It’s not easy judging a prospective leader. In 1955, Anthony Eden was the most impressive prime minister-in-waiting that Britain had ever seen. Put to the test in the greatest conflagration in world history, Eden had emerged with his reputation not …
Keir Starmer: a technocrat without a plan
Two episodes crystallised my opinion of Starmer. First, his dithering over school closures during the early months of the pandemic. Sir Keir changed his mind on the matter no less than six times. Boris, with some justice, was able to …
The Mississippi elites who broke democracy
The Mississippi GOP has near supermajorities in the statehouse and senate, controlling all eight statewide offices, both US Senate seats, and three of the state’s four Congressional seats. The last Democrat to carry the Magnolia State in a presidential race …
Why RFK Jr is so seductive
Amid fears of civil war breaking out following the November election, the interlocking spheres of American political journalism were treated to a frisson this past week. Olivia Nuzzi, a reporter for the staunchly Left-liberal New York magazine, admitted to having …
Labour needs to kill Britishcore
Greggs sausage rolls, XL bullies, “cheeky” Tesco runs and a holibob to Magaluf: welcome to Keir Starmer’s miserable meal-deal Britain. This summer’s collective swoon over “Britishcore” — a wry celebration of the groaningly mundane aspects of British culture, which reached …
Is Tucker Carlson aiming for the White House?
America is perishing. The streets are awash with fentanyl and beset by homelessness, illegal immigrants flood the border, lawlessness sweeps from Maine to Montecito. Under the stewardship of today’s elites, this once great country is collapsing.
This is the Republican …
The uncomfortable truth about ‘freebie-gate’
If politics is showbusiness for the ugly, then party conference season is their Oscars. It was tempting to stand on the side-lines of the carpeted entrance of Liverpool’s convention centre and shout “Who are you wearing?” as successive cabinet ministers …
Labour conference can only get better
It wasn’t meant to be like this. This was meant to be a victory lap during a honeymoon period on the banks of Liverpool’s River Mersey. It was meant to be Things Can Only Get Better, but it has the …
Can Trump flip the unions?
The thick-necked union boss, who’s short on manners and long on tough talk and machismo, is in many ways an endangered American archetype. Amid rampant political correctness and professionalisation, they seem like anachronisms from a lost age; Sean O’Brien, president …
Starmer’s relaunch was cursed
It is a rare curse for a government to be forced to relaunch so soon after entering power. Yet with the Labour Party and its leader currently exploring new depths of unpopularity, the explicit aim of Starmer’s speech to conference …
The two women who define Trump
One is loud, the other quiet. One is crude and unfiltered, the other reserved and prim. One courts controversy at every turn, the other mostly shuns it. One is a Donald Trump-seeking missile; the other seems to have as little …
Has Sahra Wagenknecht already peaked?
Yesterday, as the dust settled on another regional election in East Germany, commentators were quick to highlight yet another strong performance by the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). In Brandenburg, the Left-populist upstart secured 13% of the vote — which was …
The folly of America First
In his 2017 inauguration speech, Donald Trump made a vow to the American people: “A new vision will govern our land, from this day forward, it’s going to be only America first.” Every decision on trade, taxes and foreign affairs, …
The Left is coming for Starmer
As Labour gather in Liverpool, in an attempt to regain some moral credibility after a dire first few months in power, a storm is gathering on Starmer’s Left. For now it lacks the media spotlight of donor-funded birthday parties and …
Sue Gray’s deadly grip on Starmer
It should not be this bad, this early. Nowhere near. And yet it is — it really is. For the Labour Party, barely two months into government, preparing for conference, it is time to panic.
While there is an understandable …