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Columns

Katy Balls

The rise of the Gaza Five

What should the Tories do about Nigel Farage? The leadership candidates have made many speeches and written many columns explaining how they would answer this question. Yet at Kemi Badenoch’s campaign launch on Monday, she dismissed it. Instead, there was another contingent of new MPs she was more concerned with: the pro-Gaza independents. ‘When everyone

What happened to pride in our nation?

I suppose there must be someone somewhere in this nation of ours who was surprised by the news that our fellow citizens have a much lower sense of pride in our country than has ever previously been the case. This apparent fact was reported by the National Centre for Social Research, whose representative did not

The joy of our deluded politicians

There are a number of joys in life that do not get enough attention. One is the sheer, unadulterated pleasure that can be gained from watching a politician speak about something they know nothing about. This season Kamala Harris is giving especially abundant material for connoisseurs. Recognising that there is plenty she doesn’t know about,

No one will change their mind about Hamas

Earlier this summer, my son and I biked over to fashionable east Hackney where it’s normal to pay £4.20 for a coffee and £3 for a croissant and everybody complains about the cost of living. The croissants, by the way, must come from the Dusty Knuckle bakery. I don’t know if it’s the same in

The Spectator's Notes

Starmer’s double standards

Sir Keir Starmer’s readiness to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Ukraine seems to be qualified by his fear of offending the Biden administration. He wants to let Ukraine use British Storm Shadow missiles inside Russia but dares not, for fear of the White House. Surely if the special relationship were really strong, its junior

Any other business

Why is no one marching against VAT on school fees?

How passively we respond to revelations of Labour’s real direction of travel. As millions of pensioners brace for the confiscation of winter fuel payments and other Budget tax raids, shouldn’t they be pinning on their medals, raising their banners and marching down Whitehall – alongside columns of private school parents, furious at the imposition of