'Farage in the jungle is like putting Marmite in a trifle'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day

Why Nigel Farage failed on 'I’m a Celebrity…'
Gareth Roberts in The Spectator
"I'm a Celebrity" is intended to be a "bubble of fun that takes place as far away as it is possible to get", says Gareth Roberts in The Spectator, so Nigel Farage was "never" going to win the jungle crown. The presence of a politician on the show is an "intrusion" comparable to "putting Marmite in a trifle". And as for winning over "doubters"? Farage was "affable, certainly, but also rather dull".
Is Britain Ready to Be Honest About Its Decline?
Matthew Brooker in Bloomberg
To reverse its "relative economic decline", Britain must tackle both "golden thinking" and "inertia", argues Matthew Brooker in Bloomberg. The UK "isn't going to reinvent itself as a manufacturing powerhouse", nor was Brexit a "golden pathway to the promised land of Global Britain". And soaring use of food banks and "15 years of zero wage growth should have been enough of a hint already that something might need to change". But "is Britain ready for the conversation?"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Royal Mail is putting the Grinch to shame
Iain Dale in The Telegraph
The "unreliable" and "too expensive" Royal Mail has "transformed itself into the Christmas Grinch", writes Iain Dale for The Telegraph. The postal service is "seeking to penalise festive cheer" by slapping a "peak surcharge" on mail sent over the Christmas period, which will only "discourage more letter sending". With its reputation "shot to pieces", Royal Mail is "losing friends fast", but "it really needn't be this way".
Don't dodge Wham! this Christmas … just lean in
Sathnam Sanghera in The Times
"Last Christmas" by Wham! is the "perfect festive tune", says Sathnam Sanghera in The Times. So he "cannot condone" the "increasingly popular" annual social media game #Whamageddon, in which players compete to "go as long as possible through the festive period without hearing the song". No cover version has "got close" to the "perfection" of George Michael's vocal performance. The then 21-year-old also wrote, produced and played every instrument on the track, and that he died on Christmas Day 2016 "gives it added poignancy".
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
September 30 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday's political cartoons include finger pointing, disunited nations, and Donald Trump's esprit de corps
-
What Saudi Arabia wants with EA video games
In the Spotlight The kingdom’s latest investment in gaming is another win for its ‘soft power’ portfolio
-
How the One Piece manga flag became a Gen Z resistance symbol
The Explainer Straw-hat skull seen at protests in Indonesia, Nepal and France shows how young people are ‘reshaping the vocabulary of dissent’
-
‘People may use the same tactics for very different reasons’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
The Liberal Democrats: on the march?
Talking Point After winning their highest number of seats in 2024, can the Lib Dems marry ‘stunts’ with a ‘more focused electoral strategy’?
-
‘This will support jobs and manufacturing right here in America’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
‘Making a political donation shouldn’t be this dangerous’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
‘ExxonMobil made the right call’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Is Britain turning into ‘Trump’s America’?
Today’s Big Question Direction of UK politics reflects influence and funding from across the pond
-
‘The new ESPN looks innocent enough’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Behind the ‘Boriswave’: Farage plans to scrap indefinite leave to remain
The Explainer The problem of the post-Brexit immigration surge – and Reform’s radical solution