'Suella Braverman went to Washington to talk tough… in an empty room'
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day

'The moment Suella Braverman became a global laughing stock'
Tom Peck in The Independent
A great many people "will have found Suella Braverman's recent speech on 'migration', enraging", writes Tom Peck in The Independent. "But mainly it was laughable", and " at the end", the cameras revealed "an audience of roughly nine people” for "a home secretary who is never happier than when issuing softly spoken proclamations about her own capacity for cruelty, standing in front of a world that absolutely does not care what she thinks…and telling it that it has to change".
Subscribe to 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.
'Why I still believe in the political centre'
Daniel Finkelstein in The Times
In policymaking, "there are few controversies… in which only one side has merit", says Daniel Finkelstein in The Times. It is "understanding this, and living with its implications, that is the core of the politics of the centre," he writes. Being at the centre, right or left, is about "accepting that there can simultaneously be strong arguments for two or more opposing policy positions". "Let us never forget the things that unite the centre and divide it from the extremes".
The Magic Number: 32 Hours
Binyamin Appelbaum in The New York Times
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Autoworkers picketing American factories "aren’t just seeking higher pay", says Binyamin Appelbaum, "audaciously, they are also demanding a full week’s pay for working 32 hours across four days". And if they succeed "we'll all benefit". A shorter work week "would be better for our health, better for our families and better for our employers, who would reap the benefits of a more motivated and better-rested work force".
'German politics has a built-in firewall against the far right. It’s beginning to crack'
John Kampfner in The Guardian
"The Germans have a term for what holds them together: Wehrhafte Demokratie," writes John Kampfner in The Guardian. "It roughly translates as fortified democracy", or "the idea that the state has the right to act against those who threaten the liberal democratic order". Now though, Germany is "engulfed in the same populist wave that has swept many of its European neighbours". But the system is "still holding", Kampfner concludes, adding "it might be argued that in the US, Britain and elsewhere it has already been dismantled".
-
The Week Unwrapped: Why are we watching the ocean floor?
Podcast Plus, what can we learn from a football club on the brink? And which jobs will fall to AI first?
-
Quiz of The Week: 2 – 8 August
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A volcano stirs, a deathly flower blooms, and more
-
Congress should 'step in' to block Trump's White House ballroom makeover
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'America is becoming a nation of homebodies'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'Discriminating against DACA students'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'It feels less like advertising and more like brainwashing'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'Crony capitalism is a sharp break from free market ideals'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'Fossil-fired grids have provided a cautionary tale'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'Grief and condolences are not enough'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
'This is a humanitarian, developmental and moral emergency'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day