All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Certain days in the long and sometimes glorious history of English cricket are so brightly coloured they can never fade. Two such are the 20th and 21st of July, 1981. Age and the passing of time cannot weary them. The old tape has been played and replayed so often, it becomes all but impossible to
To the undoubted dismay of pedants worldwide, it seems the war against the misplaced, omitted or unwanted apostrophe has been lost. The Apostrophe Protection Society, founded in 2001 to campaign for the proper use of the punctuation mark, is no more. Its founder, John Richards, 96, declared at the weekend that he was ending his
Donald Trump was given a hard deadline from judiciary committee chairman Jerrold Nadler: if you want to defend yourself against impeachment, you must do so by 6 December. It didn’t take Trump long to respond: over my dead body. But while Trump’s bravado is not a surprise, his impeachment strategy is not without its risks. White
Air Force One touched down at Stansted Airport last night for the annual Nato summit, held just over a week before the British public go to the polls. So far, Donald Trump has avoided becoming embroiled in the campaign. He told reporters: ‘I’ll stay out of the election’. Spectator USA editor Freddy Gray took to the
Over the years I’ve often myopically associated anti-Semitism with the far-right or Islamist extremists who harbour a special antipathy for Jews. But a new report, Antisemitism Barometer 2019, suggests Jew hatred in Britain is more prevalent amongst the far-left when compared to the far-right. Perhaps this should all come as little surprise, given Corbyn’s Labour
If Boris Johnson wins a clear majority on 12 December, it could mark a big turning point in British history. The brakes will be off for the United Kingdom to formally leave the European Union by 31 January 2020. Then the new Tory government will decide how radical its future relationship with the European Union
Less than the cost of a Spotify subscription. Less than Netflix charges you every month. True, you might not be able to get the latest Taylor Swift remix or episodes of Stranger Things, but the Labour Party is trying to reach out to the streaming generation with the claim that the state costs you less than either
When I was interviewed a long time ago for admission to one of our ancient universities, a don used the phrase “the maintained sector” to describe my educational background. He meant that I was a state school lad and I suppose his implication was that independent schools were somehow more free-thinking, reliable bastions of excellence. At
The Lib Dems unveiled their secret weapon to revive their flagging election campaign this week. The party managed to win the backing of actor Hugh Grant, who joined Lib Dem candidates Luciana Berger and Chuka Umunna on the campaign trail to plug a so-called ‘Remain Alliance’ between several parties to keep the Tories out of
Jeremy Corbyn has finally said sorry for anti-Semitism within the Labour party. The Labour leader was asked five times by This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield to apologise to worried Jewish people. Finally, he backed down and said he was ‘obviously very sorry for everything that has happened’: Schofield: ‘Here is your opportunity now to apologise
One of Labour’s key messages throughout this election has been the future of the NHS. The party has used confidential US-UK trade documents to drive home their message that Boris Johnson wants to sell off parts of the health service to American businesses. But last night, social media experts told Reuters that the leak of these sensitive
Why can’t the great and good of the climate establishment mention higher temperatures, disappearing sea ice and rising sea levels without also throwing in floods, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires? Al Gore does it, David Attenborough does it and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres did it at the opening of his annual climate beanfeast in Spain
A big part of Jeremy Corbyn’s election pitch is claiming that the Tories want to flog the NHS to the United States. That’s nonsense, says Donald Trump. The president told reporters in London that even if the NHS was ‘handed to us on a silver platter, we want nothing to do with it’. He said:
Another day, another uncosted bribe from Labour. This time, Corbyn is promising to slash a third off rail fares and allow children to travel for free. What wonderful, munificent people we have putting themselves forward to lead us. And of course, it won’t cost the taxpayer an extra penny because, as Labour’s transport spokesman, Andy
With ten days to go until polling day, the election campaign has turned to national security. Following the London Bridge knife attack on Friday by a convicted terrorist which left two members of the public dead, the Conservatives have made a concerted effort to get on the front foot on the issue. Over the weekend,
Some readers have been asking me to comment on the latest London Bridge terrorism incident. And if I have some reluctance it is only because although ennui comes from writing the same article over and over again, that’s nothing like the feeling you get from writing the same article so often that you don’t even
London plays host to another Nato summit tomorrow, which can only mean one thing: expect plenty of handshakes, laboured smiles for the cameras and joint communiques about solidarity, unity and the importance of Western values. Underneath the facade, however, lies a club riven by disputes over policy and personality. Nato may be celebrating its 70th
I’ve just finished reading William Manchester’s absorbing memoir about the Pacific War. ‘Goodbye Darkness’ is a reminder of just how brutal that campaign was, particularly the battle for Okinawa in 1945, where Americans and Japanese fought in hand-to-hand combat in conditions that Manchester likened to Passchendaele. There was one key difference though: in the East China
A great deal of the transgender debate is unexplained. One of the most mystifying aspects is the speed and success of a small number of small organisations in achieving major influence over public bodies, politicians and officials. How has a certain idea taken hold in so many places so swiftly? People and organisations that at
We learnt this weekend that the London Bridge attacker, Usman Khan, had been jailed in 2012 along with eight other men for terrorism offences, and had close links to the group planning to bomb the London stock exchange, among other targets. If so, why was he allowed to travel to the heart of London while released
Amongst many leaflets posted and campaigns found around this general election, we can see groups setting out to ‘mobilise the Muslim vote’. I find the term stomach-churning. I’m a director of Faith Matters, which seeks to foster good relationships between all faith communities. I don’t believe in seeing people’s political choices as some form of block activity or vote:
Tonight’s ITV election debate had a slightly different cast to the seven-way BBC programme on Friday night, but its spokespeople offered pretty much the same soundbites throughout the show. It started with the parties arguing about the lessons from the London Bridge attack, with Conservative Rishi Sunak and Labour’s Richard Burgon repeating the lines their
Boris Johnson – We will end automatic early release The Prime Minister joined Andrew Marr this morning to give his first extensive interview since Friday’s terror attack on London Bridge. Usman Khan, who was previously convicted for his involvement in plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange in 2010, killed 2 members of the public,
Boris Johnson appeared on the Andrew Marr Show this morning. Marr grilled the Prime Minister on everything from NHS spending to Andrew Neil. Read the full transcript here: Andrew Marr: Simple question to start with, how could such a man be released onto the streets of Britain after serving only eight years? My final guest
In the ‘whataboutery’ which now dominates British politics, no mention of Labour anti-Semitism is complete without a counter-accusation of Tory Islamophobia. It swiftly followed the Chief Rabbi’s condemnation of Labour anti-Semitism on Tuesday. There may well be people in the Conservative party who have an irrational hatred of Muslims, but the term ‘Islamophobia’ should be
Unless Jeremy Corbyn defies the odds, it looks unlikely that the Labour leader will become prime minister come 13 December. So what might happen if Corbyn loses for a second time? Will he try to cling on? Is there life for Labour after Corbyn? Before the campaign began, John McDonnell conceded Corbyn could not remain
This week is seminal for Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron. Boris, in Watford, is hosting one of the most important Nato summits for years. Its significance is not because it marks the Alliance’s 70th anniversary, but because of President Macron’s ‘disruptive’ and trenchant criticism of the Atlantic Alliance as close to ‘brain dead’, which has touched
If Donald Trump really doesn’t want Jeremy Corbyn to become Prime Minister, he should, I say in the Sun this morning, just ignore the Labour leader when he comes to London for the Nato summit next week. The Labour leader would like nothing more than to get into a war of words with the US
My Sunday job is to ask questions; but in this campaign there is a line of criticism of television interviewing which makes me pause. The rise of misnamed social media (mostly Twitter) makes it all too easy to clip and post ‘Gotcha!’ moments, when a politician appears to be gasping for air at a particularly
Boris Johnson likes to call black people ‘piccaninnies’. Everyone’s saying it. Even Stormzy said it this week in his endorsement of Jeremy Corbyn. It is ‘criminally dangerous’ to give the keys of Downing Street back to a man who refers to ‘black people as “piccaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”’, the grime superstar said. Whether Stormzy also
With the polls seemingly reluctant to move in their favour, Labour have set out their stall very clearly: they hope to win the election by pledging perhaps the biggest increase in government spending in living memory. Billions have been promised for students and the health service. Under Corbyn, there will be free broadband for all,
I’d love for James Kirkup to be right when he claims I am wrong about Boris Johnson. And as he knows vastly more than me about Tory party politics, it’s really not easy to disagree. But I must confess I remain to be convinced. To start with, here’s why I want him to be right: I
