Why I’ve given up on supermarkets
Three years ago, I embarked on a personal project that has brought about a quiet revolution in my cooking and…
Is decriminalising rough sleeping a mistake?
The government’s decision to decriminalise rough sleeping by repealing the Vagrancy Act of 1824 has been met with outrage and wringing…
Sainsbury’s brave new world of facial recognition cameras
Supermarket customers in Britain are part of a growing experiment in surveillance. After an eight-week trial, Sainsbury’s has made live…
Britain is becoming a surveillance state, but no one seems to care
Shabana Mahmood’s announcement that facial recognition is to be rolled out across the nation is no vague statement of aspiration. Part…
Britain’s water crisis is getting worse
When the taps run dry in Tunbridge Wells you know something has gone very wrong in the heart of Albion.…
Britain’s free speech crisis could get a whole lot worse
If you think Britain’s free speech crisis is bad now, if Ofcom gets its way it could get a whole…
Solar farms are taking over Britain’s countryside
This summer I spent an afternoon, as I do every year, sitting with old friends in their garden a few…
Is this CS Lewis’ most prescient work?
It’s been 80 years since CS Lewis’ remarkably prescient, That Hideous Strength, was published. The final book in a sci-fi trilogy,…
Brits don’t want digital ID cards
The vexed issue of compulsory ID is, once again, on the cards. ‘BritCard’ is being billed as a ‘progressive digital…
Tesco’s ‘VAR’-style self-checkout cameras are the final straw
Tesco has followed Sainsbury’s lead by installing cameras above self-checkouts to identify when shoppers fail to scan an item properly, using the…
Sainsbury’s self-checkout surveillance has gone too far
Sainsbury’s is stepping up surveillance on its self-checkout tills. It’s hard not to laugh out loud. Not only will shoppers in…
Why are MPs turning a blind eye to ‘two-tier’ policing?
Does Britain have a ‘two-tier’ attitude towards policing? The Home Affairs Committee, made up of 11 Tory, Lib Dem and…
Bristol’s low traffic bullies have gone too far
At 3am last Thursday morning, council contractors and police descended on a Bristol neighbourhood to install roadblocks under the cover of…
What Lebanon’s energy crisis can teach us in Britain
“See that?” my friend pointed to a pylon on the hill opposite the window. “That’s the dawla.” The dawla (pronounced…
The truth about Britain’s transition to ‘clean energy’
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Under leaden November skies, came news of what many have suspected: energy rationing for…
The truth about two-tier policing in Britain
Does Britain have a two-tier policing system? Accusations that some protesters are treated differently to others have emerged in the…
The trouble with Thames Water
On the day the election was called, I turned on the tap but nothing came out. The sudden stoppage was…
Sainsbury’s self-checkouts are just the start
Sainsbury’s has long had a special place in my heart. The weekly shop at the Orange Store offered excitement to…
