Sketches
Come together
Some political truths on which we can all agree
Saint Nicola
Nicola Sturgeon wants sympathy for her husband’s crimes—but after years spent avoiding awkward questions, her latest reinvention may be the hardest sell yet.
Laughing to hide the tears
Beware: prime ministerial jokes ahead
Keeping the faith
Brexit triumphalists can’t understand how other people living in the UK in 2026 do not share their enthusiasm
The Starmer strikes back
In a galaxy far, far from stable, Labour’s leadership chaos overshadows the King’s Speech
Today Havering, tomorrow Westminster
The local elections exposed a political class united mainly by its inability to feel embarrassment
NigeDosh: an urgent appeal
Tonight’s political coverage is repeatedly interrupted by urgent appeals for charities that may or may not be fictional
The emperor’s old advisor
McSweeney’s performance before MPs suggests age and experience hasn’t brought clarity — only better excuses
The original sin
It should not have been difficult to see that there were problems with appointing Peter Mandelson
The man who knew too little
Faced with Mandelson, Starmer offers a bold defence: he didn’t know, and that’s what makes him blameless
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Stop ignoring the Islamisation of our democracy
The British state is bending to Islamism, not attempting to defeat it
Losing control of the narrative
The British establishment no longer sets the terms of public debate over migration
From an entitlement state to an investment state
How to achieve a pro-social and pro-market economy
The truth about the “Quiet Revival”
Churches have been growing in Britain — just not all of them
Why do we hate industry?
Performative laissez-faire has been a failure. It’s time for a new policy
Wrestling with realignment
Labour will use the Irish Sea border as an excuse to realign with the EU’s rules
Better Slayyyter than never
Like the first Strokes album if Max Martin had produced it
Drill, baby, drill
We need Cornish lithium and tin just as much as North Sea oil — whatever the nimbys say
The battle between sacred and profane
When the divine law appears to clash with our sense of justice, can it truly be considered divine?
Why tradition, not utopia, protects expression
Free expression thrives on human frailty, debate, and tradition — not on utopian zeal or moral legislation
Jams, jellies and EU insanity
From toast to tungsten, the EU is an enemy of innovation
Get into the groove — why vinyl rocks
On the best sound in popular music
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing