Melanie Phillips

I was delighted to meet up again in London with John Anderson, the former deputy prime minister of Australia, for another of his thoughtful podcast conversations about the alarming condition of western society.

US Vice-President JD Vance, speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast Astonishingly, in America and Britain, the vilification and scapegoating of Israel through an agenda of malice and mendacity — and with undertones of something even darker — has become a key driver of political life. US Vice President JD Vance has ramped up his attacks on Israel by channelling anti-Jewish tropes of covert manipulation and warmongering.

While in London recently, I was delighted to sit down with Jonathan Sacerdoti for a wide-ranging podcast discussionabout the enormous challenges confronting Jews and the west in these seismic and disturbing times.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain’s Conservative party This is an expanded version of my column in today’s Times (£). Kemi Badenoch, who has earned a fearsome reputation for taking no prisoners, has now flourished her knuckledusters at members of her own party. She is refusing to allow some former Conservative MPs to stand again at the next election because they don’t support her rejection of the 2050 net zero target and her pledge take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mulally, speaks at last weekend’s Synod in London The Church of England is accelerating its descent into a terrible moral and spiritual darkness. Yesterday, the Synod decided to “hear,” or engage with, a spittle-flecked document that demonises the State of Israel with vicious falsehoods and distortions, tries to to rob Jewish people of their historic identity and seeks to destroy Judaism itself as the religion rooted in the land of Israel.

Last week I posted on X and Instagram three very short videos urging people to make essential connections on three separate but related issues: why the war with Iran matters to America and the west; how Israel is essential to the defence of America and the west; and why anti-Zionism is itself a despicable bigotry. You can watch all three videos by clicking on the arrows below.

‘The Death of Robespierre: Who was guillotined in Paris 28 July 1794, overthrown from his bloody Throne’; Giacomo Aliprandi, c 1799 Well that didn’t take long, did it?

Muslims praying in Whitehall, London More and more information is surfacing to reveal that the Islamic holy war against the West isn’t just being waged on the battleground of the Middle East. Even more significantly, it’s also being waged through a trillion-dollar influence campaign to colonise and subvert the Western mind, organised by extremists from the Islamic world.

Miranda, in The Tempest; John William Waterhouse, 1916 This is to let you know that I shall be visiting America again in October to undertake some speaking engagements about the Jewish world, America and the fight to defend the west. There’s surely never been a time like this, with so many momentous developments occurring virtually every day that urgently require explanation and discussion.

This is an expanded version of my column in today’s Times (£). Britain, by common consent, is broken. What’s broken it, however, is a fundamental collapse of leadership at all levels. Leadership sets goals, inspires others, takes tough decisions and holds itself accountable for its failures. It sets an example for others in society to follow in behaving with integrity, responsibility and trustfulness. None of that is currently the case.