All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
The quietly spoken, thoughtful, brilliant Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne, four times winner of the Distinguished Service Order and co-founder of the Special Air Service, was nothing like his profane, psychotic, paddywhacking caricature in the cartoonish BBC series SAS: Rogue Heroes. His hideous portrayal does him a grave disservice and has understandably upset his family. Truth about Mayne
What type of person studies Latin in 2024? As a result of Labour’s decision to axe the £4 million Latin Excellence Programme (LEP), the stereotype of the average Latin student – that they are posh and privately educated – is likely to persist. As a state school student who studied Latin – a subject that
Well, well, well. It’s not been a great start to the year for Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour party in Westminster and it seems the Scottish lot north of the border are having a tough time of it too. Leader Anas Sarwar has seen his popularity fall towards the end of 2024 while his SNP rival
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who died aged 96 on 7 January, was the personification of the travails and excesses of post-war France. He was a co-founder in 1972 of the reactionary Front National, whose senior members included former Vichy collaborators and a former member of the Waffen SS Charlemagne Division. Yet on 21 April 2002 to
Uh oh. There’s trouble in paradise this evening as it has emerged that 12 Reform UK councillors are set to quit over Nigel Farage’s leadership. As reported by the Guardian, it transpires that the mass exodus could begin as early as tonight, with the announcement that the group intend to resign en mass timed to
As Rachel Reeves, flies to Beijing , she will have plenty of support from those who claim that the UK needs China for its economic wellbeing. The country ‘needs more engagement with China’, said Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds in October last year at the International Investment Summit put on soon after Labour’s election victory. The facts, however,
It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true of China too. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour initially adopted a Sinosceptic stance, strongly condemning the Hong Kong crackdown and promising to recognise China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide. Yet in office, they have
Over 200,000 listeners tuned into Elon Musk’s online conversation with Alice Weidel, the co-leader of Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), on the social media platform X yesterday. Musk has endorsed the anti-immigration party as ‘the last spark of hope’ for Germany. Reactions were expectedly tetchy in Weidel’s home country where the AfD is polling in second place ahead of
11 min listen
The war between Labour and Elon Musk continues to rage. Today the Financial Times reports that the tech tycoon has had discussions about ousting Keir Starmer before the next election, while the Mirror holds a report that the Home Office has been assessing Elon Musk’s tweets as a part of their efforts to tackle online
Last year, a Mauritian politician raised eyebrows in Britain when he told a political rally that ‘England has agreed to pay us a compensation’ to the tune of ‘many billions of rupees’ as part of the deal to hand over the Chagos islands to Mauritius. Still, a billion Mauritian rupees only converts to around £17 million, so
From the start of Elon Musk’s onslaught, Sir Keir Starmer’s position in refusing a new national inquiry into the grooming and rape of girls across England has looked fragile. This weekend that position – and Labour’s parliamentary discipline – will be tested further. That’s because Labour are now away from the Commons, back among their voters. Labour
Mr Steerpike was interested to read over the Christmas break that young people are currently flocking to join China’s civil service, attracted by the job stability it offers compared to the volatile private sector, and seeking to escape the country’s relatively high youth unemployment. According to the Reuters piece, the civil service is still seen
It used to be said that parties were Eurosceptic in opposition but Europhile in government. The same might be true of China too. Under Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour initially adopted a Sinosceptic stance, calling out the Hong Kong crackdown and backing calls to formally recognise China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide. Yet in office,
There’s always something that seems clinically compelling about a claim that we need yet more equality laws. Mary Prior KC, chair of the Criminal Bar Association and a proud working-class Potteries girl, has demanded that regional accents and social deprivation should be legally protected characteristics. At first sight it’s difficult to argue with the icy logic. If
Another day, another story that risks further exacerbating tensions between the world’s richest man and the prime minister. The Mirror reports that Elon Musk’s posts on X (the platform he owns) are being monitored by the Home Office’s counter-extremism unit as part of an increased effort to assess the risk posed to Britain by tweets
Elon Musk may have moved political focus in the UK to the grooming gangs scandal, but there is another issue causing alarm in the upper echelons of government this week: the economy. With every day that passes, Britain’s financial situation appears to be deteriorating. On Tuesday, a £2 billion auction of 30-year UK government debt
Rail union leader Mick Lynch has announced his retirement. No doubt there will be plenty who will breathe a sigh of relief, be it the politicians and hapless interviewers he has skewered on live television, to the passengers whose commutes were disrupted by the RMT’s strikes. Pugnacious in both appearance and attitude, he is a
A poll this week in France found that 78 per cent of respondents are in favour of proscribing the wearing of Muslim headscarves at universities and also for classroom helpers on school outings. The poll was conducted after comments by the Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, in a newspaper interview. ‘Helpers [on school trips] don’t have to wear
The horror of organised child sexual abuse and pimping – euphemistically called ‘grooming gangs’ – is back in the news. But unfortunately the victims remain ignored. These young girls endured horrific abuse, sadistic torture (including gang rape), enforced pregnancies, enforced abortions, sexually transmitted infections and even murder. But the reason that victims’ and survivors’ voices are missing
The renewed interest in the disproportionate involvement of men of Pakistani origin in historic group child sexual abuse has led to trenchant criticism of the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. What has been less acknowledged is the failure of the children’s sector to acknowledge the horror of what was happening. They were part of
Well, well, well. Mick Lynch, RMT’s infamous general secretary, has today announced he will be stepping down from the top job after four years in post. In a statement, the trade unionist remarked: It has been a privilege to serve this union for over 30 years in all capacities, but now it is time for
Following the defeat of the Tory amendment in parliament last night, No. 10 might have hoped that calls for a public inquiry into grooming gangs are now dying down. But the impetus for such a move has been given fresh life today by another helpful intervention from that well-known Starmer ally, Andy Burnham. Yes, that’s
The Chinese communist party claims to know a thing or two about humiliation – the ‘century of humiliation’ at the hands of rapacious foreigners is a founding myth of the CCP, which presents itself as a redemptive power. It will no doubt derive some satisfaction in making Rachel Reeves look foolish, as she heads to
Back to the Beeb, which continues to get better at being the focus of news headlines rather than, er, producing them. Now a freelance weekend newsreader is on the warpath, with the ex-BBC presenter claiming he was let go from the public service broadcaster after it emerged he made an anti-Keir Starmer charity Christmas single.
Is Reform about to become the most popular political party in Britain, overtaking both Labour and the Tories in national opinion polls? The rise of the light blue peril in opinion surveys since the general election at the expense of both major parties has certainly caused jitters in Westminster. MPs from more established parties know
12 min listen
Long term borrowing costs for the government have reached levels not seen since 1998, and 10 year UK gilts are now at their highest point since the 2008 financial crash. Both surpass the levels seen during the Liz Truss premiership – and this hasn’t gone unnoticed by the former PM. A set of similar circumstances,
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been the talk of London town this week and north of the border things are no different. The first First Minister’s Questions of the year has just concluded in Holyrood and, surprise surprise, the tech titan got a pretty prominent mention. In a speech on Monday, First Minister John Swinney
Who was the least popular man in Oxford this morning? Environment Secretary Steve Reed was certainly up there. The Labour man travelled through to the City of Dreaming Spires today to deliver a speech at the Oxford Farming Conference, with the Environment Secretary keen to discuss matters like how farmers can ‘diversify’ their incomes and
In politics as in everyday life it is possible to be right at the same time as being terribly, terribly wrong. Look no further than Liz Truss instructing her lawyers to send a ‘cease and desist letter’ to Keir Starmer demanding that he stops accusing her of “crashing the economy”. The claim, she alleges, is not
Bond yields are soaring to their highest levels in almost 30 years and sterling is sliding. The government’s economic strategy is facing its first real test, and where is the chancellor? So far Rachel Reeves has been silent, preparing for a jaunt to China. At some point she will have to address the markets –
Elon Musk has kept the British media busy in recent days, after persistently posting criticism of UK politicians over the grooming gangs scandal – and even calling for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to be incarcerated. But actions have consequences and the billionaire businessman may soon be about to see what happens when he’s deemed to
At a time when Donald Trump threatens to annex Greenland and the Panama Canal, China is flexing its military and economic muscles, Britain is in a state of seemingly permanent political crisis, Los Angeles tragically burns, and murderous conflicts still ravage Ukraine and the Middle East, here in Australia just one issue dominates public debate