Politics

In 1992, Richard Nixon assessed the future of Russia in a remarkably prophetic interview. ‘Russia is at a crossroads’, said the former US President: It is often said the cold war is over and the West has won. But that is only half of the truth. Communism has been defeated but the ideas of freedom are now on trial. If they don’t work, there will be a reversion not to communism but to a new despotism which would pose a mortal danger to the rest of the world. It will be affected by a virus of Russian imperialism which has been a characteristic of Russian foreign policy for centuries.   Therefore,

In the shire counties of England, a dark force is rising. No, this isn’t a dreadful attempt at Tolkien fanfiction, but rather the challenging electoral predicament we Conservatives find ourselves in as we confront a new kind of opposition. And this time, the little furry-footed gardening folk are not on the side of the angels. I’m talking, of course, about the rise of the rural Green.  In Suffolk, they are now the protest vote of choice, having taken control of three local councils – one outright and two in coalition. They’re springing up from Surrey to Staffordshire. And this is, I’m afraid, just the beginning.    We like to call them

The members of the Denham Waterski Club are among the few people in the Chilterns who are grateful for HS2. They have a superb new clubhouse overlooking the tiny lake where their motorboats whizz round in ever tighter circles, thanks to the fact that their old one was in the way of the massive viaduct being built over the Colne Valley for the new line. The heavy concrete structure does somewhat blight their view but they are undoubtedly delighted with their Faustian deal. The escalating costs and the dithering of ministers have meant that many of the original advantages of HS2 have been lost The few hundred thousand pounds this

Nadine Dorries is off – and this time it’s for real. Following weeks of criticism, the former Culture Secretary has finally announced that she will be quitting the Commons when parliament returns from recess on Monday 4 September. That will trigger a by-election in her Mid-Bedfordshire constituency, helpfully timed to coincide with Tory party conference. Dorries first declared she would leave the Commons at the same time as Boris Johnson and Nigel Adams back in June but has hung on ever since, giving the Lib Dems in her constituency time to organise. In a scathing letter published on the Daily Mail’s website, Dorries says Sunak has ‘squandered the goodwill of

Nadine Dorries has just announced that she is stepping down as an MP. Below is the full text of her blistering resignation letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: Dear Prime Minister, It has been the greatest honour and privilege of my life to have served the good people of Mid Bedfordshire as their MP for 18 years and I count myself blessed to have worked in Westminster for almost a quarter of a century. Despite what some in the media and you yourself have implied, my team of caseworkers and I have continued to work for my constituents faithfully and diligently to this day. You flashed your gleaming smile in

Katharine Birbalsingh has been releasing videos of pupils at her school, Michaela Community, getting their GCSE results. They’re incredibly moving, all the more so because you wonder how many of these same kids – many from disadvantaged backgrounds – would have done if she had not set up that free school. These results are testimony, yes, to pupil effort. But when this teenager runs through his exams and lists each teacher who helped him get each ‘8’ and ‘9’, it’s almost a tear-jerker. It’s testimony to the teachers who go against the grain and set up schools – under much attack – to give private-school style rigour and discipline to kids whose families could never afford the £25,000-a-year.