Can art still be essentially and not just instrumentally valuable?

Professor Gove invites a lowly barrister to his advanced seminar in political ethics

A great tradition of Shakespearean songs have been all but forgotten

Acquittals should be based on objective evidence, not subjective sympathies

Small boats have not caused Britain’s record migration levels

The striking similarities between the tired, unoriginal politics of our age and those of the turbulent 1970s

Hamas knew its unprecedented attack would provoke ferocious retaliation and hopes the violence spreads

Rod Dreher argues the west’s Orbán hysteria is absurd and that hungary is safe, civilised and democratic

The Tories appear to have no plan for the Arts Council

With declining attendances and a neglect of their core mission, churches and art galleries have much in common

The dash for wind energy is a generational folly that will see the nation’s economic future sacrifi cedon the altar of Net Zero

Red Meat Rishi is looking forward to Christmas

Foreign governments should not own football clubs

The soaring US debt-to- GDP ratio could have major global consequences

Remembering a classic British race

The late novelist understood the dangers of ego-centred delusions

Spend time inside the mind of your most eccentric, sometimes maddening friend

The Women in Me is a powerful and disturbing perspective on misogyny

The products of deeply felt faith and painfully acquired skills

Robin Hood marked the beginning of a steep decline for the much-loved brand

The triumph of Michael Palin’s Book of the Week and the tragedy of Radio 4 comedy

Jephtha, Royal Opera House

Why boring clothes are back

A lamentation on the bland American diet

Milly Ffyne shares an excellent but dispiriting fondue in the alpine haunt of the international jet set