If Manchester’s ultra-mayor Andy Burnham really is King of the North — as Labour’s bobble-hatted folklorists believe — then Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of Liverpool, is his regent and champion. These two old Scouser pals have a lot in common: …
Julian Assange is no fool
Earlier this month, the Russian dissident artist Andrei Molodkin announced that he would seal a number of masterpieces — including a Picasso, Rembrandt and Warhol — in a safe designed to destroy them with acid were Julian Assange to die …
The tragedy of Britain’s school-refusers
Harry Hocking was just 14 when he texted his mother to tell her he was in desperate trouble and needed help. On the way to school, he had become frozen with anxiety and unable to breathe or walk. Such was …
Why even Julian Assange’s critics should defend him
Britain’s political class rightly responded to the mysterious death of Alexei Navalny with an assortment of horror, outrage and indignation. The Kremlin critic’s treatment was an “appalling human rights outrage”, foreign secretary Lord Cameron said. Putin has to be “held …
Islamism is exploiting Britain’s political vacuum
Way back in 2005, when I was an MP in the Netherlands, my party was strategising about the upcoming local elections. I belonged to the centre-right VVD, and we were particularly concerned about appealing to the nation’s growing migrant community. …
The betrayal of Benefits Street
James Turner Street in Winson Green, Birmingham, renamed Benefits Street by Channel 4 in 2014, was originally christened Osborne Street, and this makes me laugh. With its cast of depressives and drug addicts, fed and clothed by the state, and …
Waitrose Woman will not be patronised
This Valentine’s Day brought a very special treat for middle-aged women feeling unloved and invisible. If you’re between 40 and 60, belong to the National Trust, watch Countryfile, own a dog, and care about “doing things the proper British way”, …
Why I married a British Asian
Marriages are supposed to be made in heaven — not in dilapidated local authority registry offices. My wife and I were getting a civil marriage, as our Islamic wedding the previous year, for all its ceremonial pomp, had been a …
The great deceit of Scottish nationalism
Scottish nationalism’s two defining leaders experienced an identical cycle of political boom and bust. Both were originally the objects of the most ardent public dedication; both were subject, at the end of their reigns, to prolonged investigations by a police …
How activists captured Arts Council England
Arts Council England (ACE) is an organisation that cares — and you can tell what it cares about by searching through the hundreds of documents on its website. Diversity, racism and inclusion; class and disability; the environment and the climate …
The Bank of England gambled with your money — and lost
As the UK limps into another recession, and with inflation set to rise again today, it’s hard not to conclude that Britain’s economic cognoscenti really don’t know what they’re doing. For years, we’ve been lavished with promises of growth, investment …
When Gaza came to Rochdale
“From the river to the sea,” the familiar-hatted figure roars. “Palestine will be free,” his supporters chant in unison. George Galloway is conducting his followers like a religious cleric. “In our thousands, in our millions,” the high-priest cries. “We are …
The amateur sleuths taking on the CCP
“Stop touching her! Don’t touch her!” The screams rang out across the concourse of London’s St Pancras station. “Please. Do not touch her! Please. You are not the same age. Please do not touch her. Don’t touch her. Please don’t …
Why did three journals reject my puberty-blocker study?
What happens during puberty? And what happens if we try to stop it? It’s one of the most fraught questions of our time. Given its significance and the vulnerability of the people it involves, you might be surprised to learn …
The happy dysfunction of Dover
Three hours after landing at Heathrow, I was in Chaplins, just off Dover’s Market Square, 15 yards from a sign proclaiming: “Here while searching for his Aunt Betsey Trotwood, David Copperfield rested on the doorstep and ate the loaf he …