All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
290 people have been killed in what is believed to be a series of Islamist attacks in Sri Lanka. Writing in The Spectator last month, Paul Wood says that while Isis’ territory has gone, the threat from jihadis has not gone away: Beirut As I write, Isis is still holding out on a few hundred
I was recently quoted in the Sun newspaper in a story about how MPs were reacting to the Brexit drama in the House of Commons. I said: ‘It feels like the Commons is having a collective breakdown — a cross between Lord of the Flies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. People are behaving in ways that were unimaginable
I had mixed feelings about the sacking of Roger Scruton from the government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, following comments he made to the New Statesman. On the one hand it was utterly shameful and gutless on the part of the government, although no worse than one has come to expect from members of a
I’ve been writing and talking about my dead friend Lyra McKee for the best part of two days, and have little to add to my tributes to the talented, lovable, warm, kind, empathetic, funny, curious, eager, original, hard-working, brave though thin-skinned, wise but sometimes naïve, ambitious but ego-free, pint–sized dynamo, who regarded journalism as a
If, as looks likely, Petro Poroshenko loses his bid for re-election as President of Ukraine, he will have gone out in style. On Saturday night, the eve of the vote, his home town staged a huge public concert at the venue he created and sponsored: a state-of-the-art sound-and-light fountain complex just a short walk along
G.K. Chesterton once observed that ‘poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese’. Well, not the anonymous author of the curious poem that inspired the latest challenge — to submit a ‘Sonnet Found in a Deserted Mad House’. Line eight of this sonnet, which appeared in A Nonsense Anthology (1915), edited by Carolyn
The bravest thing I’ve ever seen was 93-year-old Albert’s decision to die and the days after in which he stuck to his resolve and sank away from consciousness, like a swimmer turning tail and just diving down into the dark. Albert was not religious, but I’m writing this now because though I’ve been Catholic for
When little known California congressman Eric Swalwell announced his decision to seek the Democratic presidential nomination this month, the former county prosecutor became the 18th Democratic candidate to enter the race. There are so many Democrats running for president of the United States that it’s becoming tiresome to track them all. Most—like Swalwell, Maryland congressman John Delaney, Hawaii congresswoman
On religious holidays it’s customary for politicians and parties to send out well-wishing notes to the celebrating group. An ‘Eid Mubarak’ to Muslims, a ‘Merry Christmas’ to Christians. The practice has become so assumed that to not do so is often viewed as a slight or offence. Yesterday, on the first day of the Jewish
Twenty one years ago this week, a deal was signed in Belfast that undoubtedly gifted many people with a future who would otherwise now be cold in the ground. The Good Friday Agreement saved lives in Northern Ireland and brought a measure of consensual politics, but there is no tent big enough to accommodate the sadists who
Miraculously my family forgive me for that interview. The children are adamant that there should be no resentment but even a measure of sympathy towards the journalist. He probably thought that you make friends on the left by making enemies on the right. I open the computer: hundreds of emails in support, but nothing official
Given the reception that awaited Richard Madeley when he ventured last week that David Attenborough is “not a saint, just a broadcaster” – something which is evidently true, though I haven’t formally checked with the Vatican – one delves into this subject with some intrepidness. Nevertheless, great documentary-maker though he may be, Attenborough cannot be
Even with all the volatility in British politics right now, it is still remarkable that the Brexit party are favourites to win the European Elections just a week after launching. But will the Brexit party winning actually change anything, I ask in The Sun this morning. I think there are a several ways it which
Having been at Cambridge with the then-delightful Diane Abbott about 40 years ago, I know how hard it is for charming, intelligent black people with middle-class aspirations to make it in the Labour party without great sacrifice. They have to pull grumpy faces, pretend to be angry and claim membership — despite overwhelming evidence to
In 2007, then-Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd labelled climate change ‘the great moral challenge of our generation’. Rudd is right: if no action is taken on rising CO2 emissions then the world is in trouble. That’s why it is so disappointing that my country, Australia, has failed to tackle the problem and remains one of the
Every year during Easter Week I draw up a chart of my least favourite countries and distribute the list to close friends and relatives. I’ve been doing this for thirty years now and I’m sure it has proved helpful to those close to me. So sure, in fact, that I intend, from now on, to
We always knew the full 400-page report from Special Counsel Robert Mueller probing possible Trump campaign collusion with Russia during the 2016 election would be a lot dicier for the president than Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary. Barr’s letter to Congress, released earlier this month, was in many ways his own interpretation of Mueller’s investigation. And
It’s been an interesting week. I was perhaps a little too hasty to jump in the ring and conduct what I thought was a defence of values that Tom Tugendhat and I both share. I saw him condemning what we both thought were anti-Semitic remarks, made by an individual who had previously made offensive comments
Earlier this week the world watched in horror as the Notre Dame went up in flames. Although the roof and its spire were lost, the main body of the cathedral survived. So did most of its holy artefacts, and the gleaming, golden cross above the altar – which graces this week’s magazine cover. The outpouring
As France and the world grieved over the Notre Dame fire, French national politics rolled on behind the scenes. President Macron was scheduled to broadcast to the nation on his reform programme following the national consultation (Grand Débat) that has been underway for three months in the hope of quelling the five-month-old yellow vest protests.
When Robert Mueller was appointed as Special Counsel, ‘[t]he President slumped back in his chair and said, “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked.”’ This is just one of the beautifully telling vignettes from the Mueller report, published today. Another is Donald Trump saying to his lawyer, Michael
As if the nation is not already mired in enough scandal, now comes the revelation that half the land in England is owned by just 25,000 individuals and organisations (1% of the population!). How wrong and elitist that sounds when placed beneath a Guardian headline which implies it is a yet another measure of horrible
President Trump seems to be enjoying his presidency, for a change. His Twitter feed betrays none of the nervousness of the tense weekend when Mueller submitted his findings to the attorney general, William Barr. Then, for an extraordinary and probably unprecedented 24 hours, Trump’s Twitter fell almost silent. Now he writes, joyously: ‘No Collusion –
Another day, another poll predicting the Brexit party will triumph in next month’s European elections. This time, it’s a Times/YouGov poll which puts Nigel Farage’s new party ahead of both Labour and the Tories. The Brexit Party is on 23 per cent, Labour on 22 per cent and the Conservatives on 17 per cent. Meanwhile,
If you’re going away this Easter and are on a budget, it makes sense to ensure your money goes as far as it possibly can. One way of doing this is to use the most cost-effective credit card that you can. Here are some of the best travel credit cards on the market at the
“Why do people get married?” It’s a question worth asking, not least because the government has announced the biggest change to divorce law in 50 years without attempting to answer it. Under the present law justifying reasons (adultery or unreasonable behaviour), must be given for a divorce to be finalised, usually within three to six
This afternoon the government announced the official launch date for its age-verification scheme for online pornography. As of 15th July, X-rated websites (or at least some of them) will have a three-month grace period to ensure that all UK visitors are over 18. If they fail to do so, the government will block them from
The purge continues. The latest victim is Barry Humphries. The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is renaming its Barry Award after Humphries was accused of expressing transphobic views. And so-called transphobia, as we know, is the deadliest sin in the PC era. No one may deny the truth of transgenderism. No one may blaspheme against the
24 August 2024 At the opening today of the rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral, after the disastrous fire in April 2019, President Macron defended his decision to retask it with a new mission as a “house for all faiths, and also for those who have no faith.” “Notre Dame is a symbol of France, it has
Why is Extinction Rebellion being given such an easy ride? It isn’t hard to imagine the outrage which would rightly follow if, say, Brexiteers were to smash windows, block roads and bridges in the cause of trying to force the government into a no-deal Brexit. We would never hear the last of the Guardian condemning
The Extinction Rebellion group of climate change activists have caused widespread disruption in the capital this week, as they blockade busy roads in central London to bring attention to the UK’s efforts to tackle global warming. Today, they ramped up the protests by specifically targeting public transport. In a press release, the group said that
In a press release this morning, the Liberal Democrats announced the candidates who will be representing them in the forthcoming European elections on the 23 May. A second referendum to ‘stop Brexit’ has been their flagship policy since the country voted to leave the EU, and so a good result in these European elections is