Tom Smail
Dei ex machinae
15 August is the worst day of the year for a swim at the Venice Lido
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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
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Can Russell T Davies write “terfs”?
In Tip Toe, Russell T Davies is more nuanced than one might expect — much to the dismay of gender ideologues
Pick up sticks
Christopher Pincher saunters around
town with a stylish walking cane
Reform should ignore bad faith criticism
The party is not perfect but that does not make all criticism valid
Time for change?
A new book might overstate the durability of Trumpian politics
Andy Burnham’s immigration double game
Andy Burnham might make sceptical noises about mass migration but they mean nothing in practice
The enduring fascination of Richard Nixon
Why America’s most contradictory president still exerts a strange grip on the political imagination.
Paris cinema
There are no songs or movies about Paris in the winter
It is time to cut pensions
The economic burden on younger people is unsustainable
“Treatment” does not make child predators safe
People who abuse children must be kept away from children
Don’t panic about “Angry Young Women”
Despite everything, most people are still fairly normal
Why nobody likes a smarty pants
Is it reasonable to conflate genuine intellectual endeavour with undue concern for supposed accuracy?
How the war wasn’t won
The Supreme Court judgment on sex and the Equality Act is still being opposed and undermined