The Spectator

Devon and Cornwall Police have launched a murder investigation into the 'suspicious' death of Ann Widdecombe. The firebrand former MP, 78, was found dead at her Devon home on Thursday morning after sustaining serious injuries. A manhunt is underway for a white male the police believe is responsible. Widdecombe, who lived alone, was discovered by her carer. Detective Chief Inspector Ilona Rosson said: 'This is an extremely tragic incident and our thoughts are very much with the family and friends of Ann Widdecombe at this difficult time. Our murder enquiry is in its early stages but moving at a significant pace. We are deploying all of the necessary resources to find out exactly what has happened and to locate the person responsible who we believe to be a white male. ✍️ Noa Hoffman Article | spectator.com/article/murder… | @hoffman_noa

In my last column I discussed the old Italian conspiracy theory that Winston Churchill wrote deeply compromising letters to Benito Mussolini before and during the second world war. I feel I must return to the issue, not least because a reader wrote in the comment section that at long last I had written something interesting, but also for the sake of fair play. ✍️ Nicholas Farrell Article | spectator.com/article/the-br…

When Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in New York in 1831, he found a city a quarter of the size of Paris, perched on the lower tip of Manhattan, roamed by pigs. Speaking to everyone he met, high and low, he was struck by how many of the rich used to be poor. There was, he observed, an 'equality of conditions' that filtered down to the way parents treated their children. ✍️ Daisy Dunn Article | spectator.com/article/alexis…

Who cares how they did it? The dream of England winning the World Cup is alive and well ✍️ Jawad Iqbal spectator.com/article/thank-…

Should Green Boots’ body remain on Everest? ✍️ Billi Bierling spectator.com/article/should…

Starmer is determined to kill racing ✍️ Rupert Hawksley spectator.com/article/starme…

Why the ‘extreme male brain’ theory of autism has been disowned ✍️ David Cohen spectator.com/article/why-th…

Death, schism and conspiracy: the strange tale of Orkney’s renegade Catholic monks ✍️ Christopher Akers spectator.com/article/death-…

The Gliberal can tell you the best vinyl shops in Tokyo and the best restaurants in Bologna. But not the name of their next-door neighbour ✍️ Theo Hobson spectator.com/article/are-yo…

Unfortunately, I think Miliband as foreign secretary would represent at best stale continuity and at worst disaster ✍️ Ameer Kotecha spectator.com/article/david-…

I start composing an angry text accusing her of being a Gen Z algorithm-obsessed Polanski-loving teetotaller when there’s a knock at the door. Ooh, yes! It is the mystery gigolo who’s been making his way around the Cheltenham Ladies’ class of ’83. Hung like a horse and built like a bull, per the giggling reviews. Despite having never seen his face I am already ready to mount it as I open the door. ✍️ Helen D'Vorcee Article | spectator.com/article/why-do…

‘Her hard-right, string-em-up politics may not have been for everyone. But at a time when ‘Blair’s Babes’ were on the rise, she was a breath of whisky-tinged fresh air.’ ✍️ Colin Freeman spectator.com/article/my-deb…

‘Tonight, Erling Haaland and Harry Kane should be playing together, not against each other.’ ✍️ William Atkinson spectator.com/article/englan…

‘It is not enough that face-to-face assessments have been effectively abolished. Even assessments over the phone are now too much.’ ✍️ Shimeon Lee spectator.com/article/the-pr…

‘There was life before and after The Office. For me, and for British comedy.’ ✍️ Matt Bentley spectator.com/article/why-i-…

‘I brought the context of my experiences and found Odysseus the spy, as complicated as those I worked alongside in the capricious, ambiguous, and uncertain worlds I journeyed through in the decade after the fall of the twin towers.’ ✍️ Andy Owen spectator.com/article/what-o…

‘Norway’s rise is more interesting than one giant in Manchester City blue. Haaland is not an accident, nor is Martin Ødegaard.’ ✍️ Mark Brolin spectator.com/article/the-se…

‘Through a dedicated regime of self improvement he pulled himself up through sheer perseverance: Gordon became an avid reader of motivational books and incorporated boxing into his strict physical regime.’ ✍️ Patrick West spectator.com/article/in-pra…

In a 400-page judgment, the High Court dismissed claims of misuse of private information made against the publisher of the Daily Mail by the Duke of Sussex and six others – Elton John, David Furnish, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost, Baroness (Doreen) Lawrence of Clarendon and Simon Hughes – who had not proved unlawful information-gathering. The non-custodial sentences for two boys convicted of raping two teenage girls in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, were overturned at the Court of Appeal by the Lady Chief Justice, Lady Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, who gave them four years’ detention. Hundreds of thousands gathered in Iran for a week of funeral rites for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with ceremonies extending to Najaf and Karbala in Iraq; Mojtaba Khamenei, his son, the present Supreme Leader, did not appear. ✍️ The Spectator Article | spectator.com/article/portra…

As any Catholic master of ceremonies will tell you, it takes only the tiniest sartorial mishap to lend a Python-esque flavour to moments of the utmost solemnity. On 1 July the rebel traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) created four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV during a five-hour open-air Latin Mass in a Swiss alpine meadow. The consecrating prelates wore dark-red velvet chasubles over scarlet-and-gold dalmatics with matching gloves. They descended from their thrones bearing sacred chrism. Afterwards the new bishops stood in a row, mitres perched on their heads for the first time. ✍️ Damian Thompson Article | spectator.com/article/is-the…