World
The Conservatives are indulging in fantasy economics
Finally it seems to be dawning on many Conservative MPs that abolishing – or seriously cutting – inheritance tax at…
A Labour government could spell trouble for trans people like me
This has been a year to forget for the transgender lobby. This time last year, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government had…
Does Putin use body doubles?
It has become something of a fad to try to identify and quantify the body doubles of Vladimir Putin. There are…
The decline and fall of banking’s barrow boys
Before the ‘Big Bang’, which led to the deregulation of financial markets in London in the 1980s, the city was…
How black holes are changing our understanding of the world
One thing upon which my friend Jeremy Clarke and I always agreed is the value of seeing the world from…
Why wokeness really is like fascism
If you had to choose a political word of the decade you could do worse than ‘woke’. Because these days…
The Tories’ only hope is tax cuts
In the old days, when the Conservatives were chalking up opinion poll ratings in the forties, their strategists knew they…
Did Richard Dawkins’s ‘New Atheists’ spark a Christian revival?
The battle between New Atheism and religion was never likely to have a clear winner. It was never very likely…
Why can’t the Tories come up with a good nickname for Keir Starmer?
When a nickname really hits its target, there is a satisfying beauty about it: a quippy sobriquet that catches the…
Mad dogs and Putin’s shells: A dispatch from Kherson
Browsing the shelves at Tsum, a supermarket in the centre of Kherson in Ukraine, you could be forgiven for thinking…
In pursuit of deep England
I am wary of mentioning General de Gaulle in these pages, if for no other reason than remembering Auberon Waugh…
Why Ukraine’s attack on the Novocherkassk warship matters
It was not quite in time for Christmas (which Ukraine now celebrates on 25 December, after switching this year from…
UK becomes first G20 country to halve its carbon emissions
A major milestone has just been passed: Britain has become the first major country to halve its carbon emissions. The…
The shameful legacy of Tony Blair’s Hunting Act
Most laws enacted nearly 20 years ago become uncontroversial with the passage of time. The Hunting Act, though, is not…
Has the West forgotten about Ukraine?
When Hamas murdered 1,200 people on October 7, I was in eastern Ukraine, researching a long piece for the Telegraph…
The trouble with Boxing Day
You are bloated and binged. Your bloodstream is 35 per cent blood, 60 per cent a mix of Nurofen Plus,…
Can Jilly Cooper wreck your life?
What do the names Octavia, Prudence, Harriet, and Imogen all have in common? If you don’t know the answer to…
Is the West at war in the Red Sea?
Britain and the US are getting ever more drawn in to the conflict in the Red Sea, as Iran-backed Houthis…
The King’s speech was more Christian than his mother had dared
King Charles has been a victim of his own success. His first Christmas broadcast last year, which was both affecting and…
How I found the true meaning of Christmas in prison
What do prisoners eat on Christmas Day? Some tabloid reports might lead you to think ‘lags’ are ‘gorging’ themselves on…
Algerian Christians will face persecution this Christmas
During this Advent, churches across Britain will once again open their doors to both the regular faithful, along with not-so-faithful…
The foul truth about wood-burners
My first instinct is to rush to the attack against any think tank which calls for stuff to be banned.…
From illegal to ambassador – the incredible story of Uran Ferizi
The next Albanian ambassador to London will be Uran Ferizi. It is a remarkable appointment, not least because Dr Ferizi’s…
The mystery of the Mandaeans, the gnostic sect that worships John the Baptist
Gnosticism – the belief that the creation of the material world was a mistake, and the creator deity a bungling…
The ancient roots of Christmas ghost stories
Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is either, depending on your perspective, the ultimate Christmas ghost story or a complete subversion of the…
