Politics

Listen to Douglas Murray and James Forsyth debating Ken Livingstone’s non-expulsion: In the past, Labour has been quick to take a stand against bodies where racism, sexism, and homophobia were allowed to fester. Discrimination was discrimination, and institutions in which it routinely took place were culpable for it. But anti-Semitism now routinely takes place in the Labour party – and party members must acknowledge this. By its own definition, the Labour party is institutionally anti-Semitic.  No fair-minded person can read the failure to expel Ken Livingstone from the party any other way. After careful consideration of his latest calumny, Labour’s National Executive Committee has chosen merely to extend the former London mayor’s suspension for a further year. 

Listen to Douglas Murray and James Forsyth debating Ken Livingstone’s non-expulsion: Ken Livingstone has not been expelled from the Labour party for his comments about Hitler and Zionism. Instead, he has been suspended for two years; but he has already served one year of that suspension. Given the offensiveness of what Livingstone said and the glee with which he expounded his argument, he should have been expelled. Indeed, some of his comments in recent days have been worthy of expulsion on their own. He talked earlier this week of how ‘you had right up until the start of the Second World War real collaboration’ between the Nazi government and the

As a type of (Platonic) gerontophile, I never expected to say this, but can the dinosaurs not shut up? In recent weeks the nation has had to suffer repeat appearances on the television by Lord Heseltine.  In each interview the Remain-supporting peer appears ever more viciously angry – brimming over, indeed with a sort of concentrated, zealous fury at a nation that dared defy his imprecations on how to vote last June. Then this past weekend we had to witness the Leave-supporting Lord Howard talking up the possibility of war with Spain over Gibraltar.  This morning’s papers as a result get to talk quasi-seriously about a military confrontation over the rock. 

When Theresa May was snapped shopping in Waitrose last year, the Prime Minister was praised by the Telegraph for putting the politics of envy to one side by unapologetically shopping in the high-end supermarket. But is the real story that she was in a supermarket to begin with? Mr S only asks after Richard Burgon — the Corbynista shadow justice secretary — took to social media on Friday to ‘reflect’ on a trip to his local supermarket, Seacroft Tesco. One of Burgon’s constituents was apparently rather surprised to see him in the shop. This led Burgon — who failed to visit the City during his time as shadow City minister — to

For Israelis, Europe’s political landscape is looking increasingly familiar. Whereas Israel was once seen as something of a political backwater, nowadays it’s European politicians who seem to be gazing across to Israel for inspiration. Those on the right are leading the way: from Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders to Austria’s Norbert Hofer, this group of populist politicians are tending to see in Israel’s brand of nationalism a model for their own. In January, Le Pen spoke of a ‘patriotic spring‘ of nationalism in Europe; she went on to say that ‘we are experiencing the return of nation-states’. And who better to provide inspiration for that than Israel? Le Pen – despite her father saying that

So we have the first sight of the European Council’s draft negotiating guidelines. They’re much more constructive that we would have been lead to believe. And there are no big surprises. The first headline point is that there is no mention of the €60 billion figure which Jean-Claude Juncker and the European Commission have loved to go on about. In fact no figure is mentioned at all. The section on money is restricted to saying that debts will need to be settled – something Theresa May has already acknowledged. It does not say when the cheque needs to be signed: A single financial settlement should ensure that the Union and the