Silent night
The agony of global Christianity goes unheard in the West
Tensions in Ireland were bound to boil over
The Irish have had enough of being lectured
Proving evil
Hyperscepticism about appalling crimes dishonours the dead
Fightin’ around the Christmas tree
How should we talk about politics with our “evil” relatives?
The state of the arts (w/ Pierre d’Alancaisez)
Can art still be essentially and not just instrumentally valuable?
Educating Hugo
Professor Gove invites a lowly barrister to his advanced seminar in political ethics
Hey, regulator, leave those teachers alone
Against authoritarian tolerance in education
“Public health” doubles down
Prohibitionists are never satisfied
How Britain could change course on mass migration
Imagining a positive respectability cascade
The music of the Bard
A great tradition of Shakespearean songs have been all but forgotten
UK manufacturing is significantly outperforming as a result of Brexit
The doomsters are wrong about Brexit — again
Crime and consent
Acquittals should be based on objective evidence, not subjective sympathies
The government must deal with legal immigration
Small boats have not caused Britain’s record migration levels
Here we go again
The striking similarities between the tired, unoriginal politics of our age and those of the turbulent 1970s
Israel at war: but where will it end?
Hamas knew its unprecedented attack would provoke ferocious retaliation and hopes the violence spreads
Orbán: guardian of liberal freedoms
Rod Dreher argues the west’s Orbán hysteria is absurd and that hungary is safe, civilised and democratic
Dear Rishi, what about the arts?
The Tories appear to have no plan for the Arts Council
The cathedral and the museum
With declining attendances and a neglect of their core mission, churches and art galleries have much in common
Britain, a goner with the wind
The dash for wind energy is a generational folly that will see the nation’s economic future sacrifi cedon the altar of Net Zero
Dave lords it
Red Meat Rishi is looking forward to Christmas
NUFC and the Saudis
Foreign governments should not own football clubs
America’s alarming debt trap
The soaring US debt-to- GDP ratio could have major global consequences
The gang of four
Remembering a classic British race
A.S. Byatt and the follies of magical progressivism
The late novelist understood the dangers of ego-centred delusions
A teenager, strangers and a pair of apes
Spend time inside the mind of your most eccentric, sometimes maddening friend
The objectification of Britney Spears
The Women in Me is a powerful and disturbing perspective on misogyny
Restoring the numinous
The products of deeply felt faith and painfully acquired skills
Beneath Disney’s Hood
Robin Hood marked the beginning of a steep decline for the much-loved brand
Palin was a rare Radio 4 treat
The triumph of Michael Palin’s Book of the Week and the tragedy of Radio 4 comedy
Divine trickery
Jephtha, Royal Opera House
Passionate subjectivity
La traviata, ENO, Coliseum
Being boring
Why boring clothes are back
Eat on the wild side
A lamentation on the bland American diet
Thanks, but no thanks
Thanks giving in Highgate
Swiss cheese
Milly Ffyne shares an excellent but dispiriting fondue in the alpine haunt of the international jet set
