A man named Javier urgently needs my help. He’s just hired a new associate named Raphael at the company where he works as a manager. Raphael is openly gay, which Javier is fine with, he quickly assures me — but …
Keir Starmer’s insulting hypocrisy
Keir Starmer’s premiership is well and truly goosed. One policy misstep after another, punctuated by tone-deaf doom-mongering and a freebies scandal that refuses to go away, have exposed Labour as a thoroughly undercooked governmental prospect. Some wrongly chalk this up …
What Labour could learn from Japan
The new Labour government appears to be as relaxed about developing a “nanny state” reputation as it is about being seen as a purveyor of economic doom and gloom. From October next year, television adverts for junk food will not …
The Tory counter-revolution has begun
The Conservative Party has two instincts lodged deep in its soul, each battling for supremacy. The first is the desire for the reassuring comfort of what it sees as solid, sensible government. We might call this the conservative instinct. The …
Your awokening isn’t special
In late 2014, the journalist and sociologist Musa al-Gharbi fell victim to what would soon become known as cancel culture. A controversial article soon led to a Twitter spat, which then prompted a media outlet to draw attention to his …
The coming polar war
For most of human history, the North and South Poles were literally and metaphorically at the ends of the Earth, visited only by hardy adventurers like Amundsen or Scott. Now, however, military and commercial ships are steaming to these distant …
Iran’s expat opposition is a joke
On 28 June, the people of London were greeted by an unusual sight. That Friday, not far from the Iranian embassy, a woman filmed herself chasing an old lady across the street. “I am the daughter of Reza!” the attacker …
My day in the life of Boris Johnson
When Boris Johnson’s Unleashed was announced there were arguably grounds for believing it might be, in the Daily Mail’s hyperventilating guff, “Political Memoir of the Century!” Surely this self-caricaturing rogue, this Falstaff of British politics, would have some crazy stories …
Nature is coming for America
The American wilderness has been fighting back. Less than a fortnight ago, Hurricane Helene swept across the South, leaving death, wreckage, and shattered livelihoods in its wake. It’s about to be followed by Hurricane Milton, which meteorologists warn will be …
What Harris learned from Hillary
With less than a month to go until Election Day, if the White House were awarded on the basis of professional political competence, then Kamala Harris would be the next president already.
The shrewd strategic moves began early. As soon …
Can Lebanon survive without Hezbollah?
Over the last fortnight, everything has changed in Lebanon. Hezbollah, which had dominated the country’s politics for more than 20 years, has seen its leadership decapitated, its arsenal diminished, its anti-Zionist credentials tarnished. All the while, its civilian base, huddled …
America is grooming Meloni
Two years ago, a neo-fascist gained power in Rome. That, at least, is the impression you’d have gained from the Western establishment’s paroxysm of hand-wringing at Giorgia Meloni’s elevation. From her erstwhile praise for Mussolini to her fierce Euroscepticism, Meloni …
Biden must unleash Israel
Having been attacked by almost 200 ballistic missiles — launched by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and each the size of a tanker truck — Israel must now decide how to respond. Whatever happens, one thing is obvious: the Jewish State’s reaction …
Do the Tories want an Everyman or an Ideologue?
In his essay on Tolstoy, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin divides the world’s great thinkers into “foxes” and “hedgehogs”. Remember, according to the poet Archilochus, the fox knows many things, while the hedgehog knows one big thing. The hedgehog, that is, …
The legendary debauchery of Dubai
For a certain type of person, it is the centre of the world. A vast, shining city in the desert, a sprawl of shopping centres and Instagrammable restaurants. Dubai is a J.G. Ballard nightmare; frozen, Botoxed faces communing in neon-lit …