Stephen Daisley is a Spectator regular and a columnist for the Scottish Daily Mail
Ed Davey’s got this Middle East business figured out. The Liberal Democrat leader has tweeted — because, honestly, what else is there to do as Lib Dem leader other than tweet? — his latest insight into the Gaza war: ‘Now the Hamas terrorists behind the October 7 atrocities are trying to erode support for recognition
There is a certain worldly cynicism aroused by the announcement that a politician is stepping down to spend more time with their family. It was for a long time the refuge of MPs who had earned themselves an entry in the News of the World, the Who’s Who of romeos, rogues and reprobates, for their
Foreign relations are among the most political functions of a government. Ministers favour or disfavour other states based on calculations about which relationships might better serve the national interest. Human rights violations are condemned here, while a blind eye is turned there. Dictators are treated as democrats and democrats as dictators depending on the diplomatic
Britain intends to follow France, and now Canada, in recognising a Palestinian state in September. I’ve already set out the practical and theoretical problems inherent in such a policy, not least the absence of a functioning Palestinian state to recognise. But we shouldn’t lose sight of another effect of this policy: in recognising a state
Eric Cartman, the antihero of South Park, is a disgusting bigot who mocks disabled people, demeans women and says hateful things about Jews. When the series debuted in 1997, much of what offended parents, educators and religious groups came out of the mouth of this school-aged Alf Garnett. Later, it was the forces of coercive
France intends to recognise a state of Palestine at the United Nations, which I’m sure will be followed by UK recognition of the same. We can be sure of this because the UK does not have an independent foreign policy when it comes to the Middle East. Inside or outside of the European Union, London’s
The trials of Sandie Peggie are a parable of where power lies in a country when lies are power. Peggie is a nurse from Fife, by all accounts a hard-working professional dedicated to her vocation and her patients. Things went awry, however, when she objected to undressing in a changing room in front of Dr Beth Upton, a
Ross Greer is for Palestine, trans rights and riling up the Daily Express, making him the ideal candidate to lead the Scottish Greens. At an event in Glasgow today, the West Scotland MSP put himself forward as a successor to Patrick Harvie, who is standing down after 17 years at the helm of the environmentalist party
Something was scarce, if not absent, in the commemorations of the 7/7 Islamist attacks yesterday, and that is the fact that these were Islamist attacks. The word did not appear in the Prime Minister’s official statement to mark the anniversary. Keir Starmer commended ‘the unity of Londoners in the face of terror’, but what kind
The scenes of a tearful Rachel Reeves are all anyone is likely to remember from yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. The Chancellor wept openly, her expression distraught; it was difficult to watch. The death of Princess Diana and the extraordinary outpourings of public grief that followed marked the end of stiff-upper-lip Britain. Vestiges remain, however, and
Spare a thought for Chris Coghlan, who has learned to his horror that not only is the Pope a Catholic, his own priest is one too. The Liberal Democrat MP, who voted to legalise assisted suicide, attends St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dorking. He complains to the Observer that Father Ian Vane ‘publicly announced at Mass that he was… denying me
A more gracious person would refrain from saying, ‘I told you so’, but I’m not a gracious person. So, as George Galloway announces his backing for another Scottish independence referendum, allow me to say – nay, crow – I told you so. Galloway, leader of the Workers party, says he and his party ‘support the right of the Scots to self-determination’ and that ‘the time
Strength works. It’s a foreign policy lesson that sounds too simple to be true and too unequivocal to be wise, and yet there is much truth and a good deal of wisdom in it. Strength does not mean wanton thuggery or hubristic swagger, it must be considered, well-regulated and guided by reflection and sober analysis.
Stephen Fry has accused J.K. Rowling of being ‘inflammatory and contemptuous’, ‘mocking’ and adding to ‘a terribly distressing time for trans people’. Fry, who narrated the Harry Potter audiobooks, has damned their author for saying ‘cruel’ and ‘wrong’ things and for failing to ‘disavow some of the more revolting and truly horrible, destructive – violently
A small but not insignificant morsel of data on the state of education after 18 years of the SNP running Scotland. New figures show the gap between the poorest and wealthiest school leavers has widened to a five-year high. In the least deprived areas, just 3 per cent of school leavers fail to go to
MAGA (Make America Great Again) isolationists all agree: the United States must not be drawn into the Israel-Iran war. Donald Trump was not elected president to become entangled in pointless foreign conflicts. Over on Truth Social, Trump’s hokey-pokey routine continues – in, out, in, out, send the Fifth Fleet out? – and America Firsters despair
Israel’s overnight strikes on the Islamic Republic of Iran represent the initial salvo of what Jerusalem is calling Operation Rising Lion. In Genesis 49, Jacob tells his sons: ‘Judah is a lion’s cub/ from the prey, my son, you rise up/ He lies down and crouches like a lion/ like a lioness — who dares
For those who feel Scottish politics has become a little dull of late, fear not: a rebel faction within the SNP is plotting to make things very interesting again. Today’s Glasgow Herald brings the news of a secret summit of top SNP insiders at which plans to remove incumbent party leader (and Holyrood first minister)
Nadiya Hussain’s recipes have become staples in households across the country and acquired for the TV presenter and cookery writer the status of national treasure. However, her reaction to the BBC’s decision not to commission a new series from her leaves a bitter taste and prompts the thought that her secret ingredient all along might
If the problem with Labour is that it believes in nothing, the problem with Reform is that it believes in everything. The dispute over the burqa is only the latest example. Few things unite supporters of Reform like opposition to benefits for anyone other than themselves In pushing Keir Starmer to ban the burqa ‘in
