Gene-editing won’t save our fruit
The other day, I had a dismaying experience while making my usual frugal lunch. Usually, a cheese sandwich does me.…
How the EU youth mobility scheme could save Brexit
Rachel Reeves sounds surprisingly perky. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has, of course, been forced – we may think, through…
Winning little narrative adventure: South of Midnight reviewed
Grade: A– For this winning little narrative adventure we are in the South – all gris-gris gumbo yaya, decaying mansions…
Keir Starmer’s Easter message wasn’t offensive
Fun though it is to bash Keir Starmer for everything he says or does, there’s surely a point at which…
Schools should butt out of parent WhatsApp groups
As if schools didn’t already have their work cut out for them controlling the behaviour of their students, they’re now…
AI slop is flooding the zone
There are two accounts of the negative effects for humanity of the explosion of generative AI: one minatory, one trivial.…
The police raid on a Quaker meeting house is unforgivable
Is there anyone in the Met Police, I wonder, low-minded enough to think of things in PR terms? “I’ve got…
Ridiculously fun: Assassin’s Creed – Shadows reviewed
Grade: A Sometimes you want to admire the pluck and inventiveness of an indie developer. At other times, you just…
Why is Keir Starmer pretending he ‘likes and respects’ Donald Trump?
Anyone who relishes the humiliation of Sir Keir Starmer – and I know that in this respect, if only this…
Is ‘good enough’ all we want from TV?
For those people with a therapeutic bent of mind, the phrase ‘good enough’ has an almost magical power. It says:…
The moral shortcomings of Palestine Action
Pro-Palestinian activists under the banner of Palestine Action have been waging what it’s not too much of an exaggeration to…
The anti-genius of William McGonagall, history’s worst poet
‘Not marble nor the gilded monuments of princes,’ wrote Shakespeare, ‘shall outlive this powerful rhyme.’ To be a great poet,…
The ‘goodies and baddies’ era of world politics is over
It’s hard to overstate just how shocking, how grotesque and shaming, was President Trump’s outburst against Ukraine’s President Zelensky in…
AI needs to be regulated
On Tuesday, the government’s consultation on AI and copyright comes to an end. There doesn’t seem to be much hope…
The new Civ is gorgeous and richly rewarding
Grade: A- It has been nearly ten years since addicts of the empire-building simulator Civilization – or Civ, as players…
Don’t blame WFH parents for absent school children
The Chief Inspector of the schools’ watchdog Ofsted, Sir Martyn Oliver, has said he thinks the change in working habits…
The AI industry has been given a taste of its own medicine
Life comes at you fast, eh? Only a few weeks ago I was grumbling in this very slot about the way in…
Scrapping Oxford’s ‘traditional’ exams won’t make things fairer
Are exams… racist? Are exams snobs? If a report in yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph is to be credited, academics at Oxford…
The difference between Trump 45 and Trump 47
Him again? Donald Trump’s back in the White House. Those who thought his first term in office was an aberration…
The truth about Dominic Cummings and Elon Musk’s ‘sabotage plot’
A few centuries ago, when I worked on the Daily Telegraph under the editorship of the now Lord Moore, there…
A winter’s tale: Brightly Shining, by Ingvild Rishoi, reviewed
In a poignant story reminiscent of ‘The Little Match Girl’, two Norwegian children try to dodge social services by selling wreaths and Christmas trees when their father fails to provide for them
Is it time to lay off Tulip Siddiq?
We all have generous aunties, right? My own once let me live rent-free in her London flat for several months…
The intensity of female friendship explored
Rachel Cooke’s spry anthology includes fiction, poetry, memoir, speeches, obituaries, letters and even comics – The Four Marys from Bunty
The downside of charity
I blame Charles Dickens, personally: he of David Copperfield, Little Nell, Oliver Twist and, of course, Tiny Tim. He’s the…
