World
A morally simplistic kids’ film: Extrapolations reviewed
We are all, of course, pretty well doomed. We know that because Al Gore told us so in his documentary…
Mental health: an anatomy of a very British crisis
No victory is ever final in politics – and the wrecking-ball of lockdowns seems to have destroyed all of the…
Is this the man who will one day take over from Putin?
Boris Ratnikov, a former KGB officer and retired chief advisor to Russia’s security service, gave a remarkable interview back in…
Was Leonardo da Vinci’s mother a slave?
There is great excitement in Italy, which has spilled over into the British press: Carlo Vecce, a professor from Naples,…
The ‘sham subculture’ sparking panic in the Kremlin
Their two countries may be at war, but Russian and Ukrainian police have a common and apparently formidable enemy. That…
What has Putin done with Ukraine’s missing children?
Vladimir Putin’s crimes against Ukraine are often facilely compared with those committed by Hitler’s Nazis during World War Two. As…
Snow problem: getting slushed in Verbier
“There’s no snow. Nothing.” The week after Christmas, 2023. Eager to ski, I’d phoned an old friend living in a…
Trump’s ultra-MAGA crew needs a reality check
In 2020, Democrats made a pragmatic if uninspiring choice in nominating Joe Biden. If this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference…
Can the UK economy outperform Russia?
First the good news. Unlike the IMF, which predicted in January that the UK economy would have a worse 2023…
Welcome to Big State Toryism
A million pounds is very small change in the context of wider government spending – especially compared to the £20…
The case against school uniform
On a normal morning in Winchester, the streets are crowded with sullen teenagers mooching in sleepy phalanxes to school, scruffy…
Pakistan deserves better than Imran Khan
Democracy and the rule of law have always struggled to take hold in Pakistan, a country in which no elected…
Why Macron doesn’t fear the Parisian street protests
France is on the brink of another revolution! The proles are swarming to the barricades and it’s only a matter…
Justin Welby’s gay marriage troubles could be about to get worse
After the hash the Church of England has made of the issue of same-sex marriage, a group of MPs led…
Is Putin’s security service under attack?
Few people in Rostov-on-Don will weep over the news that a local FSB building in the city caught fire yesterday.…
Boris gets a boost as local Tories reselect him
It’s a big week for Boris Johnson as he prepares to give evidence before the Privileges Committee next Wednesday. So…
Contra the hawks, Biden’s defense budget keeps ballooning
This week we heard a lot about AUKUS, a trilateral initiative between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia that will…
Joe Biden’s Medicare tweak throws his party to the wolves
President Biden has been clear: he’s itching to attack Republicans for “wanting to cut Medicare.” But he’s running into a…
The trouble with sex education
Drawing penises and making vulvas out of Play-Doh might not be the reply most parents expect when they pose the…
Is Rishi Sunak really Enoch Powell in disguise?
It may seem like a bizarre question but it’s the one that is obsessing much of the left: is Rishi…
Is Taiwan’s support really ebbing away?
Taiwan has lost another friend. Or at least it soon will, according to the president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro. She…
How Justin Trudeau’s government was compromised by the CCP
Justin Trudeau’s government has been compromised by the Chinese Communist Party and Canada’s democracy is in jeopardy. This is a startling…
Is it curtains for the Conservatives?
Can the Conservatives do it again? The Tories have won four elections in a row but face a struggle to…
Jeremy Hunt’s crafty Budget spells trouble for Labour
Jeremy Hunt was designed to exclude unnecessary body movements. Tall and gaunt, his demeanour faintly bird-like, he worked through his…
The Budget in twelve graphs
Jeremy Hunt has just delivered his second Budget as Chancellor. The top message the Chancellor wants to push is that…
