The testing of Giorgia Meloni
Italy’s first woman PM has proved a pragmatic conservative who has brought stability to her country
Beware the British ICE
Mass deportation of Muslims will not solve antisemitism, but feed feelings of alienation
Bypassing the parasites
Too often, lawyers add little to business transactions except delays and questionable costs
Stella Creasy hates questions
For many politicians, being disagreed with is proof that they are right
Trump will not discredit Europe’s populist right
European populism is a lot deeper than mere Trumpism
How the war wasn’t won
The Supreme Court judgment on sex and the Equality Act it still being opposed and undermined
Time for change?
A new book might overstate the durability of Trumpian politics
How the “Burnham bind” will rewrite British politics
If Andy Burnham wins in Makerfield, Labour has a bigger opportunity than people think
In defence of the Freedom of Information Act
We should not let our access to information held by public authorities be diminished
Irish anti-Israel agitation is out of control
Anti-Israel sentiments among Irish nationalists are irrational and opportunistic
AI, religion and AI religion
Pope Leo is right to push back against the prophets of AI supremacy and AI doom
Parade of defeats
Armenia is a democracy tearing itself apart over who gets to define the soul of a nation
“You can’t preach here!”
A hostile attitude towards preaching threatens freedom of religion and freedom of speech
What makes an American?
What characterises a US citizen in the 21st century, beyond abiding by the country’s laws and supporting its constitution?
Save our green and pleasant land
It’s time to stop ruining Britain’s countryside with drab, identikit houses and instead build real places with focus, heart and purpose
Failing to face the facts
The Tories’ rosy view of their recent election drubbing reveals a reluctance to have the tough intellectual debate needed to secure the party’s future
New model Auntie
David Elstein spells out the big decisions that Matt Brittin, the BBC’s new director-general, needs to make very quickly in order to save the Corporation
Our new five-party system
First-past-the-post no longer means
an electoral carve-up between the
Tories and Labour, allowing “fringe”
parties real political influence
The dog that failed to bark
Jeremy Corbyn hoped the local
elections would be a launch pad for
his new party. Instead, Your Party
has mostly been arguing with itself
Symphonies have life
John McCabe: 2 symphonies and cello concerto (Signum Classics)
I don’t trust the British state
British institutions simply are not functioning in the interests of the people they are meant to serve
The old age elephant in the room
Does Andy Burnham seriously think that he can fix social care?
Regulating the rogue degree factories
Do universities have the resources and the will to monitor what is happening in their name?
Murders for June
Bodies in Brighton and spies in Scotland are features of our first crop of summer murder mysteries
Migration musings
A new book on immigration is welcome in its honestly and openness
To defeat populism, don’t start here
Views that would be charming in their naivety, were they not so contradictory or facile
The Muslim modernisers
Muslim reformers do not innovate; they renew by seeking to mend what is broken
Knowingly crass and conflicted
This American culture is hegemonic because even to steal from it is to propel it
Fond portrait of an odd couple
Two irascible, elderly artists and two beautiful younger women in unusual relationships
Farewell to a gentle jazz-lover
Scholarship trumps zealotry, particularly when it is veiled by modesty
Amazing Grace? Meh, it was OK
If there is a reason to see this play, it is Ralph Fiennes
A king’s ramsons
Look after the woods, and they will continue to give
Outside the box
why traditional topiary is
making a comeback
Light my fire
A perfect spy requires a spark for his cigarette
Fast out of the blocs
how to acquire an
art collection quickly