World
Will the Tories cut taxes before the next election?
The Tory party has reached a fork in the road, I say in the Times today. One path involves sticking…
Why did neo-Nazis patrol the German border?
Just after midnight last Sunday, around 50 vigilantes gathered in east Germany to ‘patrol’ the country’s border with Poland. They…
Britain's fish fight with France risks triggering a new low in EU relations
Another day, another troubling development in UK/ EU relations. Earlier this week, a British trawler was seized by France and another fined. Now, France’s…
Joe Biden takes his failures on tour
How’s the ice cream in Rome? Joe Biden is about to find out. Word is he is excited about the…
The worst boogier inside the Beltway
Cockburn’s rug-cutting days are behind him. An unfortunate misunderstanding with the wife of an Ecuadorian chargé d’affairs during a Georgetown…
Rishi Sunak's new age fantasy and the great Tory con
Failure corrupts as much as power does, and when the powerful fail they make others pay for their disappointment. To…
Who should pay for nuclear?
How much longer is the government going to suppress the cost to households of achieving net zero carbon emissions, or try…
Can Beijing buy the Taliban?
China is seeking a grand bargain from the Taliban: eliminate the groups Beijing says are stirring up trouble among its…
The MAGA infiltrator is sad, not brave
Last weekend brought some minor internet drama courtesy of Amanda Moore, a progressive activist who outed herself as having spent the…
Smug vegan Eric Adams phones it in
Crime is the biggest issue in the New York mayor’s race, according to both candidates and the moderators of Tuesday…
Would the real Rishi Sunak please stand up?
It was a tale of two chancellors at today’s high-spending Budget. Rishi Sunak began by embracing the big-state profligacy pursued…
What broke the New York Times?
The New York Times entered the digital era under duress. In 2011, the Times erected a paywall in what it…
The rise and fall of Jack Ma
Jack Ma used to give rock star performances for his employees at Alibaba, Asia’s biggest online commerce company. He once…
Why Jesus College shouldn’t have returned its Benin bronze
Jesus College Cambridge can claim a world first. It is the first institution, at least in the twenty-first century, to…
Rishi Sunak's low tax pitch to MPs
Is Rishi Sunak a low tax chancellor? He certainly likes to tell anyone who will listen that he is. Yet…
Six things we learnt from the Budget
Another big fiscal event for Rishi Sunak today, as he delivered his Budget and the details of a three-year spending…
France is too Catholic to forgive Britain for Brexit
Former Chancellor Nigel Lawson famously said that the National Health Service is the nearest thing we British have to a…
Biden’s fright night in Virginia
Cockburn lost a game of darts with Amber Athey at the weekend, so he got the distinct pleasure of trekking…
Liz Cheney, pioneer girl
Cowboy State Daily reports that Liz Cheney’s House campaign has so far hauled in $5 million in donations this year, some millions more than in Cheney’s previous…
Responsible Rishi's Budget balancing act
Rishi Sunak has released photos of his Budget prep, as he prepares to stand up in the House of Commons…
The curious case of Boris and the bishops
Back in July the wedding of Boris and Carrie at Westminster Cathedral prompted Steerpike’s diligent colleague Robert Peston to ask…
Is Cambridge university ashamed of Winston Churchill?
When I first started at Churchill College, Cambridge, I was proud that I had joined an institution whose very existence…
Nick Kristof and a tale of two Oregons
It’s a strange thing about the long-serving New York Times opinion writer Nick Kristof, who apparently now wants to be governor of Oregon. The…
Macron’s pointless fish war
During the now virtually forgotten cod wars between Iceland and the United Kingdom from 1958 to 1976, the diminutive foreign…
Join: The Spectator's online COP26 summit
The two-week COP26 climate change summit starts this weekend, with 100,000 expected on a protest march in Glasgow. And tomorrow, we…
