Time to scrap the smoking ban
Intolerance, not smoking, is what should be considered irrational and unpleasant
The free market delusion
The British economy won’t be saved by economic ideologues
The Boriswave is here to stay
Labour’s internal row over settlement was always theatre; the destination was permanent residency all along
Ukraine: Is the sky still the limit?
How innovation is helping the Ukrainians to take on Russia
In praise of Pixar
The animation studio produces surprisingly sound as well as entertaining films
The Creasy calamity
Politicians have to stop being so intolerant when it comes to disrespect
Why Devon is saying no to a data centre
It would transform the local environment, and the local economy, for the worse
Starmer’s Indian takeaway
The Government’s India trade deal makes hiring imported workers significantly cheaper than employing British ones
The boys’ club
Labour demands diversity by design across public life, but suddenly rediscovers meritocracy when the party leadership is at stake
Why assisted dying failed
It was dangerous and it had no democratic mandate
Stumbling in the light
J.D. Vance has written a revealing book, for better and for worse
The problem with the SNP’s separatist sympathies
We should not simply “move on” from the horrors of IRA terrorism
How Andy Burnham can raise living standards
Burnham and his team have a chance to change course, but they must be bold and take it
A plan to save our towns
Time for a renaissance in our devastated urban landscape
The man who defied the ministry
Tom Rolt, whose rescue of the Talyllyn Railway provided a model of how we can stand up to the homogenistion of our culture
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?
Harassment at the NHS
Conclusion first, evidence afterwards or none at all
Dozing in the orchard
Chekhov at the RSC is a lot sleepier than it should be
How broad should a broad church be?
A party needs borders or it becomes meaningless
The limits of localism
Why Andy Burnham’s localism agenda has a lot more to do with rhetoric than reality
The intractable problems pulling modern Britain apart
When does upholding free speech become an act of self-sabotage?
The great pandemic
The Black Death:
A Global History by Thomas Asbridge
An unholy shambles
The Fifth Crusade: A History of the Epic Campaign to
Conquer Egypt by Thomas Smith
The cosy world of an Oxbridge golden age
Twilight of the Dons: British Intellectuals from World War II to Thatcherism by Colin Kidd
Cosmonaut thriller is absolutely stellar
Strong characters drive Star City forward in an increasingly paranoid hothouse of fear, betrayal and adultery
A triumphant return
Jesus Christ Superstar, the London Palladium
Love on manoeuvres
La fille du régiment, Covent Garden
Spielberg’s ho-hum space chase
Those describing it as a masterpiece cannot have seen Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List
At a pinch
on snuff and its accoutrements
Shooting the breeze
Patrick Galbraith welcomes an ambitious new shoot tenant
Lebanon’s finest
Henry Jeffreys savours some reds and whites from the Bekaa valley
Tame Impala fails to impress
unconquered by a
taste of Crusader food