Brief encounter

Editorial

The chat in Westminster is all about crisis, yet the

Letters

Like Mark Damazer, I am a fervent supporter of public

The Tories are split and morale is low. But don’t write them off just yet

The Tories are split and morale is low. But don’t write

Forget feel-good diversity—women MPs have made a practical difference

Forget feel-good diversity—women MPs have made a practical

Send them back—it’s high time we started to decolonise our museums

Send them back—it’s high time we started to decolonise

Cosiness and its malcontent—meet the Socrates of Copenhagen

Denmark’s most successful recent export, hygge, is

Justin Trudeau is mired in scandal— can he survive?

When Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister of Canada

Power to some people

A century has passed since the first universal suff

CRISIS. WHY IT’S TIME TO REWIRE BRITISH POLITICS

FOR ALL ITS QUIRKINESS, OUR CONSTITUTION ALWAYS USED TO MUDDLE THROUGH. BUT THE BREXIT CRISIS IS STRAINING IT LIKE NEVER BEFORE

Ye Olde Curiosity Constitution

Dusty parchments, ancient offices and precedents that outline “the way things are done” define the British constitution. Its anachronisms are often a hoot, but can also give rise to some very strange wrinkles in the way we are governed

Beg, borrow and steal

Bright ideas for fixing Westminster from around the world

Does Britain need a proper constitution?

YES Yes, if by “proper” we mean codified, with some

Ghosts of Brexits past

In the past 2,000 years, Britain has detached from Europe eight times. And every time we eventually returned

Labour’s other leader

Tom Watson has built a power base. What does he want to do with it, asks Kevin Maguire

Forging the Führer

The sinister trade in fake Hitler paintings is thriving. But who is buying them—and why?

How Jacinda Ardern is transforming New Zealand

She made headlines for her compassionate response to March’s terror attack. Less noticed is the way this young PM’s radical plans are shaking up her country

The donor detective

Thousands of children conceived by anonymous sperm donation still have no right at all to know their biological fathers. But they are turning to DNA sites to track them down— and one woman has made it her very personal mission to help

The shadow of mankind

Other animals can laugh, feel, think and mourn—so why do we still treat them so badly, asks Ray Monk

Generation games

A slowing birthrate is a sign a society is advancing, says David Willetts, but has it slowed too far in Europe?

Sweet civility

A pugnacious attack on liberalism misses the point, argues Deirdre McCloskey

A room for two

Virginia Woolf is inspiring a new generation of women writers, says Francesca Wade

Late reading with Clive James

After an operation, Clive recovers with George Herbert’s help—and ponders the absurdity of Bodyguard

Books in brief

Cyclone Idai, which has just devastated the coastal

Recommends

Emma Crichton-Miller Edvard Munch: Love and Angst British

Events

The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of

Don’t pass it on

Earlier this year, a Berkshire couple rummaging in

Luxury of solitude

Ispent last month at an artists’ colony in the woods

Sport vs sport

What’s the best sport? Can it be measured or argued

Old words, new times

When I was at university, studying Latin and Greek

Hello kitty

Someone asked me recently if I felt worried about my

Policy report: transport and technology

Government is promising a technological revolution—is it up to the job?

Economics and investment

The analyst: Duncan Weldon Associate Economics Editor