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 …
The German conspiracists yearning for a king
“The socks and cars wouldn’t stink / Every morning, champagne I’d drink / I’d be slicker than Schmidt, and fatter than Strauß / And my records would sell out!” In 1987, West Berlin punk singer Rio Reiser sang these words …
How Joe Biden should abdicate
In times of crisis, a certain sort of cynicism tends to set in: a citizenry’s belief that, despite feeling dissatisfied with the state of affairs or the leadership of the country, none of it actually matters. Because surely, those who …
Why Gen Z doesn’t want kids
“I see pregnant people.” Somewhere inside my brain, the little boy from Sixth Sense is balefully trying to explain why on earth it is that everywhere I look are expectant mothers. I get on the Tube — a little girl …
Starmer faces a farmers’ revolt
We sheared our sheep today, beneath a sky full of gloomy grey clouds. There were hours of chasing sheep up the ramp to the men on the trailer. The radio blared out country songs and an occasional news bulletin informing …
The reparations war that could break the EU
Since its inception, the European project has always aimed to bring about the end of history on the continent, and to finally put the ceaseless cycle of war, extremism and imperialism that had torn Europe apart for a thousand years …
Labour still doesn’t know what women want
Just before the election, Keir Starmer finally found the third way on trans issues and women’s rights. First, he was damned by J.K. Rowling, who wrote in The Times that she would “struggle to support” Labour and suggested she might …