The University of Leicester’s proposal to replace the medieval literature component of its BA English courses by ‘excitingly innovative’ modules on race, ethnicity, sexuality, and diversity, and thereby further the aim of ‘decolonising the curriculum’, has attracted anger among academics in the English department. But if the public letter of resignation penned by its prospective external examiner for the MA … [Read on]

I’ve just been to a funeral in the South of France, wonderful to see so many of my old friends again and I didn’t have to leave my front room. Unlike obsequies of the past, the smooth running of this one didn’t depend on people arriving on time by train, or funeral cars avoiding traffic jams; everything rested on the … [Read on]

Following Trump’s demise, the question is this: Can some semblance of a shared political space be recreated in which civilized debate can be carried on, and appeal made to sources of evidence judged by common consent to be impartial? Or does the rise of the worldwide web and social media, and the accompanying fall from grace of the mainstream media, … [Read on]

There is no difference between the arrest of Alexei Navalny at Moscow Airport tonight and the impeachment last week of Donald Trump. Navalny and Trump are seen by their respective political establishments as enemies who must be silenced at all costs. Silencing opponents is the work of dictators. Both establishments have dug their own graves: Putin in trying to murder … [Read on]

According to critical race theory, whites are historic oppressors, and ‘people of colour’ are historic victims. British imperial history – white history – must therefore be thoroughly deconstructed. Yet when we look back through world history, we see people of colour engaged in positive orgies of oppression, brutality, colonial exploitation, enslavement, violence, and barbarity. ‘People of colour’, given the chance, … [Read on]

“Tyranny in democratic republics does not proceed in the same way,however. It ignores the body and goes straight for the soul. Themaster no longer says: You will think as I do or die. He says: You arefree not to think as I do. You may keep your life, your property, andeverything else. But from this day forth you shall be … [Read on]

Newspapers are reporting mental health crisis as fact, despite official statistics showing no significant increase in mental illness in younger people. Many reported surveys do not refer to diagnosed conditions but self-reported feelings, and articles rely heavily on expert opinion. The Guardian claims to represent the views of campaigners, politicians and therapists, as well as students, yet a mere eight of its … [Read on]

What a shameful end to the Trump presidency. Every decent Tory, every decent conservative, every decent patriot, will have to live down the scenes from the Capitol Building in Washington: its storming by a mob incited by a president who insists his ‘landslide victory’ was stolen, and was recently recorded telling Georgia’s Republican election chief to ‘find’ enough votes to … [Read on]