How Mumsnet changed Britain
Twenty-five years ago this month, a new website appeared. The dotcom boom was at its height, and the internet was hot and mod...
Jack Vettriano was a fantastic painter
His name was perfect. Jack is reassuringly British. Vettriano, a version of his mother’s maiden name, is chic and Italian. Th...
Sir Keir Starmer finds a role
On Monday March 3rd the House of Commons echoed with glutinous praise. Sir Keir Starmer was updating Parliament after a week ...
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are forging a tight link
Less than three years ago Liz Truss, not yet British prime minister, could not decide whether Emmanuel Macron, France’s presi...
Britain’s government may be about to waste its best chance of success
THE PARLIAMENT that passed the Town and Country Planning Act of 1947 was alive to the pressing need, in bomb-cratered Britain...
Anybody in Britain can call themselves a therapist
For a three-hour session at his clinic in Belsize Park, in north London, Mike Lousada charged £750 (at the time equivalent to...
Britain halves its foreign-aid budget
Britain used to pride itself on being a star among those helping poorer parts of the world. In 2020 it was one of only seven ...
Britain’s capital markets are waging a war on paper
British companies are drowning in unnecessary paperwork. An antiquated system, whereby a few listed shares are held in paper ...
Paying teenagers to go to school was a bad idea
Andy burnham was unhappy. The government was “kicking away the ladder of opportunity”, he argued in January 2011. Mr Burnham,...
Does Britain’s nuclear deterrent have a Trump-shaped problem?
Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement on February 25th that Britain will raise its defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.5% by 202...