Tom Goodenough is online editor of The Spectator.
From our UK edition
So after the glorious disunity of the Republican convention, now is the chance for the Democrats to pull together and show their rivals what unity is all about. If only. As with so much of politics at the moment, the script is there to be broken and that much was clear when Bernie Sanders was
From our UK edition
Although Theresa May has repeatedly assured us that ‘Brexit means Brexit’, we’re still no closer to finding out what that actually means. The Prime Minister has done her best to play hardball in talks with other European leaders, having told Angela Merkel that control over free movement was an issue she would deliver on. But the
From our UK edition
For the third time in a week, Germany has come under attack. On this occasion, a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself up outside a festival in the Bavarian town of Ansbach. Twelve people were injured in the incident last night but thankfully no one else was killed. It’s still too early to tell what the
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In her opening pitch as Prime Minister, Theresa May vowed to stick up for the man in the street and fight ‘burning injustices’. There will be fewer clear opportunities for her to put those words into action than after today’s damning report into Sir Philip Green. It’s no understatement to say that Green’s reputation lies in
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Nine people have been killed and 21 wounded after a shooting rampage at a shopping centre in Munich. The authorities say the perpetrator was an 18-year-old German of Iranian descent, who then killed himself. It’s far too early to form an clear picture of what has happened at the Olympia shopping centre: some reports say he
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Those who acted as the biggest cheerleaders for Project Fear in the run-up to the referendum now have the awkward task of changing tack. One of those shouting loudly was Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol. A key campaign strategy of David Cameron was that Britain would be safer in the European Union –
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If we didn’t know it before, Diane Abbott has made it clear that this summer’s Labour leadership contest is going to be very nasty indeed. On the day Jeremy Corbyn will officially launch his campaign, his loyal ally has taken to the airwaves to stick the knife into his challenger Owen Smith. We’ve had a
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That Theresa May ‘won’ Prime Minister’s Questions today, there is no doubt. Tory backbencher Simon Hoare said it was ‘game, set and match’ and few are likely to disagree with that summation of what took place in the Commons. Jeremy Corbyn was repeatedly left floundering throughout by a politician who showed that she means business.
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Owen Smith is now in a head-to-head battle with Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. We’ll know by September 24th – the day before the Labour party conference starts – who has come out on top. As things stand, Corbyn is the clear favourite: a recent YouGov poll put the party’s current leader 20 points
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Owen Smith has told us he’s both ‘radical’ and ‘normal’. It doesn’t take a genius to work out those characteristics aren’t compatible. Yet, Owen Smith knows he needs to try and be both if he is to defy the huge odds and win this Labour leadership race. And therein lies the problem. Smith is deftly
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We were told it should never happen and would never happen. But the impossible has now happened: Donald Trump is officially the Republican candidate in this year’s presidential election. It’s been a near-certainty for some time, but there is no going back after Trump sealed the nomination at the Republican National Convention last night. Some of
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Fresh from banging his head on the door of Downing Street, John Kerry has just been speaking at a press conference alongside Boris. But it wasn’t the US Secretary of State coming to blows during the heated Q and A session at the Foreign Office. John Kerry might be heading home tomorrow, but most of
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Inflation is up: between May and June it jumped from 0.3 per cent to 0.5 per cent. But before the doomsayers blame Brexit, it’s worth remembering that these latest Consumer Price Index figures are nothing to do with the EU referendum. Instead, the numbers behind today’s inflation rise were collected in the middle of June,
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Demonstrations of Labour party disunity are ten-a-penny these days. But even so, last night’s Trident debate was still something to behold: 140 Labour MPs went against Jeremy Corbyn to back Trident renewal. Yet it wasn’t numbers but the words Labour MPs said which will have damaged Corbyn the most. Scores of backbenchers accused Corbyn of going
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MPs have voted to renew Trident by an overwhelming margin: 472 voted for, compared to 172 against. It’s no great surprise that the decision to approve the replacement of Britain’s four nuclear submarines passed. Perhaps what was more interesting was the split on the Labour benches opposite the Government, with 140 of the party’s MPs going
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One of the first things Theresa May will have been briefed on when she took over as Prime Minister last week is the protocol for firing nuclear weapons. She’ll have been handed the nuclear codes in the clearest demonstration, if she doubted it before, that she really is in charge. And today, in her first
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After a bit of initial drama involving an emergency plane landing, Boris Johnson is in Brussels. There’s been a lot of social media chatter about why Boris is the wrong choice for Foreign Secretary and how he’s going to embarrass Britain in his new role. Some are quoting Boris’ past articles to prove he is
From our UK edition
Theresa May has told us repeatedly that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ and Philip Hammond has been at it too: just in case you weren’t aware, Brexit really does mean Brexit. Whilst it’s a catchphrase which is meant to reassure those who want Britain to leave the EU (and those who don’t, but respect the outcome of
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Theresa May has just given her reaction to the terrorist attack in Nice, saying that Britain would stand ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with the people of France as she condemned the ‘brutal murderers’ responsible. Here’s what she said: ‘I am shocked and saddened by the horrifying attack in Nice last night. Our hearts go out to the French
From our UK edition
The death toll from last night’s Nice terror attack has now topped more than 80. It also looks as though some 50 people were injured when a truck driven by a 31-year-old man, who was known to police but not to the intelligence services, tore through the crowd of people celebrating Bastille day. Isabel Hardman, who