8 h. ago QUENTIN LETTS: My friends in France say their country's ban on smoking in public will be ignored with a Gallic shrug. Will we be as defiant when it happens here?

Can this really be la belle France, which gave us such classic images as the young Brigitte Bardot smoking a cigar and Audrey Hepburn holding a cigarette holder as long as a magician's wand?

Politics

3 d. ago Homeless woman stabs fellow transient to death in parking lot after church let them use property to sleep

Kahpri Wells, 32, is in police custody for her alleged role in the death of 28-year-old Tyrone Lee Wetzler

Society

9 d. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Castration! The Secretary of State was desperate to depict herself as a toughie, so she aimed below the belt

QUENTIN LETTS: Shabana Mahmood was eager to discuss castration. The Justice Secretary had just announced an unprecedented dilution of criminal sentences.

Politics

1 week ago QUENTIN LETTS: What a day for the Chancellor to be away... she's in a scrap with Rayner, then PM does the dirty!

Where was the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves ? Her customary position next to Sir Keir was occupied by Yvette Cooper, radiating all her customary gaiety.

Politics

1 week ago UK's first Universal Studios theme park handed warning – 'we'll demand a lot'

Europe's first Universal theme park is proposed to open in Bedford in 2031 but the council is insisting that a few local improvements are needed first

Events

1 week ago QUENTIN LETTS: Sir Keir was priggishly cocky. He's stuck us back on the gluey flypaper of the EU...

In this Commons there was no time for such impertinence, says QUENTIN LETTS. Only one attitude was permitted: fealty to the Prime Minister.

Politics

1 week ago Ursula found it hard to disguise her disbelief and glee at Deer Keer's cave

Standing between two Brussels grand-fromages, Sir Keir Starmer could have been an escapee returned to the gaolers.

Politics

2 w. ago Philadelphia drag troupe offers ‘10,000lb of glitter’ for return of beloved Beardmobile

‘Big, gay’ mobile performance unit used for LGBTQ+ events was stolen last month from the Bearded Ladies CabaretPhiladelphia’s LGBTQ+ community is rallying around an unusual cause: the search for the missing Beardmobile, described as a “big, gay mobile performance unit, glitterfully outfitted for socially distanced performances and political actions”.The Beardmobile, a 14,000lb, custom-built performance truck decked out with a stage, sound system and pink eyelashes, was stolen from the parking lot of the Allens Lane Art Center in Mount Airy last month, Axios Philadelphia reported. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Senior faith leaders urge Starmer to tone down migration rhetoric

Exclusive: Christian, Muslim and Jewish representatives write to prime minister after ‘island of strangers’ speechUK politics live – latest updatesMore than a dozen bishops and other senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith leaders have written to the prime minister after his “island of strangers” speech, urging him to use a more “compassionate narrative” about migrants.The letter was sent to Keir Starmer after his speech on Monday, which preceded the publication of the government’s immigration white paper that has been widely criticised by migrant rights organisations and civil society groups. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Volcanic Sir Lindsay's eruptions left hapless minister buried in ash

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the Commons, erupted three times. Volcanologists will note that the same can be said of Iceland's Mt Thrihnukagigur, but that has been dormant for 4,000 years.

Politics

2 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: For once Starmer united the House, but there was a peevishness in our stodgy helmsman's breast

Nasal knight nips! Maybe it was tiredness, or crossness at recent setbacks, or simply that he cannot abide the sound of the woman. 

Politics

2 w. ago London man accused of tossing meth while driving recklessly through parking lot

London man accused of tossing meth while driving recklessly through parking lot  FOX 56 News

Politics

2 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Multiculturalism has done far more to fan racial tensions than Enoch Powell ever did

Who was Enoch Powell? With his evocative name again electrifying headlines, this basic question needs examining.

Events

2 w. ago A driving program rebuilding community for Haitians in Ohio: ‘Things are getting better’

Landmark driving simulators are improving road safety and helping Springfield immigrants targeted by Trump officialsSlowly and carefully, Betina, who came from Haiti to Ohio in 2021, navigates a Toyota SUV between five traffic cones in a parking lot north-west of Springfield.Betina, who works for a produce processing company, has never driven before. But now, four years into life in Springfield, she has grasped the challenge of learning to drive. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago How driving lessons are helping Ohio’s Haitians: ‘Things are getting better’

Landmark driving simulators are improving road safety and helping Springfield immigrants targeted by Trump officialsSlowly and carefully, Betina, who came from Haiti to Ohio in 2021, navigates a Toyota SUV between five traffic cones in a parking lot north-west of Springfield.Betina, who works for a produce processing company, has never driven before. But now, four years into life in Springfield, she has grasped the challenge of learning to drive. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: 'All rise, if able'... yet another confected attack on our language by the grievance seekers who gave us 'chest feeders' and 'birth people'

QUENTIN LETTS: For centuries, those two words 'All rise!' were sufficient for the commencement of judicial proceedings and a show of respect for the so-called majesty of the law. Until now.

Events

3 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Starmer had the tone of a gopher grateful to a mafia don for not having him rubbed out in the parking lot

This is going to sound like a Barbara Cartland novel but it actually happened. Donald Trump seized Peter Mandelson's hand and went all husky.

Politics

3 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: When the MP finally stopped talking, the guide dog in front of her rolled over and stuck its four legs in the air, stiff as a corpse

Sir Keir Starmer has reached the 'exasperated' stage.

Politics

3 w. ago QUENTIN LETTS: Minister's eyes said I cannot tell you too much in case I have to strangle you afterwards...

The Commons was updated on the weekend arrest, in English towns, of several Iranians on suspicion of terror offences.

Politics