World
Osborne, Balls and a glimpse of Westminster’s rotten culture
Podcast mania continues at Westminster. Discarded grandees from all parties have noticed the success of The Rest is Politics, the…
Britain is heading for an autumn of discontent
Train drivers will strike for two days in the coming weeks, on 30 September and 4 October. These dates are…
20mph isn’t plenty: the war on motorists has gone too far
‘Absolutely insane’ is the verdict of Penny Mordaunt MP on the Welsh government’s introduction of a 20mph speed limit on…
Champagne and America is a love story without end
From the beginning, Champagne has never been just a drink, or a region: it’s a celebration, an occasion, a trophy,…
In praise of Justin Welby’s ‘less bossy’ Church of England
Justin Welby is not my sort of Anglican. Or maybe he is, in a way. I’m not really sure who…
Why rugby fans love to hate Macron
Emmanuel Macron was in Lille on Thursday evening to watch France defeat Uruguay as the Bleus made it two wins…
The police can’t be trusted to track our e-bikes
In more innocent times, I’d have responded to the news that police wished to fit tracking devices to electric bicycles…
Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges
Hunter Biden, the ne’er-do-well son of the president, has been indicted by federal prosecutors on gun charges. Last night, a…
Beware the DoJ’s Hunter Biden distraction
You don’t need to be a political genius to see that this Hunter Biden indictment is an obvious smokescreen for…
Is the EU sacrificing net zero to protect its electric car industry?
They are too expensive. There are not enough of them on the market. It’s too much hassle to charge them.…
Brexit Britain can benefit from Apple’s spat with Europe
Are the EU and the US heading for a trade war by dirty means? I ask because for the second…
China hawks urge unity on spy row
It’s been a difficult week for Sinosceptics in Westminster, following the revelation that a parliamentary researcher was arrested in March on…
Starmer’s migrant plan is even worse than the Tories’
Labour’s long-awaited approach to stopping the Channel boats is so pusillanimous that it ought to be a political gamechanger for…
Putin’s North Korea summit was pure theatre
If a little tyrant theatre is your goal, then rumbling across the border in an armoured train decked out like…
Europe’s migrant crisis is only going to get worse
It is almost three years to the day since Ursula von der Leyen gave her inaugural State of the Union…
Biden and Trump are too old for office
Like the little boy who pointed out that the emperor was naked, veteran US politician Mitt Romney has just voiced…
Basketball is more popular, and soccer-like, than ever
Basketball is one of America’s best exports. Back in 1992, NBA rosters featured only twenty-three foreign-born players from eighteen nations.…
Can the high street still be saved?
The closure of 400 Wilko stores – at the cost of 12,500 jobs – spells more misery for the high street. Wilko joins a pantheon of big brand…
Róisín Murphy and the limits of the new authoritarianism
Has cancel culture finally met its match? Have the new blacklisters who hasten to erase anyone who gives voice to…
What’s the truth about the Peckham shop scuffle?
Rye Lane in south London’s Peckham is a lively place day and night, but yesterday evening the atmosphere was distinctly…
In defence of Harry Maguire
The public mockery of Harry Maguire, the hapless Manchester United and England defender, has moved from being a bit of…
Bernard Looney and the sinister policing of office romances
I doubt whether many people will feel a pang of sympathy for Bernard Looney, former chief executive of BP who…
The worrying decline of the male teacher
Teacher recruitment levels are in crisis, and have been for some time. Only half the number of secondary teachers needed for this…
BBC denies cancelling Roisin Murphy over puberty blockers
The Róisín Murphy row rumbles on. The Irish singer suffered a pile-on last month after she criticised puberty blockers and…
Does Joe Biden need a conservatorship?
America’s wacky Libertarian party, which sadly never gets anywhere in presidential elections, has just filed a petition to put Democratic President…
