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Starmer’s dislike of real politics is plain to see. It’s why his government has no direction

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The culture wars are coming for children with special needs – Labour must tread carefully

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I travelled up and down the UK this year. One album sums up what I saw

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What kind of society would willingly traumatise its children in the name of education?

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Labour is a sitting duck for its calculating rivals. The only solution? Build, build, build

At last week’s Spectator parliamentarian of the year awards, Nigel Farage took the stage in front of a large chunk of the Westminster...

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Labour’s big relaunch won’t solve its biggest problem: this government doesn’t speak human

Keir Starmer’s people don’t like the word “relaunch”, but that’s what it is. On Thursday, the prime minister will give a set-piece speech about a “...

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John Harris

The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn’t over – it’s getting worse

All over the country, the lights are going out. The level of need for adult and children’s care is constantly increasing. People are still...

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From Trump’s victory, a simple, inescapable message: many people despise the left

There is no need to pick only a few of the many explanations of Donald Trump’s political comeback. Most of the endless reasons we have heard over...

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With Kemi Badenoch as leader, the Tories and Labour are on different political planets

As Kemi Badenoch takes control of the Conservatives and tries to somehow restore their credibility and coherence, one thought remains inescapable:...

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If Labour can invest in infrastructure, it can invest in people, too – starting with the children who need it

This week’s budget looks set to be much like Keir Starmer’s government: a cause for genuine optimism – but also a trigger for plenty of anxiety and...

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John Harris

How can Britain plot its future when it is so deeply stuck in the mud? Empower the citizens

No one really saw it coming, but here we are, in the midst of what passes for a watershed debate about assisted dying, centred on the Labour MP Kim...

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What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind

For the past 18 months or so, a bundle of ideas about human psychology has been getting increasing attention on the political right. Like a lot of...

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John Harris

It’s easy to laugh at the Tory leadership farce – but its outcome will pollute British politics

Last Wednesday, the announcement that Conservative MPs had decided on a conclusive leadership battle between Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick was...

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John Harris

British history is being destroyed before our eyes – and it has nothing to do with culture wars over statues

The People’s Story Museum in Edinburgh is a part of the city’s cultural fabric whose name says it all: a museum and archive, opened in 1989 and...

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John Harris

After the ‘Tory idol’ speeches, who most looks like a leader in waiting? Our panel passes judgment

The key emotion circulating at the Tories’ strangely fascinating conference was what I’ve seen described as “survivor’s elation”: a kind of...

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John Harris

Labour’s back-to-normal approach has begun to jar. What is normal about modern British politics?

If one of the most memorable images of a party conference is of hands around a human throat, something has surely gone very wrong. Last Monday, on...

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‘Change begins’ is Labour’s conference slogan. It should start with its approach to housing

Whatever the Starmer administration’s woes, Labour’s first conference as the party of government in 15 long years will still have an element of...

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John Harris

I’m a devout agnostic. But, like Nick Cave, I hunger for meaning in our chaotic world

There is a tension in 21st-century life that may come close to defining how millions of us now live. Whenever we want to commune with other people,...

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Starmer and Reeves are playing a dangerous game. How much more do they think Britain can take?

As the nights begin to draw in, the brief euphoria of 5 July increasingly feels like something that happened in a lost time of sunny innocence....

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John Harris

As festival season ends, let’s celebrate their communal magic – and the fact they’re a rare national asset

This column was completed in a tent on the borders of Dorset and Wiltshire, during the somewhat bleary morning that followed a brilliant Saturday...

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John Harris

In this new austerity moment, a fight is on: for the rights of children with special educational needs

Autumn, it seems, will begin on Tuesday, with a set-piece speech by Keir Starmer. The sunny anthem that serenaded New Labour to power has been...

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John Harris

The Tories need a clear ideology – Farage and the hard right offer only moral and electoral ruin

In October 2005, one of the candidates in a watershed Tory leadership election gave a speech at the party’s annual conference, in the wake of its...

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John Harris

Populism has plenty of false promises to solve Britain’s problems. Labour will need to expose them

For a politician who has usually avoided high-flown rhetoric, Keir Starmer is suddenly sounding remarkably ambitious. As he addressed the House of...

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Starmer’s dislike of real politics is plain to see. It’s why his government has no direction

John Harris

Think Trumpism couldn’t take root and flourish in Britain? Think again

John Harris

Millions of people are shut out of British society. The reason: our hidden social care crisis

John Harris

As tech barons dial up the spreading of lies, why is the BBC dialling down the reporting of truth?

John Harris

Labour’s new year resolution? It needs a better story. Here’s one Starmer could tell

John Harris

The culture wars are coming for children with special needs – Labour must tread carefully

John Harris

I travelled up and down the UK this year. One album sums up what I saw

John Harris

What kind of society would willingly traumatise its children in the name of education?

John Harris

Labour is a sitting duck for its calculating rivals. The only solution? Build, build, build

John Harris

Labour’s big relaunch won’t solve its biggest problem: this government doesn’t speak human

John Harris

The streetlights going out over Britain tell a brutal story: austerity isn’t over – it’s getting worse

John Harris

From Trump’s victory, a simple, inescapable message: many people despise the left

John Harris

With Kemi Badenoch as leader, the Tories and Labour are on different political planets

John Harris

If Labour can invest in infrastructure, it can invest in people, too – starting with the children who need it

John Harris

How can Britain plot its future when it is so deeply stuck in the mud? Empower the citizens

John Harris

What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind

John Harris

It’s easy to laugh at the Tory leadership farce – but its outcome will pollute British politics

John Harris

British history is being destroyed before our eyes – and it has nothing to do with culture wars over statues

John Harris

After the ‘Tory idol’ speeches, who most looks like a leader in waiting? Our panel passes judgment

John Harris

Labour’s back-to-normal approach has begun to jar. What is normal about modern British politics?

John Harris

‘Change begins’ is Labour’s conference slogan. It should start with its approach to housing

John Harris

I’m a devout agnostic. But, like Nick Cave, I hunger for meaning in our chaotic world

John Harris

Starmer and Reeves are playing a dangerous game. How much more do they think Britain can take?

John Harris

As festival season ends, let’s celebrate their communal magic – and the fact they’re a rare national asset

John Harris

In this new austerity moment, a fight is on: for the rights of children with special educational needs

John Harris

The Tories need a clear ideology – Farage and the hard right offer only moral and electoral ruin

John Harris

Populism has plenty of false promises to solve Britain’s problems. Labour will need to expose them

John Harris