UK Politics
Queen’s Speech 2021: Free speech pendulum swings both ways
Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech to parliament confirmed that the government is yet to decide where it stands on freedom of speech
Hartlepool and the dignity of Labour
After losing Hartlepool to the Conservatives, the Labour Party would do well to take heed of Jon Cruddas’s new book
Iran’s hostage diplomacy
The UK Government’s reluctance to acknowledge Iran’s hostility shows the bizarre lengths to which countries must now go to appease Iran
The woodfired brick wall
It’s grim down south
Line of Duty and the politics of drama
It doesn’t take the minds of AC-12’s finest to see the parallels between our own political climate and the nation’s favourite police drama
Keep politics out of the courts
It’s not for judges to say whether witnesses should have answered MPs’ questions
Can British veterans ever vote Tory again?
There’s only so much defilement you can take of the principles you fought to defend
Perceptive, witty and sure of himself
Beyond the embellishments of Alan Duncan’s private diaries lies a body of work making serious points about the role of parliament
The reinvention of Ed Balls
Ed Balls’ presence in public life is a welcome reminder that sometimes there can be a second act for former politicians
Why is Further Education still neglected?
The public expects more Government action on vocational options, says the Chief Economist at the Social Market Foundation
A passionate battler for buildings
A manichaean choice between the organic adaptation of old buildings and the beauty of the new
Imagine there’s no Gove
Who’s in the room matters, and there were some which would have been better off without Michael Gove
Why does the establishment want to harm farms?
The Government expects farmers to act as environmental agents of the state
The effects of Brexit are still being misreported
A new paper has received a lot of attention — all of it undeserved
Is the culture war over?
Populist political victories do nothing to change the reality of progressive institutional dominance
The case for Badenoch
She has a chance to capitalise on Starmer’s weakness
Tawdry tales
The Tales of Hoffmann, Royal Opera House
The attractions of extremes
Are we going to become ever more passive consumers of other people’s thoughts and memories?
The public sector must reform or die
Too big to fail? It is too big to succeed
Still knocking on the door
For all the promises, subpostmasters are still waiting for compensation
Fiddling while Canterbury burns
The new proposals from the Archbishops’ Commission for Racial Justice are depressingly wrongheaded
