The Naked Spur
The artist, naked and alone
I wrote a novel to expose the shallowness of the gallery system, but my biggest target was myself
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Why has Keir Starmer been so unpopular?
He was the perfect embodiment of a failing system
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
How religion shapes football fandom
The meaning of football is intertwined with the meaning of faith
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Kemi at the crossroads
Kemi Badenoch cannot tell everybody what they want to hear
Operatic satire is a Shaw thing
The old Art has an armoury of skunk-like defence mechanisms to keep the unwashed at bay
The trains have to run
Populists have had success in persuading people that they can govern — but can they actually govern?
Not so good after all
Can left-leaning journalists finally acknowledge the challenges British society faces?
The UK’s messiest election ever?
Trying to predict the results of the next election is a mug’s game
The original sin
It should not have been difficult to see that there were problems with appointing Peter Mandelson
Dismantle the infrastructure of censoriousness
Digital technology and private intelligence are bolstering cultural censoriousness in universities
The knife and the bone
After war and repression, Iranian dissidents believe the regime’s reckoning is near — but Tehran’s influence reaches far beyond its borders
Under the volcano
As Sicilians say, Mamma Etna gives more than she takes away
Scotland’s cold and durable fire
John Swinney is proving that in politics what matters most is simply showing up
The book awards are a joke
The panel of non-literary judges shows just how frivolous the Nibbies are