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Stroll around the elegant capitals of Georgia and Armenia and you could be almost anywhere in Europe. The grand boulevards, familiar luxury brands, fast-food outlets, smart restaurants and gridlocked traffic suggest that you might be in Hungary or the Czech Republic. Only the cruciform shape of the domed and ancient churches place you elsewhere; that, and in Georgia’s Tbilisi at least, the ubiquitous anti-Russian,
Has comedian Frankie Boyle become the latest victim of the BBC’s ‘right-wing purge’? Frankie Boyle seems to think so. Following news this week that his BBC Two show, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, has not been renewed for a seventh series, he took to Twitter, where he implied the cancellation was down to the rightward
Only six weeks ago the Scottish National Party seemed unchallengeable. Its leader, Nicola Sturgeon dominated Scottish politics at every level, was fêted by the metropolitan liberal elite and feared by Tory ministers in WhatsApp messages. Now she’s history, her party is in chaos and her key lieutenants including her husband, chief executive Peter Murrell, have
This is what it must have been like when women were marched to the stake. Yesterday in Auckland the British women’s rights campaigner Posie Parker found herself surrounded by a deranged, heaving mob. She had tomato soup and placards thrown in her face. She was doused with water. Huge men screamed insults and expletives in
A group of 120 ‘top lawyers’ have signed a ‘declaration of conscience‘ stating they will not prosecute ‘peaceful climate change protestors’ and will ‘withhold [their] services in respect of supporting new fossil fuel projects.’ Predictably the tax specialist and founder of the ‘Good Law Project’ Jolyon Maugham KC is amongst the signatories, although the practical
Whatever your thoughts on the SNP, the Union or indeed Scotland, it cannot be denied that Nicola Sturgeon will leave a permanent mark on Britain’s political landscape. Whether that mark is good or bad will no doubt be the focus of intense debate for years to come. Making her 286th and final First Minister’s Questions
The teaching unions never let a good crisis go to waste. Following the tragic death of Ruth Perry, the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, who took her own life after Ofsted told her it was going to downgrade her school from ‘Outstanding’ to ‘Inadequate’, the NEU has called for the Office for Standards
Many on the French left were in buoyant mood on Friday after the success of the previous day. They claimed that three million people were on the streets to protest against Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform bill, and they hope there will be a similar turnout on Tuesday for the next organised demonstrations. Commentators have described
Being a senior BBC executive has never been a guaranteed route to national affection, but the past few weeks have been particularly bruising for director-general Tim Davie and his leadership team. The Gary Lineker affair didn’t please anyone – the presenter’s supporters railed against what they saw as a politically inspired move against him, while
After the crushing majority won by Rishi Sunak for the ‘Stormont brake’ element of his new deal on the terms of trade in Northern Ireland, a single question is on the lips of many MPs: whither the ERG? For the once-mighty European Research Group – the Tory party’s formidably well organised Praetorian Guard which shielded
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On this special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots, The Spectator’s James Heale, journalist Peter Hitchens and the IEA’s Christopher Snowdon argue the cases for and against daylight saving time. Are we all being needlessly robbed of an hour in bed? Or should we lighten up and embrace the longer days? Produced by Natasha Feroze
Cast your mind back just over a decade, to a charity benefit gig in St. Petersburg in 2010. Sharon Stone, Kevin Costner, Gerard Depardieu, Vincent Cassel, Goldie Hawn and Monica Belluci are in the audience. But the star-turn is performed by a man from another branch of entertainment altogether (‘show-business for ugly people’) who in
Freddy Gray speaks to the Republican strategist and advisor Roger Stone about Trump’s possible arrest; his views on Ron De Santis and the end of honest journalism.
Even out of office, she’s still causing chaos. Details of Liz Truss’s resignation honours list have been leaked to the Sun this afternoon, with the newspaper reporting that the former Tory leader is considering awarding at least four peerages to mark her 49-day premiership. The names in the frame for Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister are
In my hometown we have three Orthodox churches, two of which are formally aligned with the Moscow patriarchate. They mostly say Russian prayers but, growing up, this was not seen as important. My family would go to both and see them as interchangeable: you’d stand, pray, kiss icons, take communion. Many Ukrainians never gave it
It could be next month. It might be next week. Or it might well happen over the weekend. But today’s collapse in the share price of Deutsche Bank, and the huge rise in the cost of insuring its debt against default, means it is probably only a matter of time before there’s an intervention. It
Israeli politics is rarely quiet, but recent events have taken the drama and volubility to another level. The country has faced 11 weeks of protests against the make-up of Israel’s governing coalition and reforms to the country’s judicial system. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets. Roads have been blocked. The Knesset and
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This morning Buckingham Palace has announced that King Charles’s State visit to France has been cancelled as the country struggles with nationwide strikes against the government’s pension reform. The King was due to visit Paris and Bordeaux, two of the cities which have been hit by the most extreme violence. Will his trip to Germany
Oh dear. It seems that Emmanuel Macron has done it again. The preening French president was in the middle of a television interview last night, discussing his unpopular attempt to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, when he realised that his, er, €2,400 (£2,100) watch might be causing him difficulties. Hardly the best
Until the turn of the year it was taken for granted that Britain would descend into recession in the coming months. The Bank of England saw a long downturn lasting into 2024; the IMF thought we would do worse than even Russia. Now, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) thinks we might avoid recession altogether,
Boris Johnson was all probity and contrition on Wednesday when it came to the small matter of the Privilege Committee’s integrity. He oozed praise on the ‘distinguished’ panel of MPs and assured them, in his most sincere tones, of his believe that it isn’t a ‘kangaroo court.’ But it seems that not all of his
World Athletics has decided to protect women’s sport by restricting it to females. From 31 March, transwomen will not be allowed to compete in elite female competitions if they have gone through male puberty. Following yesterday’s meeting of the World Athletics Council, Seb Coe – the governing body’s president – explained that the decision was
It’s a long time since Dmitry Medvedev was last considered a potential liberal hope for Russia. Most recently, after all, he has threatened to bomb any country that seeks to apply the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recent arrest warrant on Vladimir Putin and separately read a working group of the Military Industrial Commission a 1941
As Nicola Sturgeon prepares to exit stage right, she’s been reeling off her greatest hits. Things she thinks she’s done to leave her mark on Scotland. She was helped this week by a study published in the Lancet. It claimed that her minimum unit pricing policy (where alcohol must be sold for at least 50p per unit)
Yesterday was a day of anarchy in France – and the protests overnight have led to King Charles’s state visit to France, which was due to start this weekend, being cancelled. The King had been due to visit Paris and Bordeaux, two of the cities hit by the most extreme violence. In Bordeaux, a town
We are almost there: on Monday, the SNP will appoint its new leader after five weeks of what will surely be remembered as the most controversial and consequential change of leadership in the short history of devolution. Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation in February came as a surprise even to her closest allies. They knew the First
Is Emmanuel Macron reaching his Liz Truss moment when financial markets finally determine his future? On 20 March Moody’s ratings agency strode into France’s explosive pensions reform turmoil. While keeping France’s rating at Aa2 ‘stable’ it nevertheless warned that President Macron’s constitutional sleight of hand denying the National Assembly a vote on the bill risked undermining
After several months of anticipation, two contentious legal submissions from Lord Pannick KC and a bumper 52-page witness statement, Boris Johnson finally made his appearance before the Privileges Committee yesterday. Regular select committee watchers might have been surprised to see the panel of seven MPs conduct a forensic examination of Mr Johnson, sticking doggedly to
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was quick out of the blocks to join the condemnation of the Metropolitan Police following the publication of Louise Casey’s report. He even slapped down Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley for daring to question Casey’s assertion that the Met was ‘institutionally misogynistic, racist and homophobic’. So does that mean that
It’s tempting to see Keir Starmer as a political wind-up merchant given the number of times he likes to quote people who annoy his own activists. Recently he adopted the ‘take back control’ slogan and today he approvingly quoted Margaret Thatcher. Hell, the man has even praised Tony Blair. Labour sees an opportunity in the
There was no easy option for the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this week. Raising interest rates, even by a small amount, could add to financial instability following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and takeover of Credit Suisse over the past few weeks. But holding the base rate at 4 per cent
Along with death and taxes, life has only one other certainty: the DUP will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Fresh from insulting Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in the annual St Patrick’s Day Washington jamboree as a man who needs to ‘read a history book’, the DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has now antagonised
Whether it was No. 10 parties or Chris Pincher’s misconduct claims, Tory MPs grew used to having defend Boris Johnson in various scrapes and scandals in office. Now though he’s gone but even six months on, some Conservatives seem unable (or unwilling) to kick the habit. A case in point is provided by Scott Benton,