SubscriptionsSection: Argument
Honestly held opinions and provocative argument based on current events or our recent reports.
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No One Can Reopen the Strait of Hormuz – and That Is the New Regional Order
Every instrument the United States uses to reopen the Strait of Hormuz – force, sanctions, a treaty – accelerates the structural decline that closed it
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‘Tony Blair Is Offering a Victorian Answer to a 21st Century Crisis’
Britain is living through five interlocking technological revolutions and the former Prime Minister has only noticed one of them, argues Nafeez Ahmed
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How to Stop Billionaires From Buying British Politics
Nigel Farage’s £5 million handout from a crypto billionaire is a worrying sign of things to come. We must act now to prevent a complete oligarch takeover, argues Oliver Bullough
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He Who Pays the Piper: The BBC, Tony Blair, Rishi Sunak and a Failure of Journalism
News organisations need to be much clearer about the potential conflicts of interests that surround the ‘interventions’ made by former politicians, argues Adam Bienkov
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How ‘Anonymous Quotes’ Are Used by Political Journalists and Spin Doctors to Deceive the Public
A startling admission by a Times journalist has revealed how political journalism and power really works in Westminster, reports Peter Oborne
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‘This EHRC Code Will Make the UK a Hostile Environment for Trans People’
Keir Starmer’s Government promises trans people ‘dignity and respect’ but is overseeing a colossal failure to protect their rights and safety, argues Helen Belcher
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Andy Burnham and Wes Streeting’s Brexit Conundrum
As the tenth anniversary of Brexit approaches, the debate about whether to rejoin the EU is dominating the Labour leadership race, writes Chris Grey
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‘AMERICA Had Eight Years from the Tea Party to Trump. Britain Is Already Further Along the Curve than We Were in 2014’
In 2019, Rick Wilson – a respected Republican strategist who supported the Iraq War – co-founded the Lincoln Project of moderate conservatives and former Republican Party members dedicated to opposing ‘Trumpism’.
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‘Ffair Cymru’: Conversations Across Contradictions in Swansea
It is well documented that the beloved Welsh poet and playwright Dylan Thomas had conflicting feelings about the town of his birth, Swansea.
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‘Labour’s Future Rests on Building a Country with Real National Resilience’
The media psychodrama around the Greater Manchester Mayor’s potential return to Parliament misses a more serious point about what his programme for reform recognises about the British state, writes Labour’s Clive Lewis MP
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Mandrake – Tail Wags the Dog
Ed Davey’s decision not to officially involve the Liberal Democrats in the massive anti-far-right march in London at the end of March, organised by the Together Alliance, resulted in the resignation of a prominent member of his party’s old guard – and did nothing to dispel a growing unease about his leadership.
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On the Record – The Foreigner Who Set You Free
Conservative peer Lord Daniel Hannan* reflects on his journey ahead of the 10th anniversary of the EU Referendum
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Notes on Now – Sucked Into Parochialism
Since Brexit, England has been sucked into worse and worse parochialism. Real interest in the world seems to be falling away.
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That’s True Too – Natural Learning
I recently found myself at 7.30am one fine spring morning on a tractor-pulled trailer full of excited nine and 10-year-olds, bumping over a field to feed some cows in deepest Devon.
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Peter Oborne’s Diary – Labour Lessons
Obituaries of the economic historian Robert Skidelsky, who died in April, have praised his monumental three-volume life of John Maynard Keynes. But none paid much attention to a rather more original and important book that Skidelsky wrote as a struggling graduate at Nuffield College, Oxford.
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Letters – June 2026
Submit a letter for consideration about this month’s edition by emailing the Editors: Miss Hardeep Matharu and Mr Peter Jukes on letters@bylinetimes.com
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The Political and Media Myopia That Has Paralysed Keir Starmer’s Government
Distorted and biased media coverage and short-sighted politics in Westminster have both prevented Starmer’s Government from reaching its potential, argues Professor Chris Painter
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‘The Speech I Wish Keir Starmer Had Given’
Alexandra Hall Hall delivers the big reset speech she wishes the Prime Minister actually had made after Labour’s local elections defeats
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‘Labour’s Leader Must Change Not Just Because Keir Starmer Is Unpopular, but Because of What Made Him Unpopular’
Replacing Keir Starmer won’t be enough to solve the far deeper problems of how a Labour Government lost the trust of the British people, argues his former adviser Simon Fletcher
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Rick Wilson’s Warning From America: Nigel Farage Will Be Your Donald Trump, Unless You Act Now
The former Republican strategist and Lincoln Project founder has some hard lessons for Conservatives and Labour alike
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‘Andy Burnham’s Return to Westminster Would Be About National Resilience’
The media psychodrama about Burnham’s potential return to Parliament misses a far more serious point, argues Labour MP Clive Lewis
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Local Election Results 2026: Morgan McSweeney’s ‘Blue Labour’ Legacy Lives On
Keir Starmer’s former adviser’s strategy of focusing on Reform-sympathetic ‘hero voters’, whilst spurning Labour’s natural supporters on the left, has led to a disastrous set of local election results for the party, reports Adam Bienkov
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American Democracy: A Race to the Bottom
A gerrymandering war between Republican and Democrat states risks devastating consequences for the functioning of our democracy, argues Alexandra Hall Hall
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‘The Mandelson Scandal Shows how Labour Became Part of the Establishment It Once Existed to Challenge’
The departure of the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney – over his appointment of ally Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador – does not change the systemic culture absorbed by the party which allowed his rise, argues Labour MP Clive Lewis
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The Blasphemous Motives Behind Trump’s Unholy War on the Pope
The President’s attacks on the leader of the Catholic church threaten to alienate a large sector of his religious supporters, argues Katherine Stewart
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All The Kings’ Horses and All the Kings’ Men Can’t Put the US-UK ‘Special Relationship’ Together Again
It will take far more than some clever speechifying from the King to repair the deep damage the US President has done to relations with his country’s former closest ally, argues Alexandra Hall Hall
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Decoding the Technofascist Tendency in Palantir’s Manifesto
Palantir’s CEO Alex Karp has confirmed the anti-democratic agenda of the company’s founder Peter Thiel
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Mandrake – Where’s ‘Daddy Cool’?
Ed Davey’s decision not to officially involve the Liberal Democrats in the massive anti-far-right march in London at the end of March, organised by the Together Alliance, resulted in the resignation of a prominent member of his party’s old guard – and did nothing to dispel a growing unease about his leadership.
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Notes on Now – Lebanon, Lebanon
Under the ‘cover’ of the Persian assault, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israel has invaded Lebanon and, as I write, has just carried out massive bombing raids across that small and beautiful country.
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‘Funnily Enough, What Matters to People is Other People’
Contrary to what big organisations in the sector say, housing is not the answer. It’s useful, but it’s not the answer.
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A Letter from America – Insanity Rules
As a Republican political consultant, I spent 30 years managing professional sociopaths, massaging the egos and manias of men and women who thought they were kings and the neuroses of candidates who couldn’t order lunch without a focus group.
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On the Record – My Peaceful Paradise
That New Year’s Day morning in January 2025 when Labour announced it was going to tax school fees was the darkest of my life.
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That’s True Too – Not Worth the Energy
I recently came alarmingly close to throwing the toaster at the radio in frustration with Simon Jack’s interview with John Browne, the former CEO of BP, on drilling in the North Sea.
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Peter Oborne’s Diary – Emperor Trump
Suetonius, who served as personal secretary to Emperor Hadrian, enjoyed privileged access to the imperial archive when he researched The Lives of the Caesars.
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The Fossil Fuel System Is Collapsing – and Taking Civilisation’s Safety Net With It
The Iran war is accelerating an irreversible breakdown of a system on which every hospital, harvest and factory depends – and only a rapid transition to energy superabundance can save us, argues Nafeez Ahmed, Divyesh Desai and Sandrine Dixson-Decleve
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A US Defence Analyst’s Warning to Britain: ‘I Watched Our Democracy Die. You’re Next’
A US defence analyst argues that the United States has become a zombie democracy, locked into decline – and that Reform UK is now planning the same for Britain
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Why Americans Need to Get Much Angrier About Donald Trump
Hope is not a strategy and my fellow Americans need to wake up to the far greater damage to the US this President could still cause, argues Alexandra Hall Hall
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MattGPT: The Sorry Tale of Matt Goodwin’s AI-Assisted, Fake-Quote-Filled New Book
It turns out that even ChatGPT has a more stringent approach to accuracy than the former professor, Matt Goodwin, reports Mic Wright
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Why the Iran War Could Last Far Longer Than Either Side Wants to Admit
With the Strait of Hormuz closed and US munitions dwindling, it is Iran that will ultimately be able to set the price of peace, argues US defence analyst Brynn Tannehill
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Trump’s Iran War Is Pushing the Post War International Order to Breaking Point
The US President’s reckless actions risk destroying the global political order, but could something good emerge from the wreckage, asks Alexandra Hall Hall
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How Trump Is Manufacturing Enemies Out of His Own Citizens
The Trump administration is using disinformation against anti fascists in order to criminalise dissent, argues Caroline Orr Beuneo
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A Letter from America – Trump’s War On the World
One truth about modern warfare is that it never becomes more popular over time. Like most Americans, I refuse to pretend Donald Trump’s war with Iran is some Putin-esque ‘special military operation’ or other comforting euphemism. So it’s not a shock to find this war begins already underwater in the polls.
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Mandrake – Stollar’s Tours
A safe distance before Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump’s attack on Iran, MP Tim Farron headed a Liberal Democrat delegation to Israel and the West Bank. He obligingly wrote a piece afterwards for Jewish News which showed all too little compassion for the people of Gaza.
