Donald Trump is key to Boris Johnson’s survival
There are so many problems confronting our polity this week that it is almost impossible to write about any of…
When Jacob Rees-Mogg met Extinction Rebellion
I walked down Villiers Street to Embankment Tube station. In front of me were two Extinction Rebels, a mother and…
We selfish gits must wear the name with pride
I walked down Villiers Street to Embankment Tube station. In front of me were two Extinction Rebels, a mother and…
What would Margaret Thatcher do about Brexit?
‘What would Margaret Thatcher do about Brexit?’ people keep asking me. Why do they think I would know? If I…
If Boris snogged Nick Robinson, would he be forgiven?
Manchester It could be caused by desperation, but this Tory conference is very jolly. At last there is something to…
Why Boris Johnson resembles Samwise Gamgee
So what should Boris Johnson do now? Obviously the law officers are twitchy. They defer to judges and their later…
The rule of law has become the rule of lawyers
Is that enormous silver spider that Lady Hale wore her badge of office? If so, it is appropriate. The Supreme…
For millennials, pre-Thatcher Britain must seem another — quite mystifying — country
Lymeswold; Hi-de-Hi!; nuclear-free zones; Walkmans; the Metro; Red Robbo; the SDP; Michael Foot’s Cenotaph donkey-jacket; Protest and Survive; Steve Davis…
Why didn’t Cameron realise the ‘strength of feeling’ about Brexit?
In his memoirs, David Cameron admits that he ‘did not fully appreciate the strength of feeling’ in favour of Brexit,…
There’s nothing wrong with Jacob Rees-Mogg lying down in the Commons
If you are a journalist covering politics this year, every moment is a bad moment to take a holiday. I…
The Amazon fires are as much a political story as an environmental one
We do not yet know which 100 citizens will make it to the ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to be chaired by the…
What would George Orwell make of Brexit?
In the London Review of Books this month, James Meek wrote a long article about Jacob Rees-Mogg and his ‘curious duality’ in…
The royals should embody virtue – not signal it
ONE should not be censorious if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly in private jets to their holidays, though…
Give Hong Kongers real security: a British passport
We seem to be building up to a second Tiananmen Square, 30 years after the first. This time the venue…
Give Hong Kongers real security: a British passport
We seem to be building up to a second Tiananmen Square, 30 years after the first. This time the venue…
Were the US shootings racially motivated?
Who wrote ‘Our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country … creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations…
The ambiguity of the woke businessman
The woke businessman, like the woke prince and princess, is an ambiguous figure. Being woke, after all, involves a contempt…
What would you save, Marmite or the planet?
In his very long letter to Jeremy Corbyn about why, after all, he will stay out of the Labour party…
The conviction of ‘Nick’ shows the evil behind McCarthyism
‘No great surprise’ headlined the BBC television news on Tuesday lunchtime. The BBC does not admit it now, but it…
What would Jane Austen say about Debrett’s going digital?
Seventy-five years ago on Saturday, the July plot failed. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg placed a bomb in a briefcase…
Sir Kim Darroch failed to recognise Trump’s communicative genius
When I last talked to Sir Kim Darroch, he was a slim young private secretary, so it was a long…
Thankfully, the world is waking up to the threat of China
The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, is offering to meet Jeremy Corbyn about the Times story last week which reported…
Boris’s big mistake? Agreeing to the BBC debate
Boris and his team made a mistake by agreeing to take part in Tuesday’s BBC leadership debate. In such decisions,…
The silliness of ‘serious’ leaders
You would think it would be unarguable that ‘Serious times demand a serious leader’. This, with small verbal variations, is…
My profoundly impractical, unquenchably generous, thoroughly benevolent father
My father Richard, who died last month aged 88, was a profoundly impractical man. He could not drive a car,…
