Columns
Where has the truth gone?
There were two remarkable things about Emma Raducanu’s wonderful win at the US open last week. The first was the…
The Tories need a new purpose
One of the things that distinguishes Boris Johnson from the last three Tory prime ministers is that he has a…
Is it cruel to crush your child’s dreams?
I think it’s for the best if we ban all children’s books containing the word ‘dream’. Dream big, little dreamer,…
In defence of Jess Brammar
I noticed with interest that Gigalum island — off the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll — was up for sale for…
Champagne, sex or the Tories: what could you live without?
In idle chatter the other evening, somebody pooh-poohed champagne. He was a brave soul because in certain circles — and…
Boris’s premiership is entering a dangerous new phase
The announcement of a tax increase for both workers and employers to fund more spending on health and social care…
The political power of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown
There is a rather sweet moment in the middle of each Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown show where, after some magnificently obscene…
Is it time to defund the world’s policeman?
It gets lost in the many creative purposes successive American administrations invented to justify remaining in Afghanistan, but the primary…
What’s the harm in opening the church doors?
The end of summer 2021, the end of the great British staycation. I sat on the grass outside the post…
The Tories aren’t in party mood
Nearly two years on from the general election and 11 years since the Tories took office, they remain comfortably and…
America, the Taliban and a farewell to arms
It was quite the handover at Kabul airport this week. The last American troops to exit Afghanistan reportedly left facing…
The Nobel truth
I suspect that there are no people in the world quite so right-on as the Nobel prize committee members. A…
Would you want London to be overrun with Americans like me?
The Afghans the Home Office is scrambling to resettle in Britain present one of immigration’s most sympathetic cases: translators and…
Can a ‘demented seal’ mascot save COP26?
This time last year, Boris Johnson and his team were making plans to ‘move on’ from the pandemic. He had…
The neocolonialist legacy of Tony Blair
The Americans may have pulled out, but luckily the Afghans have the world’s vibrant community of witches intervening to save…
Is it cruel to eat fish?
It was a hot late evening on the Greek island of Tinos, and we were sitting at a quayside restaurant…
Lily Cole, the burka and why we were right to leave Afghanistan
I have the feeling that Joe Biden will have to wait a while before he receives his Nobel Peace Prize,…
The Afghan withdrawal may not hurt Joe Biden
When was the only time America’s left-liberal media gave President Trump any real credit? The answer is 7 April 2017,…
The flaw at the heart of humanitarian intervention
One of the most interesting aspects of President Biden’s speech on the American withdrawal from Afghanistan is that it shows…
The Covid vaccines affect periods. Are we allowed to talk about this?
It’s fashionable to talk about periods. Books on the subject, with glossy red and pink covers, are bestsellers. They have…
Why vaccine passports are pointless
Despite having mocked app-happy Albion in my last column, I finally downloaded the NHS app. (Lest I seem a raging…
Will anyone publish my rabbit tale?
The literary sensation of the season is apparently a book called The Constant Rabbit, by Jasper Fforde. In brief, a…
The National Trust has lost the language of architecture
Press officers, breathe easy. This is not another column attacking the National Trust. Actually, I tell a lie. It is.…
How to burst the grade inflation bubble
The Tories regard a return to rigorously marked exams as one of their big achievements in education. In 2010, the…
Putting the commie in committee
Last month an epidemiologist called Professor Michael Baker described the UK government’s decision to free its people from Covid restrictions…
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