In a moment of raw personal courage at local fair-grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, Donald Trump upended America’s presidential race by surviving an assassin’s bullet and then leaping to his feet and punching the air while proclaiming “USA!” and “Fight! Fight! …
In defence of Brits Abroad
Shagaluf. Ayia Napa. Marbella. Beefa.
Scouring maps of southern Europe like a Napoleonic general, the Brit Abroad plots his summer holidays. He seeks abandon, hot sun, cold beer and cheap 20-packs of Camel Blue. Territory selected, he readies his armoury: …
Why Trump needs the swarm
Regardless of the motivation behind the attempt to assassinate Donald Trump, it’s striking to consider that this is effectively the second recent attempt to eliminate a nominated candidate for Leader of the Free World. While there was no AR-15 trained …
How ravers harmonised Yugoslavia
“Splavs”, ramshackle floating nightclubs, line the Danube as it winds through Serbian capital Belgrade. Many churn out bland, indistinguishable house remixes of chart hits. Some still purvey souped-up nationalist hits known as “turbofolk”, popularised during the wars which engulfed the …
The shot that created a martyr
In roisterous social discourse, I’ve repeatedly expressed my amazement that no one has ever taken a shot at Trump. I’ve even tossed off callously, “Where’s American gun nuttery when you need it?” (Sorry.) But until Saturday evening, the former president …
The terrible echo of 1968
“I was 10 years old when my uncle was assassinated and I remember it like it was yesterday,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr on Fox News, hours after a bullet skimmed the side of Donald Trump’s head. Kennedy recalled the …
Trump has mainstreamed the radical Right
In the wake of Biden’s rambling press conference, his answers dishonestly and mechanically padded with campaign boilerplate that wandered far away from the questions — you could see the Scotch tape on his synapses — America is wondering to what …
How snobbery killed suburbia
The new Labour government’s day one commitment to a vast national housebuilding effort has been almost uniformly welcomed, yet there are some glaring exceptions. Naturally, the rump Corbynite Left is grouching on social media that plans to work with private …
Why I’m sticking with Joe
Remember Kamala Harris laughing throatily on the phone to Joe Biden after they’d dumped Trump in 2020? “We did it, Joe. We did it. You’re gonna be the next President of the United States.”
Erotic, I thought. The hottest words …
Prepare for a Hot Keir Summer
Forget the much drooled-over Rat Boy summer, it seems we’re in for a Hot Keir one. The entry of Labour into government this week has made certain female journalists come over all peculiar. Caitlin Moran has documented these current heightened …
Why Washington should dump McKinsey
Only the most unflappable CEO or government executive can resist the siren call of a management consultant during a crisis. For about a century now, consulting firms have dangled a tantalising proposition in the face of the wretched and the …
Has Japan given up on pacifism?
“They pay in yen, we pay in blood!” Such was the refrain when, after the Gulf War broke out in 1990, Japan’s leaders decided that under the terms of its American-authored postwar constitution they could not send forces to the …
Why Starmer is stuck in Blair’s prison
In his inaugural speech as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer promised to govern in a sober way, befitting the challenges of the day. He anchored his opening address in Britain’s small-c conservative, order-loving majority, promising “secure borders”, and “safer streets”.
And …
The case for a millennial president
As Capitol Hill groans under the weight of panicking Democrats, there is one sign of hope for those caught in the disarray: once regarded as a political impossibility, Joe Biden’s decline has cleared the way for a replacement candidate — …
France has scorned globalisation
Although French voters rejected the far-Right National Rally in last weekend’s election, in giving most of their support to either the RN or the Left, they still repudiated Emmanuel Macron’s liberal internationalism. In doing so, France joined the rising tide …