All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Some people went mad when Ahmed al-Sharaa (you might know him as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the commander of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the now de facto leader of Syria) refrained from shaking the hand of Annalena Baerbock, the foreign minister of Germany, when she visited Damascus this week. Not shaking hands with a woman! Al-Sharaa
Well, that didn’t last long. Just 19 days after Nigel Farage and Elon Musk were snapped beaming together at Mar-a-Lago, the bromance is already over. Sad! It seems that the Tesla billionaire didn’t take too kindly to Farage’s (mild) rebuke of his call to release Tommy Robinson from prison. Just hours after Farage praised Musk
Elon Musk’s Twitter attack on Jess Phillips is certainly offensive. It may even deserve to be called a ‘disgraceful smear’, as Wes Streeting put it on the Laura Kuenssberg Show this morning. But the trouble is that every time government ministers bring up Musk’s spat with Phillips, the more they remind people of just how
Oh dear. Is there trouble in paradise? For a few weeks now, Nigel Farage has been basking in a transatlantic glow thanks to the support of his buddies Stateside. The Reform party leader’s meeting with Elon Musk last month led to concern in both Labour and the Conservative party that the world’s richest man will
It takes quite a lot to unite the fans of Manchester United and Liverpool, but it will happen today at Anfield. Some of the most committed supporters will make a joint protest along with the Football Supporters’ Association at what they see as the exploitative ticket price policies of their respective clubs. There will be
Parliament returns on Monday – and not a moment too soon. For one of the barmy Starmer army has found themselves splashed all over the newspapers this weekend, with the Tories now scenting blood. The Financial Times reports that City Minister Tulip Siddiq was given a two-bedroom flat near King’s Cross, free of charge in
Wes Streeting: Elon Musk’s attacks are a ‘disgraceful smear’ Elon Musk has spent this week calling for the release of the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, and launching attacks at British politicians over a failure to prosecute gangs who groomed and raped young girls over a number of years in the north of England. Musk said
The advent of the new year brings with it a fresh sting: the introduction of 20 per cent VAT on private school fees. Labour repeatedly argued that the move is necessary to improve standards in the state sector. But this week the Telegraph revealed that the Treasury has made no plans to ringfence the funds
When I saw that Jocelyn Wildenstein, aka the Bride of (art dealer Alec) Wildenstein, had died at the age of 84, I began compulsively flicking through the widely-shared galleries of horror photos depicting the three-decade plastic surgery odyssey for which she was known. But the picture that struck me most – more, even, than the
President Jimmy Carter, who died earlier this week, has been praised for his humanitarian instincts. Not for nothing did he receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, long after his presidency, for his continuing work in promoting human rights around the world. But as a Hungarian-born writer, my warm feelings towards him will always be
New Year’s resolutions are famously frail, so pick one that’s achievable. Half of the year’s cookbooks are sold in December: this January, let one shine in use, not simply rust unburnished. As an inveterate buyer of well-chosen recipe books, and a victim of gifting that I’m ungrateful enough to call less discriminate, I have never
Germany’s politicians have a short list of New Year’s resolutions: to make considerable improvement across the board. As the new year gets underway, the country is staring down the barrel of a federal election next month. Whoever comes to power must combat economic stagnation, get immigration under control, find a way to effectively collaborate with
It all seemed so unstoppable in April 2021 when a group of the world’s banks, under the guidance of former Bank of England governor turned UN envoy for climate action and finance Mark Carney, announced the creation of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. Founding members, which included Citibank and Bank of America, agreed to reconfigure
In December 2023, a new coalition government led by Donald Tusk – former Polish prime minister, former European Council president – was sworn in, ending the eight-year rule of the right-wing Law and Justice party. Tusk leads the liberal Civic Platform, and his new coalition includes the eclectic Third Way alliance made up of the
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The grooming gangs scandal is back in the news this week after Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips rejected calls for a government inquiry into historic child abuse in Oldham, prompting a conservative backlash. Robert Jenrick, the Shadow Justice Secretary, called it ‘shameful’; Liz Truss, the former Prime Minister, labelled Phillips’s title ‘a perversion of the English
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Douglas Murray, Spectator columnist, joins Americano host and Spectator deputy editor Freddy Gray. This week, Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into the horrific scandal of grooming gangs in dozens of UK cities. Her decision has led to real backlash – with X owner Elon Musk calling for
British politics can only be understood right now if one realises that Keir Starmer is presiding over a “landslide minority” government: two thirds of the seats on one third of the vote. On the parliamentary maths, things are about as rosy as can be for Labour. It has more than 400 MPs and the Tories just
After the general election skelping my party got in the July election, I was asked by Alex Massie (formerly of this parish) if I thought the SNP was in line to get horsed in the 2026 Holyrood election. I answered in the affirmative. Unless the party changed direction, then of course we would lose. Well, things
Veganuary is with us again, the annual reminder that veganism is now mainstream. But us steak-dodgers still face a fair bit of curiosity and scepticism about our lifestyle choice. One question is particularly familiar: ‘Oh, but I hope you’re not a preachy, judgemental vegan?’ we’re asked. Well, it’s funny you should ask because that that’s
Jordan Peterson is a cross between a student who has lately discovered the meaning of life, and a professor who has known it all along. In an interview in this week’s Spectator, the former persona is sandwiched between two slices of the latter. First he holds forth about the Bible in a ponderous way, in
You all know what I mean by the word ‘Rotherham.’ In The Spirit of Terrorism, Jean Baudrillard observes that there is no true synonym for ‘9/11’ – no one refers to the ‘World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks’ or the ‘Bin Laden attacks’, but just to the date itself, typically in its abbreviated form. Perhaps, he suggests, this
It will be an uncertain year for Ireland. The Irish economy has for a long time been artificially propped up by the billons it accrues in tax revenues from American tech companies based in the country. Many dread Donald Trump’s return, fearing he will force these firms to move back to the US. Those fears
The end of the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace is the end of the festive period for many sports fans. The tournament’s finals, nestled between Christmas Day and Epiphany, are now as synonymous with Christmas – or Dartsmas as Sky Sports likes to call it – as Wimbledon is with July. Pimms and strawberries
It’s been quite the 24 hours in British politics. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has spent much of it lambasting Labour on Twitter/X over its decision not to hold a government inquiry into child abuse in Oldham. But has he now gone too far? The Tesla founder has posted numerous claims calling for the
There have been better weeks for community relations in Britain. So what better time for Mr S to report the news that ministers are still planning to press on with a definition of Islamophobia? Back in opposition, Labour supported the adoption of a definition of Islamophobia, drawn up by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British
The richest man in the world and, as of 20 January, the most powerful man in the world will be uniting to attack the UK. The outstanding question is: what will the British right do about it? I understand why some conservatives may be tempted to go along with their country’s enemies. I can see
Another one bites the dust. Now it transpires that the former Conservative MP for Dudley North, Marco Longhi, has defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party ahead of its regional conference in Leicester this evening. How very interesting. The ex-Tory announced his move this afternoon, lauding the Farage-founded group – which he dubbed ‘the People’s
With quiet, sinister inevitability, the health and safety edifice has been marching through the festive season, capturing new terrain. Arguably the most powerful cultural force in Britain today, a new target has been seized: the weather. Suddenly, the warnings issued by the Met Office – whose weather forecasting service rarely seems reliable – are taken
The Isis caliphate in Syria and Iraq was defeated at a cost of billions of dollars and the loss of thousands of lives. And yet the ideology of violence and hatred espoused by the Islamic State lives on and has spread into cities in the West like a poison with no antidote. The black flag
Keir Starmer’s government won’t be the first to engage in gerrymandering when it seeks to lower the voting age from 18 to 16, inviting into the polling booths a group which most people suspect will be more inclined to vote Labour. But could Labour’s elections Bill end up being more radical than that? The Labour-linked
Another day, another Labour drama. Now it’s Independent MP Rosie Duffield making waves after giving a rather revealing interview to TalkTV. The animosity between the former Labour politician and the current party leader has spanned years, with public disagreements over women’s rights, policy decisions and sleaze scandals. Are there any circumstances in which the left-leaning
Kemi Badenoch has only been Conservative leader for two months. The next general election is likely to be held in 2028 or 2029. Yet there have been persistent rumblings that she must set out clear policies if she is to win back support from voters who left the Tory fold. In The Financial Times, Robert
You might have forgotten about Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch’s Twixmas Twitter spat, but the Reform UK leader certainly hasn’t. Mr S would remind readers that, during the Christmas period, a fight on the right broke out between the two party readers after Reform announced it had officially overtaken the Conservatives’ membership total – which