The conservatism of Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard, who died last week, never wrote a memoir, but he did sort of speak one. Just over…
What my pyjamas taught me about China
About seven years ago, I bought two pairs of pyjamas, one British, the other Chinese. At the time, they seemed…
The true cost of the Chagos deal
When the BBC denies ‘systemic bias’, it denies the main, the crucial thing exposed by Michael Prescott’s now-famous leaked internal…
The rudeness of Reform
Critics see Rachel Reeves as betraying her election manifesto tax promises; but she may well be trying ‘The Lady’s Not…
Minimum wage was a mistake
As others, including Nigel Farage, were quick to point out, Sarah Pochin got it wrong. She uttered words which, shorn…
The government is too concerned for the tender feelings of China
Poor old Hamas, losing all those dead Jews. The BBC reports that Hamas ‘could not locate the remaining hostages’ bodies’,…
The frustrations of the Tory mindset
‘The facts of life are Conservative.’ This sentence is often attributed to Margaret Thatcher, whose centenary falls next week. The…
Sir Tony’s doomed crusade in the Holy Land
It amuses me that the two main parties most averse to the idea of honours, monarchy, chivalry etc are led…
Pine martens for Palestine
How can the nature sector respond to the genocide in Gaza? These are not my words. They appear in the…
Don’t rule out a Mandelson comeback
Daniel Kruger is a good and thoughtful man, whom I used to employ as a leader writer before he left…
Reform’s success is far from set in stone
The current ‘Britain is on a knife edge’ mood is understandable. Our discontents are great and Sir Keir Starmer’s government…
Where have all the upper-class Tories gone?
A currently fashionable conservatism is militantly against Ukraine and, by more cautious implication, pro-Russia. We who disagree are, I quote…
Who still supports Keir Starmer?
Successful political leaders hold in their minds some idea of what Mrs Thatcher called ‘Our People’. In this context, I…
The problem with experts
Danny Kruger’s brave defence of Christianity in the history of this country, which he recently delivered to an empty House…
What the media doesn’t tell us about Gaza
Sir Keir Starmer’s apparent justification for threatening to recognise a Palestinian state by September is pictures. ‘I think people are…
The best deer deterrent? Radio 4
Behind the latest push for recognition of a Palestinian state – even though there is no agreement of what it…
What I’ll miss about Norman Tebbit
This column comes to you from Auckland Castle, former palace and hunting lodge of the Prince Bishops of Durham. We,…
Peerless: the purge of the hereditaries
The House of Lords is very old, but not quite continuous. In 1649, shortly after the execution of King Charles…
Tim Davie shouldn’t quit over Glastonbury
There probably never has been a time when a governing party much liked its MPs. If you are on a…
Is the Met finally getting tough on pro-Palestine protests?
It was airily pleasant to walk round Parliament Square on Monday morning. I had come up to London to go…
The tangled bureaucracy of appointing an Archbishop
Cardinals elected the new Pope within a fortnight but it will take almost a year to choose our next Archbishop…
The BBC’s Israel problem
Intrepidly, the BBC dared recently to visit Dover, Delaware – source, it implied, of starvation in Gaza. I listened carefully…
The EU can’t resist empire-building
A wearisome aspect of modern political polarisation is feeling forced to take sides. Until recently, I felt I could contemplate…
Are beards a political statement?
Yes, it was right of the police to announce quickly that they did not think terrorism was the motive in…
My VE Day in Kyrgyzstan
In travelling to Bishkek, I was heading for the hills. I had not expected to be marking the 80th anniversary…
