Power and the middle class
When the centre disappears, equality vanishes with it
Aristotle vs the civil service
The civil service is to be allowed to find out what job applicants’ ‘socio-economic background’ is. What abject drivel is…
Plutarch and the EU
Boris Johnson argues that the current European Union is yet another failed attempt to replicate the golden age of a…
How Rome did immigration
Last week it was suggested that the questions asked of London mayor Sadiq Khan had nothing to do with racism,…
Rome, racism and Sadiq Khan
‘Racism’ refers to the belief in racially determined inferiority, most often recognised in body-type, about which, by definition, nothing can…
Pliny on the joy of elephants
In order to deter poachers, hundreds of tons of elephants’ tusks are being incinerated in Kenya. But even for Romans,…
Henry III vs EU law
It is no surprise that the laws imposed on the UK by a European parliament in Brussels should so infuriate…
The Treasury’s prophecies
The Treasury has announced that an EU exit ‘could leave households £4,300 a year worse off’. Since that only ‘could’ be…
Tax returns to boast about
As Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell whinge away about how rich David Cameron’s family is, they might consider that in…
How Seneca got to sleep
As if we did not have enough to cause us sleepless nights, the Royal Society for Public Health has demanded…
The Greek Donald Trump
Why does the Republican party loathe Donald Trump? Because Trump is the ultimate loose cannon, beholden to no one. And…
Cicero on regulating MPs
As Sir Kevin Barron, chair of the MPs’ ‘Standards’ committee, steps down so that his own MP-packed body can adjudicate…
Safe space in ancient Athens
Brilliant Oxford undergraduates argue that it is right to prevent us saying things they object to, because speech they do…
Governor Cameron and the Brussels empire
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Commission, made a typically brilliant intervention in the EU referendum debate by arguing that…
People power then and now
It does seem extraordinary that the increasingly puce-faced Mr Cameron offered us an ‘in-out’ referendum and is now telling us…
Seneca on bouncers
The papers are full of top stories about important people who cannot get into important parties because the doorman does…
Oscar vs Augustus
There was something admirable about the spirit of careful mockery behind the doggy bags on offer to the finalists in…
Cleisthenes and the EU
One feels that Sir Stuart Rose, leader of the EU referendum ‘In’ campaign, should really try a little harder. First…
In defence of discrimination
David Cameron has accused universities of being xenophobic, racist and prejudiced against the poor. He is too much of a…
Quintilian on lecturers
Professor Louise Richardson, Oxford’s new vice-chancellor, is worried about a new government plan to judge teaching quality. Her reason is…
The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece
Last week we read that Isis was crumbling, but still a force to be reckoned with. That is true, but…
Drinking at school with Plato
Rugby and Ampleforth schools have decided to give their charges experience of sensible drinking by introducing a little alcohol, under…
Plato and think-tanks
In Living with Difference, a think-tank report on the problems raised by a multi-faith UK, the chair Baroness Butler-Sloss says…
Be your own boss
There is much talk today of the enthusiasm with which young entrepreneurs are setting up businesses. One reason why this…
Puppet statecraft
‘Please do not mistake democracy for division. We’re now allowing people to express their views in a way in which…
