World

Saturday

Marat Iliyasov

Why Ramzan Kadyrov doesn’t really want to resign

Once again, the ruler of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, is making headlines. And once again, he has announced his intention to step down from his position. But is it for real this time? Kadyrov has hinted at resigning on at least five separate occasions. Each time, the official explanation as to why he hasn’t stepped down has been that President Vladimir Putin refused to accept his resignation. As Kadyrov, who likes to call himself Putin’s loyal infantryman, dutifully points out, he is always willing to serve his patron – and so he remains in power. These announcements are often accompanied by choreographed public outcries from Chechnya, where citizens, as reported by

Paul Mason, Marc De Vore and James Rogers

Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

About once a month, the Royal Air Force scrambles Typhoon fighters for something called a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typically, two Russian nuclear-capable bombers approach Scotland, the RAF aircraft shadow them closely and, at a suitably theatrical moment, the Russians turn away. The episode merits a tiny press release from the Ministry of Defence. Russia is continuously demonstrating its preparedness to cause mass death on the British mainland What most people don’t realise is that the Russian aircraft often open their bomb doors, revealing missiles which may, or may not, contain nuclear warheads; and that they line up on specific targets: city centres, nuclear power stations, airports, or other strategic

Friday

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Victory Day has been a triumph for Vladimir Putin

It was almost like old times, but also a sign of the new. Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade passed off without a hitch, rumbling and squeaking with armour, untroubled by Ukrainian drones, and watched over by foreign leaders there in a sign of support. Yet the efforts made to ensure the parade ran smoothly, the nature of the guest list, and Putin’s rhetoric all highlighted the new times. The most recent iterations of the parade had been distinctly reduced affairs, a single Second World War vintage T-34 tank substituting for the usual phalanx of tanks, and the guests largely confined to Putin’s clients. For the 80th anniversary of the end

Olenka Hamilton

Olenka Hamilton, Melanie McDonagh, Hannah Moore, James Delingpole and William Atkinson

31 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Olenka Hamilton ponders whether Poland’s revival is a mirage (1:24); Melanie McDonagh asks who killed the postal service (9:52); Hannah Moore argues that family cars aren’t built for families any more (14:35); James Delingpole reviews Careme from Apple TV and Chef’s Table from Netflix (21:15); and, William Atkinson provides his notes on Thomas the Tank Engine (26:48).  Presented by Patrick Gibbons. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

Does Pope Leo XIV represent continuity or change?

20 min listen

From Rome Fr Benedict Kiely and Damian Thompson react to the election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as the successor to Pope Francis. The first American Pope, Prevost is also a citizen of Peru, having spent years working as first a parish pastor and teacher, and later as a bishop. The 267th Bishop of Rome is also the first native English-speaking pope for almost 900 years.  The election of Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is seen as a surprise but is being heralded by both liberal and conservative factions of the Catholic Church. Does he represent continuity or change with his predecessor? On this episode of Holy Smoke, Fr Benedict and

Amy Tinley

Six things to watch out for in Starmer’s US deal

The world of trade is usually reserved for the wonkiest of policy wonks. But after Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ a month ago, this week the UK announced trade deals with India and the US. Against a woeful economic backdrop, this is a serious boon to the Prime Minister. Becoming the first country in the world to agree a deal with the US President is an achievement not to be shirked at. A UK-US deal could chart a path for other agreements with other countries. Starmer claimed this deal is the national interest. But is it really? But is this deal as good as Number 10 is claiming? As a former

Lucy Dunn

US trade deal: ‘a political win, not an economic win’

11 min listen

On Thursday afternoon Prime Minister Keir Starmer gave a speech about closing the long-awaited UK-US trade deal. Not that his announcement went without a hitch however; after first directing lobby journalists to the wrong Jaguar Land Rover factory in Coventry, Starmer then had his limelight stolen by the election of a new Pope. Although, Labour’s ‘historic’ trade deal has pipped the Pope on most front pages. The reception has been positive across government too, with many heralding a political win for Labour – just when they really needed one after the local elections. But is this an economic win as well? Critics say the deal is shallow, clearly just a

Lisa Haseldine Lisa Haseldine

Putin’s ‘biggest ever’ Victory Day goes off without a hitch

Not to be outdone by the celebration of VE Day across Western Europe yesterday, Vladimir Putin this morning staged his own ‘biggest ever’ Victory Day celebrations in Moscow. Over the course of Putin’s rule, the annual celebration of 9 May has gradually morphed from a solemn commemoration of the victory over Nazi Germany to being a key ideological cornerstone of his regime. Never one to miss a chance to send a message to Russia’s foreign adversaries, today’s 80th anniversary parade across Red Square – Putin’s 25th – was more a neat showcase of the President’s own militaristic and jingoistic ambitions than a tribute to the country’s past sacrifices. Everything associated

James Tidmarsh

Why is Macron courting the Freemasons?

Emmanuel Macron turned this week to France’s shadowy Freemasons for support. In a speech delivered to the secretive Grande Loge de France, he asked for their help to defend the Republic’s core values, and urged them to stand up to extremes, by which he means Le Pen’s National Rally. Macron needs to stabilise the political centre, which he once comfortably occupied, but which is shrinking fast under pressure from the right. That a sitting French president would attempt to enlist the Freemasons is astonishing That a sitting French president would attempt to enlist the Freemasons is astonishing. Normally shrouded in discretion, the group has never been publicly courted by any

Ian Williams Ian Williams

Xi has no right to be ‘guest of honour’ at Putin’s Victory Day

The presence of Chinese president Xi Jinping as ‘guest of honour’ at Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day military parade in Moscow today, which will include soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is both chilling and fraudulent. Chilling, because it is the most explicit endorsement yet by Xi of Russia’s militarism and its poisonous narratives about the Ukraine war, and fraudulent because the Chinese Communist party played a marginal role at best in the Allied victory in the second world war. In the run-up to today’s parade, Putin has linked victory over Nazi Germany with his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, which he has falsely claimed is to achieve ‘denazification’ of the

Rory Hanrahan

Why do some Irish people hate Israel so much?

It was a quiet lunch shift at the pub in Oxford where I work, the kind of day when the bar feels more like a confessional than a business. A lone customer, a woman with a light accent I took for Dutch, had just finished her meal and approached to pay. Playing the host, I made small talk. How bad have things become for Israelis here? “Where are you from?” I asked, expecting the usual tourist’s reply. Her face tightened, her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “Israel,” she said, bracing herself as if I might leap over the bar and chase her out into the street. I reassured her –

Thursday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Is the trade deal a coup for Starmer?

26 min listen

Trump has announced a beautiful new deal with the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and President shared a phone call to congratulate one another. It is the first trade deal agreed after Mr Trump began his second presidential term in January, and after he imposed strict tariffs on countries around the world in April. Freddy Gray speaks to Sarah Eliot and Kate Andrews about the negotiations and whether it is a coup for Trump or Starmer.

David Loyn David Loyn

Can India and Pakistan de-escalate?

Once again Pakistan’s strategy of asymmetric warfare against its larger South Asian neighbour has plunged the region to the brink of a wider war. Long-term Pakistani support of anti-India militant groups – in particular Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) – continually destabilises the region. The attack on tourists in the honeymoon location of Pahalgam meadow in Kashmir was deliberate, savage, targeted at Hindu men, and clearly targeted to provoke a response and create fertile ground for further action. Women who survived were told, ‘Tell this to Modi.’    Pakistan has lowered its threshold, so that a nuclear attack can be provoked by an Indian conventional attack on Pakistani military installations The group

Fabian Hoffmann

Does India still have an airpower advantage over Pakistan?

In the early morning of May 7, India launched missile and air strikes – referred to as Operation Sindoor – at nine locations within Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Indian authorities said it was a response to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam, which left 26 civilians dead, most of them Indian tourists. The stated targets were terrorist facilities associated with groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Several Indian losses have been verified, casting serious doubt on the success of the operation from India’s perspective Indian sources report that the strikes involved the use of SCALP-EG land-attack cruise missiles and AASM HAMMER precision-guided bombs. India is believed to use the export version

Owen Matthews

Ukraine’s Victory Day drone swarm is dangerous for Putin

Russia’s Victory Day celebrations on 9 May should mark a triumphal double apotheosis for Vladimir Putin. Not only will it be the 25th Victory parade since the beginning of his presidency, but is also the 80th anniversary of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany, which Putin has appropriated as a fundamental ideological pillar of his regime. Yet instead of marking the absolute high point of Putin’s reign, the traditional military parade on Red Square will be shadowed by jeopardy and haunted by the ghosts of future failure.   The Russians are apoplectic that Zelensky has so far ignored the unilateral three day ceasefire around Victory Day that Putin proposed last

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Could Trump’s UK deal start a golden age of free trade?

We had the shock of ‘Liberation day’ when punitive tariffs were levied on imports from virtually every country in the world. That was the destructive part of Donald Trump’s trade war. Now we enter phase two: trying to put things back together again. The announcement of trade deal with a ‘big and highly-respected country’ (believed to be the UK) on Thursday morning is significant not just in itself but because Trump added the suggestion that this will be ‘the first of many’. His strategy has become clear: last month’s tariffs were shock therapy intended to precipitate a round of trade deals which would rebalance trade in America’s favour. They were

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Is the US-UK trade deal a coup for Starmer — or Trump?

It’s musical deals in world politics at the moment. Last week, Donald Trump and his senior officials intimated that a big new trade accord with India was imminent. Yet on Tuesday, Keir Starmer announced that he had reached a major agreement with Delhi. Then, late last night, the New York Times reported that Trump will today announce a beautiful new deal with the United Kingdom.  The British embassy in Washington has yet to comment. But earlier, Donald Trump had written on social media: The President loves announcing deals more than anything: the symbolism is what counts ‘Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR

Olenka Hamilton

Is Poland’s revival a mirage?

In 1988, when I was six months old, my British father and Polish mother took me to meet my family in Krakow. My parents brought an extra suitcase filled with disposable nappies because such luxuries weren’t sold on the other side of the Iron Curtain. At the time, there was only one shop in Krakow that sold foreign goods, but my father was pleased to discover that a gallon of whisky could be bought for only $8. He was a member of the House of Lords and, I’m told, we were trailed for our entire stay. Everywhere we went, a large Polski Fiat 125 driven by a suited man followed

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Reform party’s victories, Duke of Sussex’s defeat and Deliveroo’s takeover

Home In a day that upset the apple cart of party politics, Reform won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election by six votes, with 38.72 per cent of the vote, compared with Labour’s 52.9 per cent last year. Of 1,641 wards in England up for election, Reform won 677. The Tories lost 676, winning only 317. The Lib Dems gained 163, winning 370 in all. Labour lost 186, winning 99. Reform won control of ten of the 23 councils in contention. The Liberal Democrats won three councils. The Tories lost all their 16 councils. Dame Andrea Jenkyns, a former Tory minister, was elected Reform mayor of Greater Lincolnshire; Luke Campbell, the

Francis Pike

How Pakistan’s most powerful man provoked India’s missile attack

From a western perspective, memorising all 114 chapters of the Quran might seem an unusual qualification for a national leader. Yet this is a defining feature of the résumé of General Syed Asim Munir, Pakistan’s chief of army staff since November 2022. To become a Hafiz – one who knows by heart the entire Quran – requires committing 77,430 words to memory, each recited with precise pronunciation in classical (not modern) Arabic. This accomplishment earns the revered title of Hafiz Sahb or Sheikh and reflects deep religious devotion. To put it into perspective, it would be akin to Sir Keir Starmer memorising the biblical books of Genesis, Numbers and Judges