldiers last appeared in public. For months I sat in…
Never Mind The Bollocks: a punk’s view of Brexit
One of the great things about touring with a band is that it gets me away from my little west…
Who could have predicted tarot cards would be back in vogue?
I first met a tarot reader in a hotel lobby in central London on my birthday four years ago. I…
What happened when an innocent Christian preacher was accused of Islamophobia?
Being a street preacher can be a thankless business. Since moving to Britain from Nigeria nine years ago, 64-year-old Oluwole…
The unique, bittersweet beauty of Irish ruins
The Celtic Tiger has come and gone. Over the past 30 years, billions of pounds poured into Irish houses and…
