Daniel Penny and the problem with have-a-go heroes
I have always liked the phrase ‘have-a-go hero’. It sums up a certain type of person who can emerge from…
The cost of mass migration
Way back in the long distant 1990s, net migration into this country used to be in the tens of thousands…
Anti-Semitism will never go away
One of the best ways to work out that somebody has not thought deeply about anti-Semitism is if they say…
Ireland’s violent men of peace
It was from the Northern Ireland conflict that I first learned how language – like everything else – can be…
Save Picasso!
‘Well, they can’t cancel Picasso.’ That was my optimistic take some months ago when a friend in the art world…
Is the English countryside racist?
I don’t know what your plans are for Easter. Mine generally include a nice walk in the English countryside. There…
Our poor deluded MPs
They say that death and taxes are the only certainties in life. But I would add a couple more things…
The joke is on America
I was brought up on Dan Quayle jokes. You know the ones – like the gag that the then vice-president…
The overuse and abuse of ‘fascism’
I would be very happy if I never had to hear the name Gary Lineker again. He was a vague…
Please afford me this little gloat
‘Coad. Coad.’ I wracked my brain. Distant bells began to tinkle as I turned the name over. As though performing…
The death of wisdom
In recent weeks I have been trying out a mental exercise. Perhaps you might join me? Cast your mind back…
Does anything not count as ‘far-right’ now?
Oh – and the Collected Works of Shakespeare. I forgot to mention that last week: that among the books on…
Prevent’s radical reading list
The late Robert Conquest adumbrated three rules of politics. Perhaps the most famous (also known as O’Sullivan’s law) is that…
Where have all the grown-ups gone?
Last week 100,000 civil servants from 124 government departments went on strike. This fact prompts a number of questions, not…
America’s colour blindness
How many black cops does it take to commit a racist hate crime? The latest correct answer is ‘five’. That’s…
Pride comes before a fall
Hockey is one of those games, like lacrosse, that alters as it crosses the Atlantic. In Britain, if a man…
Democrat deficit
Monday was Martin Luther King Jr Day in the United States. And this year it was most memorable for two…
If only Harry took after his grandfather
Do you remember the Duke of Edinburgh awards? Some of you may even have one somewhere. An award for map-reading,…
How to get nothing done
I sometimes wonder whether our government makes any decisions at all. In fact I’m trying to think of any area…
How to save the BBC
Towards the end of his life the art critic Hilton Kramer was overheard leaving a cinema with his wife. One…
Reinventing the wheel
What is the most hubristic line ever written? Against some very stiff competition I would say it is that famous…
Displays of ignorance
The self-flagellation of British museums
A spectacular own goal
Unlike some fair-weather fans I maintain a fairly constant interest in the workings of Fifa. Not because I especially care…
New dogs, old tricks
Dame Edna Everage says one of life’s most precious gifts is the ability to laugh at the misfortunes of others.…
The weaponisation of ‘bullying’
Bullying appears to be suffering from inflation, like everything else. Certainly as an art form it seems to be in…
