Never mind a snap election: at the Conservative conference, they were preparing for a Kremlin air raid.
An Iranian Shahed attack-drone, recently downed in Kiev, was suspended over the stage. Ukrainian children sang to us – ‘peace is what we want’ – and former Tory MP Jack Lopresti was striding about the conference venue in military fatigues. Having lost his Commons seat in 2024 he has joined Ukraine’s national guard.
The afternoon debate was on foreign affairs, defence and (neat financial juxtaposition) welfare spending. Prof Niall Ferguson, historian, did a goolie-shrivelling turn about how we were on the brink of World War
To provide well-rounded coverage and a breadth of insight across various events, we rely on contributions from several staff writers, each bringing their own area of expertise to our publication.