The king of cakes
"Yuletide revels were designed to see you through the dark days — and how dark they seem today"
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Is Scottish independence now inevitable?
‘For anyone who cares about peace within the British Isles and liberal democracy without, there are strong reasons to oppose Scottish independence. But how? In the 2014 referendum the case for the
Mum’s army
‘From roughly 2015 onwards, the Mumsnet feminist forum became a key platform for gender critical discussion—or, as one less sympathetic American magazine dubbed it, “the ground zero for British transphobia”’
Concreting over the countryside
‘The reality is that, under this government’s stewardship, a plethora of damaging developments have been unleashed in the countryside. Historic hedgerows are being grubbed up. Ancient woodlands are being bulldozed’
Doubts and certainties
It has been a year of doubts and uncertainties: fluctuating infection and death rates, empty promises and political false starts, civil unrest, social injustice, abject diplomacy
Can we reverse the “long march”?
‘After a long time people are finally beginning to wake up to “the long march through the institutions”—the idea that left-wing “progressives” have to infiltrate public bodies in order to push through
The Great Trump War: Round Two
‘Despite unprecedented harassments, President Trump has had the most successful first term in US history except for Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon’
Black and Asian Britons should not be treated as a bloc
‘People do not vote as a bloc, and ethnic or racial groups—and often individuals within these groups—contain a multitude of political opinions’
A pandemic diary
'My concentration seems to be shot this year for anything except work. I have entirely failed to learn a new language, finish a novel, or watch anything more demanding than repeats of
An autumn note
“For many, the end of this uneasy year cannot come quickly enough”
Sex matters
“It’s been quite the month for the Gender Critical community”
There have always been “woke” students—the problem is their elders
‘The people running these institutions—they’re the people who are actually cancelling the songs, renaming the buildings and withdrawing the paintings’