World
Ella Pamfilova and the dismantling of Russia’s democracy
Vladimir Putin’s Russia is hardly known for its free and fair elections. But a purge of the field ahead of…
GOP House staffers on mask mandate: ‘lol no’
Underpaid and over-opinionated: Republican House staffers are not putting up with a new mask mandate. On Tuesday, the US House…
Calm down about the Delta variant
The great thing about COVID, I like to quip, is that has abolished death from old age. Also the flu.…
The EU is failing to stand up for eastern Europe
Will the EU stand up for eastern Europe? This question is now being asked by Ukraine following the announcement of…
Why do the Japanese still seem so ambivalent about Naomi Osaka?
It had all started so well for Naomi Osaka. Dressed in the colours of the Japanese flag, the tennis star…
NYT dogged by snarling anti-Trumpers
‘Can We Drop a Dog Walker for Her Political Opinions?’ asks a letter-writer to this week’s edition of the New…
Why Joe Biden’s Russia-bashing is a tactical mistake
You might not think that Geoff Norcott, the self-proclaimed conservative comedian, has something to contribute to western relations with Russia,…
Floods force Labour reconciliation
The morass of flooding politics have claimed a fair few scalps over the years. Those with long memories will recall the…
Can Cole-Hamilton prevent the death of the Scottish Lib Dems?
As expected, Alex Cole-Hamilton has put himself forward to lead the Scottish Lib Dems, announcing his candidacy with an obligatory…
How Boris can save Northern Ireland
Over the past few weeks and months, there has been plenty of focus on the Northern Ireland Brexit Protocol, and…
Why Stonehenge doesn’t have to go the same way as Liverpool
It has not been a good month for the United Kingdom’s internationally important heritage sites. Stonehenge is teetering on the…
Macron's war on Covid meets resistance
A manager of an attraction park in France was reportedly assaulted on Sunday after he denied entry to a customer.…
Let’s hope the Third World prevails at COP26
On Tuesday, I chaired a session at Policy Exchange addressed by Tony Abbott, the eloquent former prime minister of Australia,…
Why the SNP fraud allegations matter
A common refrain from opponents of the Scottish National party is that ‘the SNP is not Scotland’. But it often…
Covid has revealed the limits of the big state
When Rishi Sunak turned on the spending taps last March, a triumphant Jeremy Corbyn said he had been proved ‘right’.…
How many Covid hospitalisations are caused by Covid?
How many people have been taken into hospital and are dying with Covid, and how many have been admitted to…
Five experts who predicted daily Covid cases would hit 100,000
A lot was said and written about the UK’s decision to press ahead with July 19, the so-called ‘Freedom Day’…
The hounding of Rosie Duffield
I grew up in 1980s County Durham; it felt at the time like a People’s Democratic Republic. When the miners…
Whitehall’s Covid gloom could harm our economic recovery
As the government continues to put forward an extremely cautiousnarrative about re-opening, more evidence emerged today that the economy issurging…
How Australia was caught in lockdown limbo
Sajid Javid’s deleted weekend tweet about Britain ‘learning to live with, rather than cower from Covid’ upset just about everyone…
The Lib Dems’ Vince Cable China problem
Last night, Vince Cable appeared on Nigel Farage’s ‘Talking Pints’ segment on GB News. This, if you haven’t seen it,…
Why the Tories are losing support
Boris Johnson hoped to mark his two year anniversary with a series of big domestic policy announcements as part of…
It’s time to upgrade the office of the Welsh first minister
Some of the most revealing detail from newly released 1997 government files relate to Welsh constitutional affairs. The Home Office…
Boris's crime crackdown will be harder than he thinks
Can crime be beaten with a beaten down police force? The government certainly hopes so. Today, the Prime Minister launched…
The danger of vaccine passports for education
In one sense vaccines are the perfect example of the ‘greater good’. Every citizen bears a tiny risk to protect…
