No, minister
I am at a bit of a loss to understand the hoo-ha about the civil servant Sue Gray. She has…
Unmasking the truth
You want some tomatoes? Come up here, we’re inundated. We’ve got a tomato mountain. That’s because nobody in the north…
Those naughty Vikings had it coming
A little late in the day, perhaps, it has been pointed out to the intellectual colossi of South Tyneside Council…
A sense of entitlement
How are you coping during this cost- of-living crisis? Have you made your way to the food bank yet? I…
When fantasy meets reality
Once upon a time, a fox with a large bushy tail and a disingenuous smile changed his name from Reynard…
Tory quislings in the culture war
Aretha Franklin’s 1967 hit ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ should be removed from the music streaming network…
Everything in Britain is broken
It is rare to find an example of public art which one can applaud, unequivocally, but I think I have…
My DNA results are in
I did not enjoy the Christmas festivities this year: I sang no carols, ate no turkey and failed to watch…
A world of our own making
Two very brief excerpts from Radio 4 last week. First, my wife turned on her radio in time to hear…
The march of the local council dictators
I was impressed with the passion Sir Keir Starmer managed to whip up within himself when presenting Gordon Brown’s interminable…
Away with the fairies
One by one, life’s harmless little pleasures are outlawed by an overweening, repressive government. The Online Safety Bill has been…
The truth about the World Cup
You have to admire their bravery, don’t you? The stoicism with which they put up a fight in the name…
A course in Rod Liddle studies
As someone who has always had a grotesquely inflated sense of his own importance, my experience speaking at Durham University…
Bruce Springsteen: Only the Strong Survive
Grade: B What’s the worst-ever cover version (after Madonna’s hilarious stab at ‘American Pie’)? I reckon Creedence Clearwater Revival’s interminable…
False advertising
An advert for jobs in the prison service has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority because it portrays an…
Cutting the links with reality
It was a difficult one for the BBC, but they got through it. The problem was this: how to do…
Playing at morality
The pop-up ad I get most frequently these days is David Beckham’s promotional video for the Islamic sandpit of Qatar,…
Nobody on God’s earth wanted Truss
One of the most important ingredients in the oil used to anoint King Charles during his coronation is becoming a…
Resistance isn’t futile
Two lessons learned from the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Hotel, Deansgate, Manchester. First, the plates are no longer minuscule,…
Giving up smoking was an absolute doddle
I gave up smoking one year ago this week, as part of a series of pitiful capitulations to the forces…
No such luck
There was an article recently in the increasingly woke but still useful New Scientist which attempted to gauge the degree…
