Lowering standards is no act of kindness, argues Lola Salem. ​“Assessing is not ​​a punishment​, but ​a clarification which can be vitally necessary” thecritic.co.uk/exams-are-good…

It was a joy to chair this panel on England's Past & England's Future at the Now & England conference presented by Roger Scruton Legacy Foundation. Lots of interesting ideas and cause for optimism. Bosh! Thank you to Danny Kruger, Robert Tombs, Rupert Lowe MP, and Thomas Skinner ⚒.

“Anyone could do a better job that Sadiq Khan…we’ll see what happens,” says Thomas Skinner ⚒, when asked if he’ll run for Mayor of London.

Wrote in The Spectator today following yesterday’s protest in central London: “The Met deserves credit for its robust response to Palestine Action” spectator.co.uk/article/the-me…

We could fix this immediately by fully automating food delivery using robots. But because of the Highways Act of 1835 (intended to ban carriages from pavements but applied to robots) this is prohibited apart from under tiny pilot schemes.

I've seen no reports of trials in Cambridge or Milton Keynes harming disabled people. Why is a small slow moving robot more dangerous than anyone else using the pavement (or the many delivery drivers who prefer to e-bike on the pavement). This is an anti progress mindset.

Naz Shah should never have faced abuse for a mistaken retweet, quickly deleted. So why has England and Wales’ Director of Public Prosecutions told the public they could be arrested for simply retweeting 'hate'? Why is Lucy Connolly in prison for a tweet she also deleted?

Two problems identified - neither solved by this proposal: 1) Overly harsh sentences for speech crimes. Requires amending the Communications Act 1988 & Section 19 of Public Order Act 1986. 2) Lenient sentences for violent criminals & rapists. Requires new Sentencing

Spectator editor Michael Gove calls his former wife Sarah Vine with a gentle reminder they're due at Monday evening's Spectator Events panel on the laughter and loss of political marriages. 📅 Living with a Politician 📍 Emmanuel Centre, London ⏰ June 30th at 7pm 🎟 Last seats

This is without a doubt one of the most important projects launched in Westminster. Very exciting to see what work Fix Britain do. The country will be much better for it.

'I think we will see an actual tax rise in the Autumn.' Dominic Moffitt and Lara Brown discuss how Rachel Reeves will look to plug the £4.5bn black hole left by Keir Starmer's U-turn on welfare reforms.

I'm clearly in the wrong profession... a marketing team was paid £500,000 for this slide deck on the full stop between Gov and UK. Dotty!

This is unfair. The basic rate has risen because of fiscal drag. The personal allowance (£12570) has been frozen since 2021. If it has kept pace with inflation it would be £15597. Plus council tax and NI rises, high energy costs, and child benefit cuts - the list goes on.

The war on nice things continues. Out with Sir Winston Churchill, Jane Austin, JMW Turner, and Alan Turing. In with whatever this is:

Yvette Cooper will be creating a ‘temporary shortage list’ of certain occupations for which migrant workers may come to the UK on a skilled worker visa. The list includes HR officers. I’m sorry, we have 500,000 HR officers. 1.6% of the workforce. We don’t need more.

MY SPECTATOR COVER ON A YEAR OF LABOUR 🔥LEAKED MEMO: McSweeney predicted Starmer's problems with 'super actvist' MPs before the election 🔥'Rachel is a study in Shakesperean tragedy' 🔥Chief whip warned of welfare defeat 9 months ago/ was threatened with sack 🔥No 10 now using

I wonder if Zara is regretting supporting this bill subjecting MPs who change their party affiliation to a recall petition now?

Evita is a musical about Eva Perón's ability to sell her husband's regime to the 'descamisados' (a word which literally means without a shirt) so this doesn't seem that unreasonable a staging decision...

Twenty years ago today on the 7th July 2005, following the terrorist attacks in London, I was called into work as a still quite young in service police officer working in Camden and Kings Cross. I will never forget the remarkable bravery of many of my colleagues that day and in