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·International·Israel·Middle East·Politics

Palestine’s Tragedy

The recent Israeli Apartheid Week shamefully neglected Zionism's complaisance to peaceful co-existence

August 31, 2026

Constitutional Affairs·Counterpoints·Energy·Environment·Justice·Science·UK Politics

Criminal Damage to the Law

Six Greenpeace activists were cleared in September of causing £30,000-worth of criminal damage to a coal-fired power station in Kent.

July 22, 2026

Counterpoints·Economy

It’s All Ours

Late in 2009, Zac Goldsmith, the Conservative parliamentary candidate and environmental adviser, gave a speech in which he sought to answer the question, "How

July 22, 2026

Counterpoints

Letters: Parents first, Ancient and modern, Seeing red

Angela Ritch laments the failures of today’s parents (Education, July): they are “ill-equipped to prepare their children” for today’s education; their “engagement and responsibility

October 21, 2020

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

December 23, 2020

President Trump’s final days

"There was nothing ignoble about Trump’s defeat — at least, not initially"

Dispatches

August 28, 2020

Biden, Trump and the soul of a nation

Politics is much like marketing: the clearer the message, the more likely the sale. Based on the opening of the (virtually held) Democratic National

Features

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September 3, 2026

Features·UK Politics·Westminster

What We Didn’t Know About Boris and Ken

Millions think next year’s London mayoral election is between an amiable Bertie Wooster and a Cockney cheeky chappie. Don’t you believe it

December 23, 2020

Features

A turning point for moderate Islam

In an age of stark ideological cleavages, Muslims are living through a battle of ideas over the meaning of religion in the modern world

December 23, 2020

Features

El pibe de oro — the golden kid

The life of Diego Maradona epitomised the working-class soul of Argentinian football and mirrored the country he loved

December 23, 2020

Features

Don’t fear the Reaper

We have become reluctant to accept death as an integral part of life. Perhaps coronavirus will give us a more realistic attitude to mortality

December 23, 2020

Features

The cult on Pennsylvania Avenue

A peculiar organisation is peddling exotic conspiracy theories about Joe Biden’s electoral win — but the Larouchians have long attempted to bend reality

Why decriminalisation could work for the UK

December 23, 2020

Features

Why decriminalisation could work for the UK

More and more jurisdictions are decriminalising drugs. The policy may appear radical but it is a pragmatic response to help the most vulnerable

December 23, 2020

Features

Hibernating with Mary and Helène

The work of the great Jewish artist Helène Aylon, who died earlier this year, will help me in my seasonal contemplation of birth, death

December 23, 2020

Features

A conspiracy unmasked

African reset: will Covid-19 bring change?

A boy’s own adventure

A breath of fresh paint

A hinge in history

Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps

A focus on economic growth is too narrow

Counterpoints

Palestine’s Tragedy

Criminal Damage to the Law

It’s All Ours

Letters: Parents first, Ancient and modern, Seeing red

Columns

Can we reverse the “long march”?

Black and Asian Britons should not be treated as a bloc

There have always been “woke” students—the problem is their elders

Can a white conservative be trusted?

Dispatches

President Trump’s final days

Biden, Trump and the soul of a nation

Features

What We Didn’t Know About Boris and Ken

A turning point for moderate Islam

El pibe de oro — the golden kid

Don’t fear the Reaper

The cult on Pennsylvania Avenue

Why decriminalisation could work for the UK

Hibernating with Mary and Helène

War and truce in Nagorno-Karabakh

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Admissions of Innocence

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