What is the point of Keir Starmer? He was the means by which the Labour party could suffocate the hard left and assume the mantle of respectability and, in due course, power. But he lacked, and has never acquired, a governing philosophy. He was handed a landslide by an electorate determined to eject the Conservatives
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, announced that Britain had recognised a Palestinian state. France, Portugal, Canada and Australia did likewise. Before President Donald Trump of the United States was sent safely home, the government said it had secured £150 billion worth of US investment. Baroness Berger succeeded in establishing a select committee to
I recently attended the Young Dancer of the Year competition at the Royal Opera House, organised by the formidable Jacquie Brunjes. Sixteen young girls and boys aged 14 to 16 who had won a place in the final, all strutted their stuff in the hope of becoming the eventual winner. I watched each performance with
The Roman historian Tacitus commented that the visit of an Armenian king to Rome to clinch a deal in ad 66 demonstrated ‘that the king did not understand how we Romans value real power, but disdain its vanities’. What about Donald Trump’s recent visit, then? The imperial powers of Rome and of Parthia (modern Iran)
Flight path How long does it take to build a runway? — 33 years (at least) in the case of Heathrow’s third runway, first consulted on by Gordon Brown’s government in 2007, but which is not expected to be open until 2040 at the earliest. — 17 years in the case of Gatwick’s second operational
Unhappy Union Sir: John Power is correct about George Abaraonye, the president-elect of the Oxford Union (‘Violent opposition’, 20 September). Abaraonye appears to advocate that most extreme form of censorship: the bullet. As such, he poses an existential threat to the Oxford Union, which for 250 years has been a beacon of free speech for
