Standpoint | Politics, Ideas and the Arts

Books

A conspiracy unmasked

Despite having no instinct for organisation and never using the jargon of modern business management, Margaret Thatcher had extraordinary political instincts. These are a central theme of Herself Alone, the third volume

October 23, 2019

African reset: will Covid-19 bring change?

It is tempting to hope that ordinary people will rise up and

Features

A boy’s own adventure

Privileged images: the photography of Jacques Henri Lartigue

Art·Drawing Board

A breath of fresh paint

A revival in figurative art and the changing face of portraiture

Art·Drawing Board

A hinge in history

The tumult in Kiev 15 years ago seemed a victory for progress

Features

Critique

Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps

John Buchan was a writer with a rich hinterland—and an affection for

Features

A focus on economic growth is too narrow

The scale of economic inequality across the UK is scandalous. Roads and

Counterpoints

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Counterpoints·Literature

Lechery à la Grecque

Henry Miller's The Colossus of Maroussi is reprehensible but shows his love of Greece

September 3, 2026

Counterpoints

Music Lessons

Music appreciation should be a part of every schoolchild's life, and the BBC Proms play a vital part in lifelong musical education

September 3, 2026

Counterpoints

Union Parfait

During the Second World War, a "perpetual association" between France and the UK was proposed — in effect, the EU Mark I

September 3, 2026

Counterpoints

Vive les Huguenots!

In Provence, a community of French Protestants gather every September

September 3, 2026

Columns

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Open Season

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

December 23, 2020

Open Season

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’

December 23, 2020

Open Season

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’

October 21, 2020

Open Season

Can a white conservative be trusted?

There is particularly fertile ground for mistrust in an era in which fear has become a dominant public perspective

August 28, 2020

Dispatches

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Dispatches

September 3, 2026

Mapuche thugs fan the flames of revenge

"On one side is a government with a history of military overreach and ethnic cleansing. On the other is Chile’s poorest and most disenfranchised

Budapest: Screwed Left, Right and Centre

Dispatches

September 3, 2026

Budapest: Screwed Left, Right and Centre

‘Unfortunately, most Hungarians expect their politicians to be on the take and that's because many of them are. I'd love to name names, but

Features

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Back to the "Future Of Socialism", Mr Corbyn?

September 3, 2026

Features

Back to the “Future Of Socialism”, Mr Corbyn?

Tony Crosland’s social democratic manifesto is still worth reading. But its author is notorious for his crusade against grammar schools Little Jeremy and his