Politics

A revealing, damning and fascinating diplomatic memorandum, sent in 1994 from the US embassy in Moscow to the State Department in Washington, D.C. has recently been declassified. It is also a gripping and lacerating read, even for the non-specialist. It comes at time of heightened tension and ongoing head-scratching: why are US-Russia relations so terminally bad? No single topic, let alone a single memo, will unlock the enduring complexity of what is broadly called East-West relations. But at least one strong voice inside the US embassy was warning that the US-Russia relationship was off to a dreadful start.  ‘We have reached a point where it is arguable that the best

To govern is to choose. So what have Labour’s ministers chosen to hung on their walls? Raiding the Government Art Collection for the pick of the portraits is one of the perks of being a minister, along with a red box, car and driver. Mr S has done some digging and via a Freedom of Information request is delighted to tell his readers that some Starmtroopers have opted for some ironic choices in their office furnishings. First up, it’s Rachel Reeves, that well-known friend of the farmers. The Chancellor, who whacked up inheritance tax on struggling rural landowners in her first Budget, has a watercolour on her walls in the

Should the Southport killer swing? Lee Anderson thinks so. The Reform MP posted an image of a noose on X, with the words: ‘No apologies here. This is what is required!’ It’s not the first time Anderson has backed the return of the rope, and not the first time I’ve contended that he’s wrong, but there’s something I want to say before getting into the nitty gritty. Wanting Axel Rudakubana dead is a thoroughly mainstream and entirely understandable view. Among those who have children, I would go further and suggest that it is the natural response. On capital punishment, as on so much else, liberals think of ourselves as cool-headed