Nick Cohen
Defeat begets defeat for Britain’s cloth-eared Left
The censorious culture of the liberal Left is hostile to freedom of expression. The fate of the trans-rights movement evinces this pointless politics
Extremism gives us little reason to laugh
Woke politics offers conservative satirists an easy target, but the results neither sparkle nor shock
The necessary death of Orwell’s England
The writer’s paeans for a nation at war are perpetuating a dangerous idea—that English exceptionalism makes extremism impossible
Dare call it treason?
Britain’s greedy and cynical political class is colluding with our enemies
Conservatives clear the way for Corbynite extremism
‘In 2019, as Britain faces the prospect of its first truly radical left-wing government, Conservatives are nowhere near frightened enough. If they were, they would defend the checks the British constitution and European law place on power ’
When the truth mattered (and why it still does)
Separating proper journalists from propagandists and trolls is easy enough—can they handle a story which upsets friends and allies?
The enduring value of the political heretic
Reviled insiders such as socialist opponents of Corbyn or anti-Trump Republicans can provide a useful guide through the mire of our times
The road to hell for the mentally incapacitated
The weasel words of disability rights may be well-intentioned, but they mask institutional cruelty and deprive caring parents of their say
Modern extremism: this time it’s personal
In Britain, Europe and the US, extremists of the Right and Left use vicious ad hominem attacks to boost their populist appeal
Holier than thou: the hypocrisy of the zealot
Corbyn and Trump supporters are more alike than they think: both legitimise hatred in defence of the cause, but dread the enemy within
Will the green agenda be killed off by the pandemic?
‘Will the green agenda be killed off by the longer-term coronavirus recovery? Or might the closure of so much business, and the cleaner air that results from planes not flying and factories not working, give us extra years to gain control of our environment?’
Why T.S. Eliot still matters
His contemporaries’ reputations have diminished. But Eliot’s has grown: he is the poet who shows us what can be saved from the ruins
Music’s in the house
Rappers have found a role in lockdown: chronicling coronavirus with topical tunes. Most people, though, are rushing to the safety of the past