World

Friday

John Keiger John Keiger

How Jean-Marie Le Pen lives on

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 universal surprise, he nonetheless beat the Socialist candidate and qualified for the second round of the French presidentials with 18 per cent of the vote. For some he was a malign towering figure of French politics and political life for six decades; for others the outspoken tribune of the French people insistent on stating fearlessly,

Catherine Lafferty

Catherine Lafferty, Michael Simmons, Paul Wood, Philip Hensher, Isabel Hardman and Damian Thompson

39 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Catherine Lafferty argues that the drive to reduce teenage pregnancies enabled grooming gangs (1:27); following Luke Littler’s world championship victory, Michael Simmons says that Gen Z is ruining darts (6:32); Paul Wood looks at the return of Isis, and America’s unlikely ally in its fight against the terrorist group (10:35); Philip Hensher reviews a new biography of the Brothers Grimm by Ann Schmiesing, and looks at how words can be as dangerous as war (17:57); Isabel Hardman highlights the new garden now open at the Natural History Museum (26:57); and, Damian Thompson reveals he watched videos of plane crashes to distract himself from the US

Katja Hoyer Katja Hoyer

Why German politicians fear Musk’s AfD interview

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 snap elections in February. For about 75 minutes, Musk and Weidel chatted about everything from energy and immigration policy to God, Hitler and life on Mars. I’d never seen Weidel act so casually. She actually giggled when Musk jokingly said ‘yes’ to her suggestion that nobody wants to be surrounded by yes men. ‘This is

Yuan Yi Zhu

The Chagos Islands deal is uniquely terrible

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 observers were none the wiser about the financial provisions of the still-secret agreement between the two countries. If the deal goes through, Britain will be paying a king’s ransom to give away sovereign territory to a foreign power with no rightful claim to it Now we know that ‘many billions of rupees’ also means ‘many

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Could Elon Musk really oust Keir Starmer?

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 sent from those with large followings. The news will go down like a cup of cold sick with Musk who has long railed against the UK government over censorship. It’s just another indicator of how the strained relationship between Keir Starmer and Musk is unlikely to improve anytime soon. But are things so bad that

Thursday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

How will Trump change the world? With Gideon Rachman

42 min listen

Americano is nominated in the Political Podcast Awards 2025. Vote for it to win the People’s Choice category here. Freddy Gray is joined by Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times to discuss what Donald Trump’s revisionist America could mean for the world order. Trump is a sworn enemy of what he calls ‘globalism’, which raises questions about whether America will remain the world’s most powerful country in 2025 and beyond. Gideon has described five ways in which Trump’s America First strategy would play out, from a great new power bargain, to war by accident and anarchy in a leaderless world. On the podcast Freddy and Gideon discuss the five possible scenarios, how

Ian Williams Ian Williams

What is the point of Rachel Reeves’s visit to Beijing?

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 China today with a selection of City grandees. In reality though, the damage will be largely self-inflicted. Starmer’s China strategy seems even more incoherent than that of his predecessors For multiple reasons, the timing of a visit designed to build closer economic links with Beijing is awful. It comes just weeks after the UK confirmed

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

The truth about grooming gangs, ‘why I’m voting for the AfD’ & exploring YouTube rabbit holes

47 min listen

This week: what does justice look like for the victims of the grooming gangs?In the cover piece for the magazine, Douglas Murray writes about the conspiracy of silence on the grooming gangs and offers his view on what justice should look like for the perpetrators. He also encourages the government to take a step back and consider its own failings. He writes: ‘If any government or political party wants to do something about the scandal, they will need to stop reviewing and start acting. Where to begin? One good starting point would be to work out why Pakistani rapists in Britain seem to have more rights than their victims.’ To

Terry Barnes

Beach turf wars are dividing Australia

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 this week: whether a true Australian has the right to reserve beach space by setting up an American-style beach shelter – a cabana – to stake a claim, whether or not it’s occupied. Even the country’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has waded in on the subject – and finally found popularity by condemning the canvas

James Tidmarsh

Why the French state fears Elon Musk

The French government on Wednesday declared war on X and on Elon Musk, directly threatening to ban the platform. Speaking on France Inter, Jean-Noël Barrot, France’s Foreign Minister, accused Musk of allowing X to become a platform for interference undermining European ‘public discourse’. Barrot demanded that the European Commission act with ‘the utmost firmness’. He has repeatedly complained to Brussels and said that if the EU fails to act, potentially by banning X outright, France may demand the power to protect itself. ‘The debate on public platforms,’ he declared, ‘cannot be outsourced to unregulated social networks controlled by billionaires.’ Make no mistake – this isn’t about interference or democracy. It’s

Ross Clark Ross Clark

The truth about the LA wildfires 

It is like a Hollywood disaster movie with a difference: it really is happening close to Hollywood, and the stars involved, such as James Woods and Eugene Levy, aren’t acting – they really are fleeing their homes as a wildfire singes residential areas in the Pacific Palisades area on the north-west fringe of Los Angeles. Several film premieres have been cancelled, along with the nomination ceremony for the Screen Actors Guild awards.  Because fire services have become better at putting out fires, the natural cycle has been interrupted We know what to expect, however, when we do get to those awards ceremonies: celebs lecturing us on climate change and how

Philip Patrick Philip Patrick

The ‘MAGA’ South Koreans still supporting President Yoon

In extraordinary scenes more reminiscent of a South American coup than a supposedly stable first world democracy, fights broke out between protestors supporting and opposing South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, outside his presidential compound in an upscale suburb of Seoul. They were there to demand or resist Yoon’s arrest for his declaration of martial law last month.  Yoon, whose powers are currently suspended, is being defended by the PSS (Presidential Security Service) who are barring the way to government investigators now trying to figure out how to gain entry. Yoon’s personal security detail (200 strong) has fortified his compound and so far kept investigators at bay.  Unless the authorities seek

Paul Wood

America’s new ally in the battle against Isis: the Taliban

Isis are back. In fact, to borrow Gerry Adams’s remark about the IRA, they never went away. Now, they are regaining some of their previous strength in Syria and Iraq, and moving into fresh territory in Africa. Of most importance to the West, the Afghan branch of Isis – Isis Khorasan – is said to be plotting more direct attacks on the ‘far enemy’, as well as pumping out propaganda to create so-called ‘lone wolves’. But with the stakes rising, it seems the United States may have found a new ally in the battle against Isis: the Taliban. The enemy of my enemy… Intelligence also flows the other way, with

Toby Young Toby Young

Farewell Justin Trudeau, the last of the lockdown tyrants

So farewell then, Justin Trudeau, last of the lockdown tyrants. Or should that be the last of the democratically elected lockdown tyrants? After all, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are still in office. But setting aside those authoritarians, it’s difficult to think of a single democratic leader apart from Emmanuel Macron who was in power during the pandemic who has survived – and Macron will be gone soon. Their decision to lock down their countries, with all the collateral damage that entailed, is surely a factor in their demise. Time and time again, these highly educated technocrats have proved spectacularly inept at navigating global crises In Trudeau’s case, inflation is

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: grooming gangs, wildfires and a Littler victory

Home Responding to a rejection by Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, of calls for a government inquiry into historical child abuse in Oldham, Elon Musk tweeted that she was a ‘rape genocide apologist’ and ‘deserves to be in prison’. After a day or two of tweets suggesting such things as the dissolution of parliament by the King, Mr Musk tweeted: ‘The Reform party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.’ Nigel Farage had dissociated himself from the far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, who is serving 18 months for contempt of court. Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, tweeted: ‘Importing hundreds of thousands of people from alien cultures, who possess

Katy Balls Katy Balls

‘There’s been a vibe shift’: welcome to the new political disorder

Donald Trump isn’t back in the White House yet, but already his victory is being felt across the world. Greenland is pondering the prospect of an invasion after the President-elect refused to rule it out during a Mar-a-Lago press conference. In Canada, the last western leader from the days before Trump has just exited the stage. Justin Trudeau, the one-time liberal hero, quit earlier this week in the face of tanking ratings. Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat leader, is out at Meta and the billionaires of Silicon Valley are bracing themselves for what comes next. Mark Zuckerberg has announced sweeping changes (including an end to fact-checkers) in response to

Elisabeth Dampier

Why I’m voting for the AfD

On 23 February, I will vote for the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party in the German general election. As someone with an immigrant parent, a postgraduate degree, and who works in the liberal world of film and TV, this is the last thing I’m supposed to admit to in public. My fellow Germans might understand my not wanting to vote for the Social Democratic party (SPD), the left-wingers who lead our deeply unpopular coalition government. But as an ‘educated’ millennial, surely I ought to vote Green? After all, our shamelessly non-neutral public broadcasters ARD and ZDF acclaim them the ‘party of youth’. They’ve consistently opposed mass immigration and Germany’s absurdly

Wednesday

Jake Wallis Simons Jake Wallis Simons

It’s no surprise so many British Jews are leaving for Israel

Some things may come as no surprise in theory but cause the heart to sink when they emerge as reality. The surging number of British Jews emigrating to Israel – which doubled last year – is one such example. With antisemitism at record levels, this exodus is hardly unexpected. The British Jewish community is longstanding and patriotic – the office of the Chief Rabbi was established in 1704 – and has always worn its warmth for Israel alongside a deep loyalty to King and country. This is not about to change. But relentless hostility takes a toll. There is one particularly significant secret sauce that Israel offers Before October 7,

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

Does Britain want to join Trump’s new world order? 

Goodbye EU, hello AU? It’s been evident for a few months now that Donald Trump’s second administration will be more geostrategically ambitious than his first. Yesterday, in another extraordinary press conference in Mar-a-Lago, we got a glimpse of what Trump and his advisers are thinking for the planet in 2025 and beyond.  Trump reiterated his desire to annex Canada and Greenland. He declared that the Gulf of Mexico should be called the Gulf of America, said the United States should take back control of the Panama Canal, and told Hamas ‘all hell will break loose’ if its Israeli hostages are not returned before his inauguration.  Earlier, as if to underscore

Edward Howell

Kim Jong Un isn’t going away

It was only a matter of time before North Korea lit things up again. As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a five-day sojourn to Seoul, the hermit kingdom welcomed the US official in the way it knows best – by testing another ballistic missile.  North Korean state media proudly announced that Monday’s missile launch was of its latest hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile system. For Kim Jong Un, now entering his 14th year in power, the test of the ‘strategic weapon’ – which flew 1,100 kilometres with an altitude of close to 100 kilometres – would ‘contain any rivals in the Pacific’ and demonstrate to its ‘enemies’ that it would be