In defence of Band Aid (kind of) Opinion Arguments about whether Band Aid is patronising are as old as the song itself, but they map oddly onto contemporary political divides, says Will Cooling If the Americans have film bros arguing over whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie, then we Brits have debating the merits of Band Aid as an alternative festive pastime. [...]
Forget a trade deal. Let’s use Trump’s victory to entice US students to the UK Opinion Trump's promised campus crackdown will prompt US students to look at other options. Let's welcome them here, writes Will Cooling.
Labour activists are right to campaign for Harris Opinion It’s easy to laugh at try-hard Labour staffers wanting to get involved in US politics by campaigning for Kamala Harris, but what happens in America matters to us all, says Will Cooling We’ve all experienced the horror of returning from holiday to a massive backlog of work emails and urgent tasks, but few have experienced [...]
Nuclear war is not just an 80s TV dystopia, it could happen October 10, 2024 Can we sit calmly when there are 12,000 nuclear warheads in the world? Will Cooling reflects on the continued possibility of nuclear war
Cut Starmer some slack, three months hasn’t undone his victory September 26, 2024 The Labour Party is having some teething issues, but three months is hardly enough to judge Starmer by, writes Will Cooling.
The real star of The Grand Tour is friendship September 12, 2024 It’s not the individual talents of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond that have made Top Gear and the Grand Tour such great shows – it’s the connection between them, says Will Cooling This Friday will truly mark an end of an era, with the former stars of Top Gear completing their last televised [...]
The government is right to reject the EU’s plans for free movement by the backdoor August 29, 2024 The EU’s terms for reinstating a youth mobility scheme – from four-year visas to cut-price tuition fees – are utterly unreasonable, says Will Cooling Yesterday saw Sir Keir Starmer in Germany, where he tried to reinforce the positive impression he made on the global stage in the whirlwind days immediately after his election as Prime [...]
Crisis in Bangladesh shows that draconian regimes are always doomed to fail August 16, 2024 Repressive governments don’t just brutalise their people, they impoverish them too, writes Will Cooling
Southport shows the best and worst of British society August 1, 2024 Citizens who came together to repair their community after Southport riots are the true face of Britain – not the hate-fuelled minority, says Will Cooling A traumatic week has seen Southport experience the worst and best of modern society – and exposed rifts that have been exploited for political gain for far too long. Following [...]
It’s not just Brexiteers who should worry about the European Political Community July 18, 2024 The new government views the European Political Community as a stalking horse for a bilateral deal with the EU that meaningfully deepens operational security. This is a mistake, argues Will Cooling One of the visible signs that the election caught everyone within the former government by surprise is how busy the international calendar has been. [...]