Two cheers for Keir
Keir Starmer enjoyed a warm end to a chilly premiership
The problem with scapegoating social media
Social media has become a convenient whipping boy for Britain’s political class
The vibe shift is a myth
Far from living through an age of cultural rebellion, we are seeing the imposition of cultural conformity
An ode to the examination
The end of in-person examinations would be the end of rational assessment
Pride’s heir
Removing Gavin Barwell sends a message, but Badenoch should go much further
Tax hikes? Take a hike
Andy Burnham must get a grip on spending rather than squeezing the taxpayer
Reform’s gate fever
As they have grown more successful, Nigel Farage and his men have lost sight of what it takes to succeed
A chaplain’s vindication
The case of Dr Bernard Randall has exposed the rot in our institutions
How to get filthy wrong
Gary Stevenson has replaced economics with politics, and the results speak for themselves
How should Christian organisations respond to illegal migration?
It is wrong to think that Christianity demands that we open our borders
We must strengthen British capitalism
Having a successful capitalist system depends on having a strong state
Stop underestimating British tech
We should not surrender to the idea that American companies can do everything better
Politicians can’t handle free speech
The more criticism ministers receive online, the more determined they become to regulate what everyone else can say
Killing with kindness
The MoD’s drive for a net zero military is an ideological folly that risks national security
Bring back literary vendettas
Grub Street thrived when
there was an “establishment”,
movements and feuds
Sex, success and failure
Sarah Ditum talks with songwriter Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy
A police school for scandal
Is it any wonder there’s a two-tier policing controversy when officer training is focused on political correctness?
David Lean
The cinematic genius admired by today’s directors
Ancient bones of contention
The burgeoning and irregulated market for dinosaur skeletons
Our AI overlords will end bigotry
Bring on the machines
Why violence is political
Attempts to de-politicise the murder of Anne Widdecombe will fail
The myth of banned books
If transgression is fun and easy, it is probably not transgressive
Wit as well as social conscience
Avril Quartet: Claires Obscures (Etcetera)
The intractable problems pulling modern Britain apart
When does upholding free speech become an act of self-sabotage?
I’m so over Exposed
Exposed: The Rise of Extreme Porn and How We Fight Back by Clare McGlynn
A bloodless account of blood-soaked times
Athens and Sparta: The Rivalry That Shaped Ancient Greece by Adrian Goldsworthy
Rock star variations
Bows and Arrows: The Autobiography by Julian Lloyd Webber
Spielberg’s ho-hum space chase
Those describing it as a masterpiece cannot have seen Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List
When art took on fascism (and lost)
Abstract activist concerns have overshadowed aesthetic production
Not mad for it
I Puritani, Royal Opera, Covent Garden
Sweeter the second time around
There’s a real weight to some lyrics once you’re nearer the end than the beginning
Lebanon’s finest
Henry Jeffreys savours some reds and whites from the Bekaa valley
The summer chill
Cool soups for hot days
The praises of a neglected vegetable
Summer calls for cold cucumbers
Rewatching a TV show from a lost world
In River Cottage, a chef escaped to Dorset from London in search of the good life