Politics

This week, we learned that three years ago a Ministry of Defence official accidentally released details of 18,714 Afghans who had applied for relocation to the UK. The Afghans, who had worked with British armed forces, feared retribution from the Taliban, so the Conservative government introduced a new scheme, alongside existing programmes, to resettle some of these people. The Spectator’s leading article this week argues that Britain had a moral responsibility to help them. But how many have arrived so far? And where are they living in Britain? As of May, 35,245 people had been relocated to the UK through the Afghan resettlement programme made up of several schemes such as the Afghan Relocations and

The trials of Sandie Peggie are a parable of where power lies in a country when lies are power. Peggie is a nurse from Fife, by all accounts a hard-working professional dedicated to her vocation and her patients. Things went awry, however, when she objected to undressing in a changing room in front of Dr Beth Upton, a male medic who identifies as a woman. If that sentence sounds absurd, that’s because it is, but we are supposed to pretend otherwise – especially if we want to be considered good people. Dishonesty is the best policy. Following a complaint from Dr Upton, Peggie was suspended by NHS Fife in January 2024, and she took the health

I’ve been musing recently how people in the public eye can go ‘downhill’ in two main ways. One can make big, brash, ‘bad’ decisions, ignore well-meaning advice and render oneself an outlaw well into old age, unacceptable in polite company and rejected by one’s more pusillanimous peers. I’ve seen totem poles less wooden than Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe There’s a kind of tattered glory in this, knowing that you didn’t toe the line (you were too busy snorting them) because you had talent to burn. Even if you do eventually find yourself on the ropes, you’ll always have the satisfaction of knowing that you inspired a whole bunch of