Tim Stanley

My book is out in the UK on October 14!  "Whatever Happened to Tradition? History, Belonging & the Future of the West”. Combining history & philosophy, I argue that tradition is beautiful & necessary, that fidelity to our past is key to future happiness. bloomsbury.com/uk/whatever-ha…

Column: "climate change is real and the Right needs to get serious about it," It's killing everything we claim to love - landscape, tradition, millions of poor chickens - so why do some conservatives still call it a hoax?! telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/2…

Blue Peter being a little more blue than usual #scarredforlife

@cjsnowdon A great watch. Their conversation smoothed, of course, by smoking.

New from the BBC archive. Peter Cook and the Reverend Joseph McCulloch (both smoking profusely) discuss the existence of God and the Devil (1968). It’s a fair, not amazing, example of the serious programming that used to be on television. The format was later abandoned for 30 years before being revived by the private sector as “podcasts”. m.youtube.com/watch?v=iZnX5S…

@Freddygray31 DJ shouts: “anyone lost a parrot?!” Audience chants “squawk squawk!”

@timothy_stanley Yes! With a ‘cheeky’ squawk interrupting the beat

‘Walthamstow has anyone lost a parrot?’ I hope she makes that the title of her memoirs

“Avast me hearties, has anybody seen me parrot? We came ashore at Walthamstow. Arrrr.”

@jamiesont “Historically accurate.” In a thousand years, they’ll be demanding the same of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Christopher Nolan melting Leon's brain is the flat out best thing of 2026

@jamiesont 😂

@timothy_stanley Went to see Minions v Monsters by mistake

After all these tedious debates about The Odyssey (they never did this for Caligula), my mother returned from the cinema with the only review I trust: “three hours of mumbling.” She couldn’t understand a word of it.

@ALucieSmith Never had that problem with Up Pompeii!

@timothy_stanley Correct. Most of the dialogue was unintelligible.

A few days after the SSPX schism of 1988, Ratzinger gave a speech reflecting on the cause of the rupture. Key passage: "To defend Vatican Council II, against Archbishop Lefebvre, as valid and binding for the Church is and will continue to be a necessity. However, there is a narrow-minded attitude that isolates Vatican II and has provoked opposition. Many expositions give the impression that after Vatican II everything changed and that what came before can no longer be valid, or at best will only be so in light of Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council is not treated as part of the totality of the Church’s living Tradition, but rather outright as the end of Tradition and a starting all over from zero. The truth is that the Council itself did not define any dogma and consciously sought to express itself on a more modest level, simply as a pastoral Council ; however, many interpret it as if it were almost the superdogma that takes importance away from everything else. This impression is reinforced especially by events that occur in ordinary life. What was once considered the most sacred – the transmitted form for the liturgy – suddenly appears the most forbidden and the only thing that surely must be rejected. Criticism of the measures of the post-conciliar season is not tolerated, but when ancient rules or great truths of the faith are at stake – for example, the bodily virginity of Mary, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the immortality of the soul, etc. – there is no reaction at all, or only an extremely muted one. I myself witnessed, when I was a professor, how the same bishop who before the Council had dismissed an irreproachable professor for his somewhat brusque manner of speaking, after the Council found himself unable to dismiss another professor who openly denied some fundamental truths of the faith. All this leads many to wonder whether the Church of today is really the same as yesterday, or whether it has been exchanged for another without notice. The only way to make Vatican II credible is to present it clearly for what it is : a part of the whole and sole Tradition."

@FindingTrinity I’m watching something Israeli auto-dubbed into English. I’ve switched back to Hebrew and put subtitles on. Voila! I can now understand it.

@timothy_stanley That's one of the things that's putting me off going to see it - I'm exasperated by the Christopher Nolan style of inaudible dialogue. Why do heroes need laryngitis? Young people watch TV and film online with the subtitles turned on! Sensible.

@guy_herbert I’ll wait for it to appear on the BBC: it’s got to do something for me.

@timothy_stanley The feedback I've had from those who've seen it has been as various (though much less voluminous and vehement) as from those who haven't.

@AlexanderPHRose The direction of travel in the UK for over 2 decades! The idea that Our Andy marks a break from the consensus is fantasy to cover up for a bid to prop up Labour.

@timothy_stanley On the contrary, Burnham-ism is quietly radical & set out in this book. It’s about fundamentally changing the balance of the country - giving regions far more power. Therefore it isn’t discerned by a cabinet reshuffle. Instead it’ll be seen in his first Kings Speech…

It's the same people in different jobs. Burnhamism, which is the Labour manifesto "only more so", does not exist.

Rayner walks into the party like she is walking onto a yacht.

@DJSkelton He’s certainly right about buses!

I do wonder whether right is playing Burnham wrong. Many of us have long made case that regional inequality is a major problem, reindustrialisation should be priority and prevailing economic model doesn't work for too many people. Calling someone a Bennite isn't really credible.

A good man, loyal, always did his best, a star Commons performer. Enjoy the well deserved rest, David!

No one is taking this seriously btw. Focusing on my tan.

Happy new PM day! Comes around earlier every year...