Issue: July/August 2020
Bishops’ different hymnsheet
The Church of England has worked to broaden its diversity of background, but its diversity of opinion has declined
A plague on lazarettos
Buildings born of plagues do have a life as something other than problematic ruins
As the world burns, don’t forget about feminism
As feminists, we must hold on to our victimhood at all costs. It is the source of our strength
Ignoring the Covid evidence
Far from following the science, the government turned its back on all available data
Dr Green’s Dictionary: Narrative
In politics, narrative is now less synonymous with events than with their exposure as a pack of lies
Reining in the police: Action or cop-out?
The aftermath of George Floyd’s death is a Me Too moment for race relations and the law enforcement agencies
Decline of the English novel
Bereft of God and middle class values, authors are left with identity politics
Romeo’s 2020 Lockdown Awards
How have the great and the good delivered in recent months?
The sadder side of summer
Tragedy struck Gustav Mahler, the archetypal summer composer, in 1907
To the streets, via the Crush Bar
Robert Thicknesse on Opera
Most Read
American strategy in Iran is wiser than it seems
President Trump’s intervention will leave the world safer than it was
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.
The lonely death of Henry Nowak
We must draw lessons from a horrendous and disgraceful case
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
A failed war on fags
The black market has taken over the tobacco trade Down Under
A below-par Riley is still better than most
The Palm House by
Gwendoline Riley; My Death by Lisa
Tuttle; Still Talking by Lore Segal
Fit for a queen
Hannah Betts reassesses the late Queen as a royal style maven
Time for change?
A new book might overstate the durability of Trumpian politics
No bullshit government
Tom Jones grills the shadow minister for
policy renewal about the plans of a
future Tory administration
Devolution has been a disaster
Wales, and the United Kingdom at large, are weaker for the devolution project
In the trenches
Hannah Betts considers whether the
classic trench coat is the GOAT
The ballad of Robbie and Harry
Sometimes, the struggle can become the art
Low energy
Rachel Reeves and Mel Stride are inconsistent while Reform are invisible
Brave new world or fools’ paradise?
For Dubai’s quarter of a million British expats, the Iran war is a mere blip in a luxurious lifestyle
Storycraft is soulcraft
A Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and heroism after disenchantment
After the flood
Net migration may be falling, but the long tail of Britain’s recent immigration regime ensures the debate is far from over