Right going wrong

Britain is gripped by the theatre of the absurd. The

Letters & opinions

David Hannay (“Bordering on contempt,” June) brought

The Farage coup

The true leader of today’s Tory Party has never even won a parliamentary seat

Closing down

The life lessons we’ll lose when the high streets fall

China hasn’t won yet

The rising power is squaring up to the west. But it could still be undone by its top-down model

Pakistan’s Potemkin democracy

Don’t be fooled by elections—the military is still in charge

Agents of our own destruction

A former spy-chief says social media emboldens the far Right

Seventh time lucky

Protests in Jordan have led to a new prime minister—but will reform remain elusive?

A permanent emergency

We’re all going to pay for the NHS’s 70th birthday bailout. Before long, it will need another

Has test cricket had its day?

YES Test cricket is a bit like democracy. Both are

Can the Tories survive Brexit?

Britain’s “natural party of government” is tearing

Will Brexit break the Conservatives?

They’ve come through war, the end of Empire and not a few spats about Europe. But just occasionally a special sort of row arises, one that truly sinks the Tories

True blues

Modern Europe was forged and long governed by forces of the moderate right. But now they’re on the slide—and the continent has reason to fear

A Conservative vision

How can the right get it right? Conservative MP Lee Rowley—part of the 2015 intake— casts his eyes to the horizon

How to de-radicalise an extremist

Angry young men are the greatest security threat the world faces. Why are we so bad at dealing with them—and how could things change?

Make Bury great again!

England’s towns were once as mighty as its cities. Now, they have fallen on hard times. Can Bury lead the revival? asks Philip Collins

The real deal-maker

While others in the White House have fallen, Mike Pompeo has risen almost without trace. What has he got that the others haven’t? Sam Tanenhaus investigates

Caillte ann an eadar-theangachadh

Gaelic is a dying language. Should it be kept alive?

When we actually won

Extracts from memoirs and diaries, chosen by Ian Irvine

Bad manners

Politeness is often the veneer that disguises our most barbaric instincts, argues Freya Johnston

Mysteries of the mind

The best neuroscience writing acknowledges just how little we know about the workings of the brain, finds Julian Baggini

Rock the books

The current gang of pop writers are the best we’ve ever had. But are they eulogising a dying art form, asks DJ Taylor

Songs of themselves

A wonderful memoir exposes the reality of the Indian caste system, finds Gaiutra Bahadur

Books in brief

There is a biographical detail about Ben Rhodes, the

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Life

“Daddy, daddy,” your children will one day ask, “what

Policy report: Manufacturing

Britain must do more to boost its manufacturing sector. But what? Should government encourage innovation—or is the real problem the financial sector’s failure to lend? And if Britain were to start churning out huge amounts of high-end manufactured goods, who would buy them all?

Endgames

1 Denmark’s national opera of 1906 with libretto by

Antonia Fraser

I remember my mother in floods of angry tears over