I nearly missed out on The Walking Dead. You shouldn’t
I’m ashamed to say it took me a while to watch an episode of The Walking Dead, the fifth season…
You’ll regret not having a Human Rights Act when Labour get back in
I’ve been thinking about the Conservative party’s proposal for a Bill of Rights and am finding it difficult to make…
Nigel Farage’s class war
I initially thought Nigel Farage had made a mistake in unveiling Mark Reckless on the final day of his party…
My hormones are all over the place. It must be the manopause
Women spend ten days a year in a grumpy mood, according to the Daily Mail. The top triggers include being…
My electrifying 'Führer Kontakt' with Alex Salmond
It was just after the Tory party conference last year that I met Alex Salmond. Not alone, obviously, but as…
When the Welsh go it alone, blame me
Oh dear. I think I may have inadvertently contributed to the dissolution of Great Britain. I’m not claiming sole responsibility.…
The lesson of the young men fighting for Isis: evil is in all of us
I had an interesting discussion with my friend Aidan Hartley earlier this week about whether the young men fighting for…
Not all knowledge is equal
I first locked horns with Michael Rosen, the former children’s laureate, on Sky News about four years ago. We were…
The self-delusion that makes people go to festivals – me included
I wouldn’t describe myself as a veteran of the summer festival circuit, but I’ve been to enough to have a…
Mark Simmonds was just saying what a lot of MPs think
I feel some sympathy for Mark Simmonds, the Conservative MP who’s resigned as a minister and is stepping down at…
What’s the point in being married if I can’t feel superior to my single friends?
I’m due to speak at an Intelligence Squared debate on Saturday and I’m worried that I might be on the…
Want to be a neglectful parent? Come to a festival and learn
I spent last weekend at Port Eliot in Cornwall. This is supposed to be a literary and music festival and…
Do-gooders neglect their children. Just look at my dad – and me
A few years ago, a family friend described my father as being a bit like Mrs Jellyby in Bleak House,…
Cameron was right to move Gove
I tried to reach Michael Gove on Tuesday shortly after the news broke that he’d been moved to the Whips’…
If John Bercow were two-and-a-half inches taller, he'd never have been such a big success
Unlike 99 per cent of my colleagues, I was quite touched by John Bercow’s comment about how fed up he…
Accept it, embrace it: Conservatives aren’t cool
The Times headline on Tuesday was rather cruel: ‘Stars turn down No. 10 invitation.’ This was a reference to the…
Do people really hate free schools – or do they just hate me?
This isn’t a headline I was expecting to read: ‘Free schools could be a bigger negative for the Tories than…
It’s time to face down the greatest intellectual threat of our era (oh, and Ed Miliband)
As you’re reading this, I will still be recovering from the dinner I’m due to attend this week to celebrate…
Yes, I compared Theresa May to an Israeli tank commander. Why is everyone so upset?
I expect all of us have said something we regret at one time or another, but not everyone does so…
I used to think I was a Nietzschean superman. Now I know I'm just a dad
In The Wolf of Wall Street, there’s a poignant shot towards the end in which we see an FBI agent…
Michael Gove did not kill Of Mice and Men or To Kill A Mockingbird
I suppose I should be grateful that the liberal intelligentsia doesn’t bother to check any of the facts if an…
Chasing Pulitzers has ruined American journalists. That’s why they're edited by Brits
I was interested to read a story by Michael Wolff in USA Today saying that Graydon Carter may be about…
The publicist who's doing her best to keep me off TV
I went to a meeting at Penguin earlier this week to discuss ‘publicity opportunities’ for my forthcoming book. Chance would…
I love everything about supporting QPR — except watching them play
I find it hard to pinpoint the exact moment when my support for Queen’s Park Rangers crossed over into full-blown…
The only way to survive as a cyclist is to behave like you're suicidal
The only way to survive as a London cyclist is to behave like a complete nutter
