Political commentary drawn from fifty years at the centre of British political life. Current events, historical argument, and the long view.
Since 1914 the West has passed through four phases: the second fall of man, the Cold War that the Bomb made safe, a brief triumphant dawn, and now Donald Trump's new world disorder. Bruce Anderson on European ingratitude, Suez, and why we are going to have to ask the Americans real nice.
Having spent half her career inventing things that do not exist, J.K. Rowling has spent the other half in trouble for pointing out things that do. A guest piece by George Scott on puberty blockers, the Supreme Court, and the rare ability to be disliked.
In Birmingham the Tory faithful rediscovered hope. Bruce Anderson on why there can be no deal with Reform, the 'might as well' vote Nigel Farage depends on, and a leader tough enough for hard times.
A year ago Tory morale was as rare as an orange in 1943, and nobody knew whether 'this girl' would come good. Bruce Anderson on Kemi Badenoch's toughness, an electoral sphinx wrapped in a riddle, and why the polls have not yet noticed.
Tennessee tried to execute a woman who had spent thirty years on death row, and failed. Bruce Anderson on Queen Alexandra's letters to the Home Secretary, Ruth Ellis and Myra Hindley — and why a death sentence that takes three decades to carry out serves neither retribution nor deterrence.
Why do we obey the law? Bruce Anderson on civilisation as a collective dream, the consent it rests on — and a Britain where, from the shop-floor to the Treasury, that consent is fraying.
Lucy Letby was convicted on circumstantial evidence. Lord Sumption doubts the verdict; the Thirlwall report damns the hospital. There must now be a fresh trial — and a restoration of faith in British justice.
Twenty-five years after 9/11, Sir Philip Bobbitt warns of two predictable perils — an AI-designed cyberattack on critical infrastructure, and an AI-enabled biological attack — and a democracy too divided to prepare.
Ed Miliband's measures will not discourage settlements, will not reduce violence, and will not bring a two-state solution any closer. Bruce Anderson on the charge of genocide, species pseudo-differentiation, and the moment after 1967 when the tragedy might have been averted.
In Iran we have scotched the snake, not killed it. Now the President is stirring up the Argentinians. Bruce Anderson on repress-ocracies, a mercantilist in the White House, and an Arizona truck-driver who divided the animal kingdom into two.
Andy Burnham has now been Prime Minister for longer than Liz Truss managed, and on Tuesday he told the Commons what he believes in. It came to lower bus fares and the evils of Margaret Thatcher. Bruce Anderson on hope without realism, an unquiet ghost, and a golden goose that is a migratory bird.
A young reporter on the Hemel Hempstead Gazette was sent out on 'the silver round' — knocking on the doors of the newly bereaved to borrow the photograph on the mantelpiece. Bruce Anderson on Anthony Holden's nightmares, seven deaths near Middlesbrough, and boys who think they are immortal.
Nicola Sturgeon knew nothing — not in the ordinary way that ordinary people do not know things, but in a higher, purer, more disciplined sense. George Scott on strategic incuriosity, constitutional amnesia, and the motorhome that somehow never prompted a question.
It was time to drop the 'almost.' Jason Arday is dead, and within hours the race relations industry had found its villain. Bruce Anderson argues that he was indeed a victim of discrimination and bigotry — the positive discrimination that elevated him beyond what he could sustain, and the soft bigotry of low expectations.
From electoral comedy in Clacton to academic farce in Cambridge. Had the Arday affair been offered as a novel, the publisher would have sent the author away to look up 'verisimilitude'. Bruce Anderson on a CV that should not have survived five minutes' scrutiny — and what DEI ought to stand for.
So what does Clacton mean? It could have been much worse for Nigel Farage — a respectable 63% and a turnout that defied the heat. But Daniel Greenberg will not be deflected, and £5 million is a significant sum. Bruce Anderson on a cheeky chappie, a likeable chap, and a Tory leader who is just starting.
Bridget Phillipson was a spiteful class warrior who took it as a compliment. Andy Burnham has found someone worse. Bruce Anderson on Lucy Powell, the assault on Michael Gove's reforms, and a million young people with nothing to show for their schooling.
Leading the Conservatives in opposition is almost the hardest job in politics. Bruce Anderson on Kemi Badenoch's strategy of patience, her mastery of Sir Stumbler, the harder test of Andy Burnham, and the one battleground that decides everything: the economy.
Andy Burnham would like it to be Christmas every day. But there is no Secretary of State for Santa Claus — and a country where nothing works needs growth, not sentimentality. Bruce Anderson on housewife economics and the onset of neo-Kinnockism.
The heat-wave is not only climatic; it is geopolitical. As August approaches, Bruce Anderson weighs Mr Putin's next move, the meat-grinder in Ukraine, and a world that is now, all of it, living in a dangerous neighbourhood.
Nigel Farage has launched a crusade against the so-called Establishment. But is there one — and if so, who belongs to it? Bruce Anderson on the deep-state question, and a civil service left filling a vacuum it was never fit to fill.
At Wimbledon, players commit unforced errors. So do politicians. Bruce Anderson on Nigel Farage, the donations question, a farcical by-election in Clacton, and a summer spent arguing with a bin.
Sir Stumbler will stumble no more, and there was even a hint of dignity in his departure. But to govern is to choose — and the deepest worry about Andy Burnham is that he may have no idea how he intends to proceed.
'A country at ease with itself.' So John Major hoped at the beginning of his Premiership. After a week of riots, Britain has rarely felt less at ease with itself — and a great deal of decent anger has real tinder to feed on.
If this government were an animal, the RSPCA would have it put down. The resignation of John Healey — the loyalist's loyalist — is a grievous blow, and no amount of calling it a little local difficulty will save Sir Stumbler now.
There is no more divisive issue in British politics, or in British history. From the Channel and the Normans to de Gaulle, Thatcher and Farage, Bruce Anderson traces the long quarrel with that sweet enemy across the water.
Two years after a huge majority, Labour is having a nervous breakdown. Bruce Anderson on the loveless landslide, a fudged identity, and a so-called Government now in disarray.
Anyone hoping for a return to political stability still has a lot of hoping to do. Bruce Anderson on devolution, the politics of false faiths, and Kemi Badenoch's case for bringing realism back to the centre.
A nation ill-at-ease with itself found one reason for pride last week. Bruce Anderson on King Charles, the Trump state visit, and a special relationship that may never have existed yet remains as strong as ever.
Kemi Badenoch has shown toughness in adversity. Against the weakest government in memory — a hopeless Chancellor, a menacing Attorney-General, General Stumbler at the top — Bruce Anderson argues there are times when voters will see toughness as a necessity.
From the Great War to Gaza, from Kaiser Bill to President Trump: the chassis has never stopped rattling. Bruce Anderson surveys a world in disorder and asks whether anyone is coming to set it right.
Without a teleology to sustain them, Conservatives are condemned to a Promethean struggle — ensuring that good keeps its nose ahead of evil, world without end. Burke, Hobbes, Oakeshott: the philosophy the party needs.