World
How Star Trek can help beat the SNP
I’m a big fan of Star Trek. Something to do with being raised on a heavy diet of sci-fi, leading…
Sturgeon's hard border with England comes into view
When it comes to making the case for removing Scotland from its most important trading bloc, Nicola Sturgeon takes her…
Can Iran help keep King Bibi in power?
Benjamin Netanyahu has a problem: he doesn’t have sufficient support to form a coalition. With 20 days left to complete…
The Kremlin's strategy to undermine Britain
The past week has seen the war in Ukraine, which has been simmering for the last seven years, once more…
Myanmar is on the brink of civil war
For more than two months now Myanmar has been convulsed by a burgeoning civil war. The confrontation between the country’s…
Trudeau claims Britain faces 'very serious third wave'
Steerpike was surprised to learn this morning that the UK is facing a ‘very serious third wave’ – not from…
Do black lives really matter to Twitter celebrities?
For years, activists have demanded stricter gun control in America, on the cogent (though perhaps unconstitutional) grounds that fewer guns…
Orban and Salvini's plan to ‘make Europe great again’
Change is coming in the European Parliament. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Polish leader Mateusz Morawiecki, and Italian Lega party…
The rise of racist fonts
So many headlines over the last year have read more like deadpan satire than actual news that it’s hard to…
The perpetual pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic was a black-swan event the likes of which this planet hadn’t seen in almost a hundred years.…
The SNP’s England obsession
There is a whiff of something in the current Scottish Parliament elections. It’s not quite strong enough to call it…
What's the problem with Apu?
Remember Apu, the kindly Indian shopkeeper from The Simpsons? Well, in the time since most people have stopped watching that…
Is the UK taking advantage of its vaccine success?
UK GDP ever so slightly edged up in February, growing 0.4 per cent according to today’s update from the Office…
David Cameron has done nothing wrong
To paraphrase the old adage, truth can still be pulling on its boots when a misconception is already half way…
Crime and no punishment in Minneapolis
So far in the 2020s, American citizens have been hectored endlessly about wearing masks, staying safe indoors and standing apart…
Now even Nick Clegg turns on Brussels
The last four months have not been a happy time for those in power in Brussels. The unedifying squabbles over…
How the West can respond to Putin’s military build-up
In the last few weeks, Russia has been flaunting its military build-up in and around Ukraine, sending 20,000 extra troops,…
The problem with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's war on obesity
With his little round spectacles and earnest expression, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is the Penfold to Jamie Oliver’s Dangermouse. Both men have…
Biden backs extending regulation of fentanyl ‘lookalikes’
As the pandemic accelerated, an epidemic seemed to recede from headlines. But it did not stop. More than 40 states reported an…
Biden is wrong on Putin
I am no fan of Trump, but what Joe Biden said in a recent interview with George Stephanopoulos made me…
Why Merkel's party is backing a political lightweight to replace her
The run-up to the German federal elections in September was supposed to be dull and predictable. Merkel would name a…
Israel's shadow war with Iran explodes into 'nuclear terrorism'
If time flows at an even pace, then history does not. Joe Biden may still be new in the job,…
Shirley Williams: a woman apart
Shirley Williams, the Liberal Democrat politician, died peacefully at her home this morning, aged 90. In 2009, our columnist Matthew Parris reviewed her…
The UK’s vaccine roll-out has ended the Brexit debate
The country would remain implacably divided for a generation, with Remain and Leave replacing class and geography as the new…
Downing Street is clueless on Scottish independence
It has been pointed out before that the SNP and the Scottish Conservatives have something of a symbiotic relationship. Bitterly…
