Don’t venerate the nation state
‘The nation state is not the endpoint of history, nor is it even a basic fact of human history’
Politics, Ideas and the Arts
Dave and Davery
'It is clear that he does not own up to all the mistakes he made. Dave has a very clear idea of how far he can go while keeping what remains of
Conservatives clear the way for Corbynite extremism
‘In 2019, as Britain faces the prospect of its first truly radical left-wing government, Conservatives are nowhere near frightened enough. If they were, they would defend the checks the British constitution and
Blackface is evil — why isn’t drag?
‘Why is it unacceptable for white people to dress up as black, but harmless fun when men dress up as women?’
Breakfast, diabetes research, and the right to make bad jokes
'The Today Programme will survive John Humphrys leaving but will we all survive the death of the right to make poor jokes?'
A view from the ramparts
The West spends too much money on weapons and too little time on promoting its real strength: ideas
Britain’s constitution needs respect, not rewriting
‘Accountability is the antithesis of independence. Judges who hold their positions at the pleasure of the executive will be expected to please the executive. Which, of course, is the whole idea’
An island that has forgotten the art of the backroom deal
‘Since the referendum, the attitude of the Irish government to the result—contemptuous, disbelieving, disrespectful—has grated. Leo Varadkar, a conformist individual, was in office at just the time when a fixer was what
Criminal justice chaos
'The problems that plague the criminal justice system are not rooted in an imagined “Leftist” criminal justice culture; they spring directly from the near-obliteration of the justice system by budget cuts of
Calm before the storm
"As the Conservative Party’s fortunes have waned, Johnson’s standing has waxed. After all, if the party is heading for electoral disaster, taking a punt on Boris becomes much less of a risk."
An uncivilised place for uncivilised people
Dining at the headquarters of International Bland
Eureka moments in Syracuse
In a charming Sicilian museum you can test the theories of antiquity’s greatest mathematician