With Emmanuel Macron beginning his tenure as president of France, talk has naturally turned to whether Britain needs its own radical centrist movement to stop the Tories. One man has quite clearly decided that he is the one to lead it.
Little Letterhole: #WengerOut
It’s admirable for Arsenal to keep hold of Arsène Wenger, it really is. In an age where managers are tossed aside as easily as a soiled handkerchief, the loyalty and … Continue reading Little Letterhole: #WengerOut
David Moyes is a sexist, but in football, who isn’t?
Is David Moyes a sexist? Does it really matter? Has football been abrogating its responsibility to stamp out prejudice by appealing to a ‘boys will be boys’ attitude? Is this merely the latest cause célèbre of a press desperate for controversy?
Dawn in Rome, twilight in London
The European Union was born out of the Second World War. The Treaty of Rome, signed in 1957, brought a renewed sense of hope to a continent ravaged by thousands of years of near-constant warfare. Today, the United Kingdom has finally surrendered this gift.
Don’t be distracted by Wilders
The way the press talks about Geert Wilders, you’d think he was on the verge of becoming the Dutch prime minister, and realising his plans to silence Islam and reclaim his country. In a liberal and pluralistic country like the Netherlands, that is far from the case.
The end of the union?
The stark and potentially irreparable divisions within the United Kingdom have not been caused by Brexit, but England and Wales’ decision to leave the European Union has revealed and widened them.
Periphery: The myth of British exceptionalism
One of our greatest failures is our inability to confront our imperial past. Still celebrated in our media and by our right-wing press, it has left us with an inflated sense of our own exceptionalism, that has estranged us from our closest neighbours.
France’s revolution from the middle
France is being swept by a new populist movement promising radical change and a solution to the country’s divisions and inequalities. No, not Marine Le Pen – Emmanuel Macron!
Closed ports and Christians: Japan’s era of isolation
Distrust of a religious minority, limited interest in international trade, a desire to protect a national identity: this is early modern Japan, a feudal backwater that had cut itself off from the rest of the world.
Little Letterhole: Thanks, Obama
In November 2008, it seemed for people across the globe that a new age of peace and hope had been ushered in. Barack Obama, elected in a wave of exuberance, was … Continue reading Little Letterhole: Thanks, Obama
