Free Speech
The arrogance of academics
The author’s own politicised speech norms are obvious but never reflected upon
Trade unions must support free speech
The right to be offensive should be protected, not dismissed
“Buffer zones” are censorship zones
The offer of consensual conversation should never be a crime
The sinister rise of connotation policing
The state is not just punishing what is said but what is inferred
Resist the social media moral panic
The case against social media is both hysterical and hypocritical
Will Donald Trump be good or bad for academic freedom? #2
Will censorship end or just change sides?
A rare victory for proportion
The connotations of words can depend on their context, numpties
Faith and free speech
The law on blasphemy is toxic: It protects free speech until you provoke others to use force.
Starmer’s authoritarian instincts
Laws have been tightened, censorship powers expanded, and speech-related prosecutions pursued
JD Vance was right about free speech in Britain
But why did it take the American VP to draw attention to the criminalisation of pro-life thought?
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The establishment is still living in an immigration fantasy land
It is influential left-wingers, not the broader public, who have deluded themselves on mass migration
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.
On Britain as a capitalist command economy
It is neither neoliberal nor socialist but a secret third thing
Rewatching the English
English identity has become too surreal and discomfiting to define
Offence archaeology and the future of elections
We have to ignore the cheap and disingenuous politics of offence archaeology
Taxing the lights on
Miliband’s new levy undermines the very investment needed to bring energy prices down
International Women’s Day is useless for women
IWD has become a celebration of evasion and irrationality
The party of retailers
Labour’s drift from its union roots reveals the party no longer knows what — or who — it is for
Terry tackles literary lightweights
Is a distinguished professor right to hold intellectual biography in low esteem?
Standout singers
If Music (Erato), Day of These Days (Delphian) & Eisnacht (Genuin)
Cry sod Harry, England and St George
Why aren’t people proud to be English?
The Tobacco and Vapes Bill is a masterclass in self-defeat
Labour’s tobacco crackdown will fuel crime, hurt retailers, and push smokers towards worse habits
The malicious and the mad
Two recent productions offer two different perspectives on dark sides of masculinity
Eat less chicken
Industrial farming is bad for the environment but it is also cruel
Fast out of the blocs
how to acquire an
art collection quickly