‘Fear and bullying’ at the National Trust
Is Winston Marshall — guitarist, banjo player, composer of Mumford & Sons, and father of the west London ‘Nu-Folk’ music…
Why the BBC believed Martin Bashir
If it is true, as Lords Hall and Birt told a Commons committee this week, that Martin Bashir succeeded in…
Would you pay £80 for a video from John Bercow?
There is much to be said for meritocracy, and Adrian Wooldridge, in his new book, The Aristocracy of Talent, says…
Broken Trust: the crisis at the heart of the National Trust
The National Trust now has the chance to return to its roots
The first step towards restoring the National Trust
It is poetically fitting that the resignation of the chairman of the National Trust, Tim Parker, was announced on the…
A tree is for centuries, not just for COP26
We are being urged — and, in some cases, paid — by the government to plant more trees. Actually, this…
Should monuments to past Archbishops of Canterbury come down?
This week, the Church of England issued its document ‘Contested Heritage in Cathedrals and Churches’. It is guidance for what…
‘Religious literacy’ rules risk gagging the press
There should be more ‘religious literacy’. So says the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media, chaired by Yasmin…
The difference between private and public conversation
Like almost everyone else writing on the subject, I have no idea whether Boris Johnson told colleagues in October that…
The strangeness of Britain’s BLM mania
The conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd makes last summer’s Black Lives Matter mania in British…
A word about Prince Philip and religion
The recent Sewell report on Race and Ethnic Disparities has been much abused and little read. It is full of…
Aintree is doing Rose Paterson proud
On Grand National Day at Aintree this Saturday, the Rose Paterson Trust will be launched. This time last year, Rose…
By banning what we dislike, we create a secular shariah
‘Interior silence’ is not a phrase I associate with Sarah Sands, until recently the editor of the BBC Today programme…
In defence of hereditary peers
As the former editor of a Sunday newspaper, I know their front pages can be rather confected. There is sometimes…
What happens when Facebook pays for news?
The recently departed head of MI6, Sir Alex Younger, wants to balance China’s ideological antagonism to the West with the…
Are Harry and Meghan legally married at all?
I have been slow in the uptake. When I saw the Duchess of Sussex complain in her interview clips about…
Emmanuel Macron’s vaccine muddle
In 2000, this magazine dipped its toe in murky Irish water. Stephen Glover wrote three articles, one provocatively entitled ‘The…
Will social kisses survive Covid?
There is a ‘pervasive presence of Chinese military-linked conglomerates and universities in the sponsorship of high-technology research centres in many…
The unintended consequences of the Macpherson report
Sir William Macpherson of Cluny has died. His obituaries praise him for his 1998 inquiry into the Stephen Lawrence case.…
Where would politics be without fighting talk?
‘Tencent Wykeham’ has a ring to it. It captures how easily British universities can be bought. It is the new…
Lockdowns can destroy the lives they’re intended to protect
Some Leavers are perturbed that Lord Frost was suddenly stood down as the next National Security Adviser. This anxiety may…
Will Samuel Pepys be cancelled next?
A seemingly obscure battle in an ecclesiastical court could threaten the security of every historic monument in the care of…
The truth about the vaccine ‘postcode lottery’
‘Postcode lottery!’ people scream when one area feels less well treated than another in a public service — in this…
My memories of Sir David Barclay
Even with its 27 amendments, the US Constitution is only 7,591 words. I keep it beside me, and find in…
Covid, like war, brings less obvious shocks
Domenica Lawson, daughter of Rosa and Dominic, the former editor of this paper, has Down’s syndrome. She is classified as…
