As Britain’s summer of crisis continues, the penitentiary industrial complex could soon be overwhelmed. Not because of a lack of resources: estimates put the prisons’ budget at £4 billion. And it’s not for a lack of bipartisan thinking: the Labour …
My summer with Gibbon
The year 1776 was an eventful one. The August issue of the Gentleman’s Magazine duly carried a curious document from across the ocean called “The Declaration of American Independence”, before proceeding to a more serious matter: a review of a …
Why liberal journalists need to be heroes
When Richard Nixon resigned as president 50 years ago, the country witnessed the birth of a monster. I am not talking about some sinister influence he exerted after his fall. I am talking about the media.
Having gratifyingly removed a …
Is the Kamala honeymoon over?
In 2016, mainstream analysts were virtually certain that Donald Trump would not win the GOP nomination. Then, when he did, they claimed that it was nearly impossible that he would win the presidency. They were convinced they were able to …
Tommy Robinson is copying the progressive playbook
A strange and dramatic metamorphosis has happened over the last few days. On the one hand, Tommy Robinson, the Right-wing activist and former leader of the English Defence League, has shapeshifted into a Left-leaning analyst of political protest. On the …
Learning to Walz won’t save Kamala
Safe yet shrewd is how Kamala Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her running mate has been described. An energetic, disciplined communicator who can appeal to moderates and progressives, the Minnesota Governor is likely to boost the ticket’s momentum heading …
France has already won the Olympics
French happiness is an uncanny sight these days but there is no denying it: the Paris Games has brought France’s joie de vivre back. It won’t last, of course, but the memory will linger on. Will it translate politically? One …
Starmer needs the strength of Thatcher
We are witnessing a breakdown of order with few obvious parallels in recent British history. There have been moments of resemblance, of course: the London riots of 2011 or the “skinhead terror” of the early Seventies. The clashes between Oswald …
The triumph of the Neotoddlers
Across the West, protests are getting larger, more frequent and more disruptive. Over the weekend, the UK saw nationwide anti-immigration riots in which mosques and other buildings were set aflame. A few days before that, Just Stop Oil activists sprayed …
Is Britain heading for civil war?
Unusual for the time of year, the radiant sun was setting over the picturesque city. It was the early evening of 5 April 1992, and while some Sarajevo’s residents were listening to the opera, lovers could be seen strolling along …
My day with the Belfast rioters
“This is my first protest, like,” says an affable man to no one in particular. The anti-immigrant protest assembles on Donegall Place, just where the main shopping street feeds into Belfast’s central square. There’s a line of armoured police land …
Why the Left hates MAGA Communism
I wanted to love MAGA Communism. When the movement emerged on X in 2022, it ruffled all the right feathers. It sought to meet working-class people where they were, channelling their frustrations while simultaneously dismantling the Left-wing establishment.
Predictably, the …
China’s plan to defeat the West
In the five-year political cycle of the Chinese Communist Party, the Central Committee’s Third Plenum is often considered the most important for the setting out of transformational and strategic economic goals. In reality, there have only been a couple of …
How Britain ignored its ethnic conflict
Following the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, the aftermath, like those of other recent terrorist atrocities, was marked by what later revealed to be a coordinated British government policy of “controlled spontaneity”. Pre-planned vigils and inter-faith events were rolled out, …
The revolt of the Rust Belt
On paper, Donald Trump’s decision to choose J.D. Vance as his running mate made perfect sense. The Rust Belt kid turned Yale graduate is an ideal figure to both troll America’s elites and woo its working-class whites. It is the …