Society

Thursday

Olivia Potts Olivia Potts

January deserves lemon pudding

January kitchens are my favourite. This isn’t anything against Christmas – I love the spice, the frenzy, the ritual of festive cooking, but I also love the aftermath. There’s something calming about the kitchen once it’s all over – nothing is made through obligation, or with a deadline. I embrace the cosiness of autumn and the sparkle of Christmas, but I find the bright, cool light of January reviving and renewing. At this time of year my kitchen is a place to take stock and make stock. To steady and sustain. Proper puddings, hot and sweet and served with cream, are a non-negotiable part of late winter It’s also full

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: grooming gangs, wildfires and a Littler victory

Home Responding to a rejection by Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of calls for a government inquiry into historical child abuse in Oldham, Elon Musk tweeted that she was a ‘rape genocide apologist’ and ‘deserves to be in prison’. After a day or two of tweets suggesting such things as the dissolution of parliament by the King, Mr Musk tweeted: ‘The Reform party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.’ Nigel Farage had dissociated himself from the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, who is serving 18 months for contempt of court. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, tweeted: ‘Importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess

Cressida Bonas

Our family is growing – and our dog is bound to be unimpressed

I am now well into my second pregnancy. Having conceived through IVF the first time, we were fortunate to have another embryo stored away in a freezer. It is incredible that a tiny cluster of frozen cells, already a life, can survive, suspended in time for years. The science behind the process continues to amaze me. This second pregnancy is very different from the first, partly because I’ve been battling morning sickness. I’ve never had it before and now feel like I’ve been swaying on a boat for months. Although the second pregnancy is less consuming than the first, I still lie in bed trying to detect a heart beat. But

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Who’ll join my war against liberalism?

I can see one possible benefit of having a full inquiry into the almost exclusively Muslim grooming gangs who raped and assaulted and in some cases murdered young white girls and are perhaps still doing so in a selection of Britain’s ghastliest towns. The number of lawyers it would employ and the enormous salaries they received might just about tilt us out of a recession next quarter. I can’t see much other benefit. Anyone who thinks it might provide justice for the thousands of girls and their families is living under a grave delusion. We do not need a public inquiry to inform us that we have been consistently lied to

Catherine Lafferty

How the drive to end teen pregnancies aided the grooming gangs

How did the depraved cruelty of Britain’s grooming gangs go on for so long, so openly and with such seeming impunity? One overlooked but vitally important element of the scandal is that over the past 30 years the lines of defence girls had against sex crimes were deliberately taken down in the drive to reduce the country’s number of teenage pregnancies. Britain’s stubbornly high teenage pregnancy rate was the stuff of dozens of newspaper columns The first and most important line of defence any girl will have against male predation is usually her own family. The first step in dismantling these defences came in 1985 when Victoria Gillick, a Catholic

Peter Jones

The Greeks, not Labour, should be teaching children oracy

The Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson wants schools to teach oracy, i.e. the ability to present orally a clear and cogent argument on a topic. Presumably the purpose is to teach ‘communication skills’, a vacuous term, well-suited to the modern world, with no interest at all in what it actually is that is being communicated. The ancient Greeks, with their passion for democracy and keen to settle arguments with words rather than fists (even the Homeric heroes understood that), took a far more rigorous approach. For the philosopher Plato (d. 348 bc), the absolutely central question was: in arguing your case, do you know what truth and falsehood, good and evil

The Spectator

It’s time to fast-track our adoption process

The debate surrounding the sexual exploitation of thousands of children over decades, which has re-ignited this week, should act as a reproach to the nation. The details laid out in court transcripts, in the testimonies of victims, show how completely the institutions of the state failed them. The case for a comprehensive national inquiry to determine what further lessons still need to be learned has been well made by the leader of the opposition. The work of Alexis Jay in uncovering the terrible crimes committed in Rotherham and her subsequent wider-ranging inquiry into other areas of child sexual abuse were powerful interventions. But it is no criticism of her or

Charles Moore Charles Moore

We need safeguarding from safeguarders

What does it mean, in practice, to say that reporting child abuse should be mandatory? It sounds appropriately severe, but it begs the question of what must be reported. It is rarely blindingly obvious that abuse has been committed or who has committed it: it is an iniquity that lives in the shadows. If the proposed law means that one must report every accusation or suspicion of child abuse, this would create an insane burden both on those who report and those – presumably chiefly the police – who must receive the report. Alexis Jay’s IICSA recommendations called for mandatory reporting of any child abuse ‘disclosure’; but surely personal judgment

Douglas Murray

What real justice would look like for grooming gang victims

It is always interesting to watch a dam burst. In the past week, as Elon Musk and other prominent Americans discovered the British ‘grooming gang’ scandal, British politics has suddenly had to face up to something it has spent a quarter of a century trying to ignore. One would hope that the claim that thousands of underage girls had been gang-raped by thousands of men in cities across the country would be a subject of profound concern for our politicians. Who did this? Why? How can we help the victims and prevent any reoccurrence? But no society asks questions to which it does not want an answer. The language used

Wednesday

Jake Wallis Simons Jake Wallis Simons

It’s no surprise so many British Jews are leaving for Israel

Some things may come as no surprise in theory but cause the heart to sink when they emerge as reality. The surging number of British Jews emigrating to Israel – which doubled last year – is one such example. With antisemitism at record levels, this exodus is hardly unexpected. The British Jewish community is longstanding and patriotic – the office of the Chief Rabbi was established in 1704 – and has always worn its warmth for Israel alongside a deep loyalty to King and country. This is not about to change. But relentless hostility takes a toll. There is one particularly significant secret sauce that Israel offers Before October 7,

Joanna Williams

The demise of the Royal Society of Literature

The tenth anniversary of the slaughter of Charlie Hebdo journalists reminds us that the literary establishment has long been equivocal when it comes to defending free speech. So news this week that the Royal Society of Literature is in ‘meltdown’, after singularly failing to defend its members when under attack, sadly comes as no surprise. Indeed, the departure of the once-great society’s chairman and director, shortly before a forthcoming annual general meeting that was expected to have seen calls for their resignation, should be welcomed by all who support artistic freedom. The Royal Society of Literature has had a particularly turbulent few years Globally, the rift among literature’s great and

Patrick West

Facebook is no place for politics

There was much jubilation yesterday among advocates of free speech following the news that Mark Zuckerberg is to relax restrictions on free expression on the social media platforms owned by Meta, including its most popular site, Facebook. This initiative will include doing away with politically-biased ‘fact checkers’, lifting restrictions on contentious political topics, and adding a function similar to ‘community notes’ on X. Social media has always been part of the problem. It has been a chief motor in bringing about our age of conformity and censorship Those who write and campaign on the importance of free speech, and whose livelihoods depend on this principle being upheld, were understandably delighted: Toby Young praised Zuckerberg’s statement as

Tom Slater Tom Slater

Is this the end of the Big Tech censorship industrial complex?

The vibe shift is real. Yes, all the chatter about the re-election of Donald Trump causing a cultural sea change in American life might just have something to it – if Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s shock announcement is anything to go by. In a five-minute video, Zuck – who also appears to have undergone a Gen Z makeover – has announced that Facebook and Instagram will be scaling back their censorship rules, especially when it comes to contentious topics like ‘immigration and gender’. Those who draw up their ‘content policies’ will now be based in Texas, rather than California, to allay conservatives’ concerns about political bias. ‘Expert’ fact-checkers will be swapped for

Tuesday

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Did we learn anything from Charlie Hebdo?

Ten years ago today, two men armed with Kalashinikovs barged into the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris and opened fire. They unleashed hell. In less than two minutes, 12 people were slaughtered, eight of them writers or cartoonists at the famously scurrilous weekly. Their crime? Blasphemy. They had mocked Muhammad and they paid for it with their lives. They were doing a jig on the graves of the dead. It defied moral comprehension A decade on, this atrocity, this crime against liberty, still chills the soul. I can’t be the only journalist who works in a small, busy office who has found himself imagining the terror of that day.

Jane Stannus

The dark legacy of Justin Trudeau 

He’s gone – but he’s not gone. As per his announcement in Ottawa on Monday, one of Canada’s most disliked prime ministers is finally set to exit the political stage. First sworn in on November 4, 2015, Justin Trudeau will resign once the Liberal party has chosen his successor. It is a process that may take some time. Trudeau started out as prime minister by promising ‘sunny ways.’ Instead his regime delivered a tumultuous decade of radical social and legal change, achieved by methods that were frequently high-handed and occasionally unprecedented (such as the debanking of protestors).  Trudeau has always been a curious mix of ruthlessness and juvenility Under his leadership,

Hardeep Singh

What’s the real reason Labour is reluctant to hold a grooming gangs inquiry?

Keir Starmer is facing growing pressure to a launch a national review into grooming gangs, but so far the Prime Minister is holding firm. ‘This doesn’t need more consultation, it doesn’t need more research, it just needs action. There have been many, many reviews…frankly, it’s time for action,’ he said yesterday. Starmer’s comments reinforce the position of Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, who last week refused Oldham Council’s request for a government-led public inquiry into grooming gangs in the town. But what’s the real reason Labour is so reluctant to probe these appalling crimes? Is Phillips reluctant to give the go ahead to an inquiry that might ask difficult and

Monday

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

What has the BBC got against Tommy Robinson?

Do you know, I have noticed a certain thawing in the BBC’s attitude to the American entrepreneur, Elon Musk. I wonder what might have occasioned such a sharp change in mindset of late? It is all a bit of a mystery. I never believed that Musk would bung Reform UK £100 million, and as the weeks went by the promise seemed to become more and more vague. But that’s not what this article is about. It’s about Tommy Robinson – or, as the BBC always refers to him, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Why do they insist upon doing this? What about all those blokes who were once called Laurence and are now

Sam Leith Sam Leith

Is it time to lay off Tulip Siddiq?

We all have generous aunties, right? My own once let me live rent-free in her London flat for several months while I was teenaged, and broke, and working as a slave for Auberon Waugh’s Literary Review magazine. I can’t count the number of family dinners in the years since where I’ve had second helpings pressed on me at her groaning table. Aunts are often like that. So in the post-Christmas period, when many of us even now have extremities toasty warm from the socks and mittens left by such aunties under the tree, it is in a spirit of charity and understanding that we should approach the case of Tulip Siddiq, Labour

Ed West Ed West

Why Elon Musk cares about Britain’s sinking reputation 

Diaspora politics is a funny old thing, a form of loyalty that is often coloured by nostalgia and deeply unconnected with the reality back home. It can be especially prickly but also amusing. The growth of ‘cultural appropriation’ as a concept was often driven by third generation East Asians in North America who had assimilated and lost their ancestral culture and language and were over-compensating. Their parents didn’t care about such perceived slights, and even welcomed outsiders attempting to mimic their clothes or cuisine, as most people would. Even many Americans with no antecedents in Britain often feel an attachment to what they see as the Mother Country Thanks to

Steerpike Steerpike

Starmer hits back at Musk

Elon Musk has had a busy weekend, blasting the UK government over Britain’s grooming gang scandal and even turning on Reform UK leader Nigel Farage in the last 24 hours. It may be a new week, but Musk’s focus remains very much on the British Isles, with the US tech billionaire this morning taking yet another pop at Sir Keir Starmer – and even turning his guns on his predecessor Gordon Brown. The future co-leader of Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency has now called for the PM to be incarcerated. This morning, Musk quote tweeted an image of the three girls who were tragically killed in the Southport attack