The Week

Leading article

Britain must help Europe fight a third wave

During the referendum campaign five years ago, the pro-Brexit side argued that by freeing ourselves from the EU’s native protectionism and over-application of the precautionary principle, Britain could revitalise its economy and democracy. The EU wanted to seize more power, they argued, by taking control of ever greater areas of public life. Remainers thought these

Portrait of the week

Diary

Andrew Marr: Scottish Unionists must rethink – and fast

Spring Cannot Be Cancelled arrives on the doorstep. It is a gloriously illustrated book by Martin Gayford about his conversations with David Hockney, now living in Normandy, and who I have recently interviewed. It’s a book about many things — Hockney’s love of France and French painting, his reflections on many other artists among them.

Ancient and modern

Even Ancient Rome battled culture wars

Identity politics empowers people to make all sorts of claims, not because they are true but because it makes them feel superior. ‘All whites are racist’, ‘all empires are evil’ and ‘all men are rapists’ are typically brain-dead examples of this increasingly popular genre. Classical elites were equally susceptible to fabrications of self-importance. Ancient literature

Barometer

Does the UK really have the highest Covid death rate?

A long way from home A walrus turned up off the Pembrokeshire coast, thousands of miles south of its normal habitat. Some other lonely visitors: — In July 2020 an albatross, a native of the southern hemisphere, was spotted near Flamborough on the Yorkshire coast. It was one of 30 sightings over the past few

Letters

Letters: Keir Starmer has failed the country

The word of God Sir: Douglas Murray complains that the C of E has embraced the ‘new religion’ of anti-racism (‘The C of E’s new religion’, 20 March). But the truth, which neither he nor the church seems to have realised, is that the ‘anti-racist’ agenda is a secular attempt to plug a long-standing gap