Inclusion is an illusion
LNER – the railway that is too LGBTQI+ inclusive for “ladies and gentlemen”
Can public art ever be any good?
Nobody could accuse Hockney of over-exerting himself
Free speechers are missing the point
The newly announced Higher Education Bill won’t be the great champion of free speech that people think it will be
Lockdown was a choice
Agree with the policy if you like, but you can’t argue Lockdown harms were caused by Covid
What does “religious literacy” mean for free speech?
The APPG on Religion in the Media’s report into “religious literacy” in the media is deeply flawed in its understanding of Islam in particular
The secret of Dave’s success
At Greensill, who could doubt that David Cameron had no idea what was going on?
Crown, cross and altar
The centrality of religion to the status and mission of monarchy in Britain and Europe
“We did everything we could”
This book offers an insider’s account of the extraordinary (in)decision-making among Johnson’s team during the most tumultuous year in modern history
Pointless bloodshed
Israel will remain intact and strong. Gaza will stay poor and isolated
Why woke ice cream won’t help
Despite Ben and Jerry’s woke agenda, the company continues to perpetuate environmental and social ills
Perils of a cause célèbre
A patronising and draconian response to female genital mutilation risks victimising women who have already been abused
The fundamental truths of fiction
Kit Wilson says the slow atrophy of the English novel is contributing to a decline in empathy and the rise of tribalism, trolling and “stay in your lane” identity politics
Like father, like son
Philip Larkin’s long association with Kingsley and Martin Amis resulted in the poet being misrepresented and misunderstood
Broken eggs, no omelette
Baroness Williams believed until she died that comprehensive schools fostered equality. Her folly has only entrenched class privilege
An educational dystopia
Finland’s persistent myth and the reality of progressive education
Poor white men and Labour’s identity trap
Survey data backs the Commission for Race and Ethnic Disparities’ finding that Britain is a successful multi-racial society
The House of Lords
The Rump Parliament had the right idea in 1649 when it closed down the upper chamber as “useless”
Conflicts of interest
Labour, like the Church, may never reconcile the different views of all its supporters
Julien Spirtle
Comeback Kid
Disunited States
A third of Americans now support the splitting up of the nation into like-minded countries independent of Washington
Faustian bargains of the review world
Jeremy Black delves into a history book which disappoints and a biography not to be missed
Hartlepool and the dignity of Labour
After losing Hartlepool to the Conservatives, the Labour Party would do well to take heed of Jon Cruddas’s new book
The perils of privilege
Musa Okwonga’s memoir about his time at Eton is a confused account of having access to everywhere but belonging nowhere
The enduring power of brief encounters
A trio of novels that are connected by their surprising manner of finding their way to us
Back to the wall
Despite the fact East Germany has disappeared, it continues to live on in this outstanding trilogy
Crypto-art for cryptomillions
Digital art: the millennial trend
Foreign frivolity
Robert Thicknesse on how the idea that foreign poetry was better than local soon became established dogma
Blurred history
Britpop has a bad reputation for stolid, white-boy basicness now, but it’s not a reputation Parklife deserves
Shock of the new
Thomas Woodham-Smith frets about how to handle real, live customers
A real taste of the sea
Forget hoary folk tales and savour plump herring at its best, says Felipe Fernández-Armesto
The end of the road
Nick Cohen has adopted a new workout: wrestling with a novel
Elephants in the Zoom
Claudia Savage-Gore
blames the tutors for the darlings’ home- schooling problems