All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Poor Ron DeSantis. Once, he was the frontrunner to take over the Republican mantle from Trump. But now, following a staff exodus, tanking ratings and a barrage of insults from The Donald, the Florida Governor looks to be yesterday’s man. DeSantis is currently a whopping 45 points behind in the polls for the Republican nomination,
When personal sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials were imposed by the UK, US and EU after Putin’s invasion, the rationale was that this would undermine the Kremlin. In the main, this has failed – and there is still no coherent strategy to encourage those Russians willing to turn against the regime. Wider economic sanctions are slowly grinding away at the
The past comes in convenient lumps, each able to provide a lesson. When I was growing up, it was the Munich Agreement, giving Hitler the Sudetenland, and Suez, that embarrassment, that historians tried to glean some wisdom from. We later embraced the lessons from Vietnam, about guerrilla warfare, and after that the teachings of Iraq
Will the fallout from the Lucy Letby case really lead to lasting change in the NHS? The most prolific killer of babies was able to continue even as doctors raised concerns about her – to the extent that the consultants themselves were forced to apologise to her face for a ‘campaign’ of bullying, rather than
Well, that’s the end of that. Football, like an unrepentant runaway, stubbornly refuses to come home. Spain, deservedly probably, edged the thrilling, almost unbearably tense final and England will return to a warm, if not ecstatic, reception. England’s first football World Cup final in 57 years was undoubtedly that rarest of phenomena these days: a
After 9/11, the US built a network of military outposts across the northern tier of Africa to fight a shadow war against Islamist groups, and Niger became central to the effort. From Base Airienne 201, known to locals as ‘Base Americaine’, US drones were sent across the region to track down Islamist terrorists. The coup
Nothing happens, and nothing happens, and then everything happens, the author Fay Weldon once declared. This observation about life’s tendency to deliver sudden squalls between periods of apparent calm could certainly be applied to the leadership of the Conservative party. It is only a year ago that Kemi Badenoch rather brilliantly used the leadership contest
You have to hand it to the green movement. When it comes to their increasingly farcical and delusional race towards the illusory target of net zero, they’re never short of ideas. Bad ideas, that is. E-bikes and E-scooters that have an unfortunate tendency to explode in the middle of the night. Electric cars which take
On Wednesday, 19 churches and more than 80 Christian homes in Pakistan were ransacked after the inhabitants of the city of Jaranwala were accused of blasphemy against Islam. Perhaps the most unacknowledged aspect of the violence was just how expected it was. Nationwide, non-Muslim places of worship, especially churches, have been on high alert for the past month following
You do not need to be a ‘food person’ to know the name Roux. Or to be familiar with Le Gavroche, the family’s cherished Mayfair restaurant, soon to close after 57 years. They are a name and a restaurant that transcend beyond the world of Michelin stars. And this despite the fact the restaurant requires
It is high summer but in the early mornings you can already sense the first thrilling signs of autumn, the perfect reading season. What a good moment to revisit the enjoyably cruel England of Simon Raven, as described in his matchless series of novels Alms for Oblivion. It is pagan, unjust, beautiful, funny and evocative.
It’s a tough time for Scottish nationalists these days. Polling for indyref2 remains static while the SNP’s own ratings have tanked. There are still no ferries or any sign of a workable bottle return scheme. And the Dear Leader has left the stage to be replaced by hapless Humza Yousaf: the biggest downgrade since Ian
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Downing Street has extended an invite to Mohammed bin Salman to visit the UK in Autumn. Five years after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, is it time to let Saudi Arabia in from the cold? Fraser Nelson speaks to Simon Mayall, a former Middle East adviser in the Ministry of Defence, and to Jawad Iqbal,
Once, not that long ago, few people outside China had heard of the property developer Evergrande. Now it is synonymous with failure, debt and loss – and seen as the tipping point in China’s real estate market three years ago. Now meet Country Garden, another large property developer, hailed even a year ago as a
Sixty years ago, my biology teacher told me (so it must have been true) that after the war, some Americans were so delighted that the restrictions on food had been lifted that they ate capsules containing a tape worm so that they could eat to their heart’s content without getting fat. This, of course, revolted
Travelling home on the train last week, I heard the dulcet sounds of political discourse drifting towards me across the carriage. The words ‘social housing’ were followed soon after by the word ‘moron.’ I removed my headphones and attended more closely. The speakers were two men aged about 30, whipping themselves up into a lather
There’s a ghastly predictability to the news that the University of Sussex – in Brighton, naturally – wants to set aside nearly half of its land for ‘rewilding’. According to our local paper, the Argus : ‘The University of Sussex will rewild 42 per cent of its campus land in a move which aims to promote more biodiversity, achieved by
Oh dear. Hapless Humza Yousaf has tripped up again. The flailing First Minister of Scotland was today asked by Radio Clyde News if he will be watching the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday between England and Spain. Yousaf initially enthusiastically declared that ‘I will be watching the game for sure’. Yet when the reporter
Team Putin has this week gained a new and vaguely prominent supporter: Nicolas Sarkozy, the disgraced former President of France. French politicians do not have a reputation for ethical probity but Sarkozy takes the gateau Most sensible people here are on vacation and political news is thin so a pro-Moscow declaration of Sarko, in an
Good old Sadiq Khan: the right-on left-winger who never met a camera he didn’t like. The Mayor of London hit the headlines again last month with his controversial new ‘Maaate’ campaign. It calls on men to say: ‘Maaate’ to their friend if they see anything untoward towards women, in a bid to stamp out harassment.
How was Lucy Letby able to operate as a serial killer in an NHS hospital? Now that the verdicts in her trial are in – guilty on seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, not guilty on two attempted murder charges and the jury unable to reach verdicts on six further charges
It is absurd to suggest that Prince William’s non-attendance at the Women’s World Cup final in Australia on Sunday is some great public scandal. He faces growing pressure to cut short his family holiday and jet over to Australia pronto. Some critics have even gone as far as to claim that, if William doesn’t do
After nearly a month of silence, North Korea has finally spoken out about Travis King – the US soldier who dashed across the border while on a guided tour from South Korea. To the dismay of observers, however, the press release by the state-controlled media outlet, the Korean Central News Agency, offered no details as to his current
I don’t really care who takes part in Celebrity MasterChef, partly because I was put off commenting on such matters when one of the judges, an eminent food critic sent me some fairly strongly worded emails in response to me having a laugh – in print – about how seriously said judge took the process. After all, it is
In these turbulent times, it’s good to know there’s one thing we can count on: Keir Starmer’s consistent inconsistency. The Labour leader is at it again, breaking yet another of his past pledges: this time on workers’ rights. In 2021 Sir Keir’s party pledged to create a single status of ‘worker’ in employment law to
In my time I’ve watched a lot of TV, and so I’ve seen a lot of bad TV. But the interview with Graham Linehan this week on TalkTV marks a new nadir. Rosanna Lockwood – who I must admit I’d previously never heard of – is currently standing in for Piers Morgan as host
Sarina Wiegman, the manager of England’s women’s football team, probably has a lot on her mind at the moment, what with preparing for Sunday’s World Cup Final against Spain and all that. But she was given one more thing to ponder when Mark Bullingham, Chief Executive of the FA, appeared to tout her as a
Following last week’s news of unexpectedly strong economic growth in June of 0.5 per cent, today’s retail sales figures for July come as something of a shock. Across the month, the volume of sales fells by 1.2 per cent compared with June, and was 3.2 per cent lower than in July 2022. The fall occurred
Rishi Sunak has failed in his pledge to ‘Stop the Boats’, and the £480 million deal he signed with France in March is nothing more than a gargantuan waste of money. In fact, the French have intercepted fewer migrants in the Channel this year than they did in 2022. If the Prime Minister is truly committed
For a decade or so, GERS Day has been something of an annual gloatfest for opponents of Scottish independence. The fiscal data dump would reliably show just how dependent Scotland is on cash transfers from the Treasury to fund the embryonic state created by devolution and its sizeable estate of public service provision. As a
Imagine a policeman feels your collar and tells you you’re nicked because someone has reported you for telling off-colour stories in a corner of the rugby club bar, or for making sick jokes at a party to a group of friends which the authorities disapproved of? Something as positively Stasi-esque wouldn’t happen here, would it?
A-level results day is the most terrifying moment in anyone’s education. Poor GCSEs can be overlooked by a school that knows their pupils could do well in the sixth form. Degree classifications at university are so broad that one bad paper may well not matter. But A-Levels are brutal. Students who miss their university offer
