Features
Can the Tories survive Nigel Farage?
Nigel Farage had given less than a day’s notice, yet hundreds stood ready to welcome him on Tuesday morning on…
I’m a lifelong Tory. Should I vote Reform?
For more than 30 years, I have knocked on doors and dutifully recorded voting intentions. I’m sure every party has…
Tourists are the new pariahs
Think of Majorca and what do you picture? Maybe it is elegant tapas bars in the Gothic quarter of Palma,…
What war graves teach us about peace
Hugh Jones was 29 when he was killed in action. On Wednesday, the eve of the 80th anniversary of D-Day,…
Can the Tories avoid the fate of Canada’s Conservatives?
As the Conservatives edge closer to disaster in the general election, the hunt is on for a historical comparison. Tony…
The heyday of the gay guardsmen
In 1943 the music critic Desmond Shawe-Taylor placed an advertisement in Exchange & Mart offering a pair of trooper’s breeches…
Are any of the party leaders ready to be PM?
Since Rishi Sunak called the election last week, Tory MPs have been in a state of discombobulation. ‘It’s an absolutely…
The TikTok stars taking on the Tories
‘Sorry to be breaking into your usual politics-free feed,’ chirrups Rishi Sunak in his first-ever TikTok video. He is awkward,…
Putin’s purge of his top generals
In the past month, Vladimir Putin has had five top generals arrested on corruption charges. More are likely to follow…
Could Ozempic bankrupt the NHS?
The NHS spends around £6.5 billion every year treating obesity. People who are overweight cost the health service twice as…
Hell is a rented garden
For the past few years, I have been a joyful Chelsea Flower Show attendee. Every May, my phone’s photo album…
The moon matters to China
China’s Chang’e-6 moon mission was launched on 3 May. It reached lunar orbit a few days later and began waiting…
Assassination attempts, executions and volleyball: a history of Horse Guards
Will they never learn? The signs are very clear: ‘Beware! Horses may kick or bite.’ Yet last week a woman…
Anti-Semitism has returned to French politics
New Caledonia is an archipelago in the South Pacific not far from Australia. James Cook discovered it in 1774, but,…
Why is the government making it harder to get an au pair?
You will have heard, I am sure, of the Conservatives’ recent largesse towards working parents, as their ‘free’ childcare policy…
How to quit like the Japanese
Tokyo For many, the idea of quitting a job they hate, of walking into their boss’s office and telling him…
The deluge: Rishi Sunak’s election gamble
‘Only a Conservative government, led by me, will not put our hard-earned economic stability at risk,’ said Rishi Sunak as…
What happened to the electric car revolution?
China is often characterised as a copycat when it comes to industry and technology but in one way it has…
In Kharkiv, culture is a form of defence
Kharkiv It was a strange feeling to walk alone through eerie corridors in the basement of the Kharkiv Opera Theatre…
South Africa’s migrant crisis
Johannesburg It’s called the ‘Reverse Jive’, retracing your steps to where your journey began, and you’ll hear it talked about…
The unbeatable glory of a doner kebab
Ionce shared a bed with a doner kebab. I’d hungrily joined a 3 a.m. queue for much needed post-pub sustenance,…
The Church of England’s volunteering crisis
John Betjeman knew that a church cannot run on prayers alone. ‘Let’s praise the man who goes to light the…
All boys should own a Swiss Army knife
Last week, Carl Elsener of Victorinox, makers of the Swiss Army knife (all other manufacturers must refer to their products…
Gangs of Tehran: how Iran takes out its enemies abroad
‘It was Friday afternoon, around 2.45. I came out of the house and was going towards the car on the…
