Columnists
How long has Ranulph Fiennes been under some sort of control?
It is repeatedly pointed out – I have probably written it myself – that the triple lock on the state…
The game you are not allowed to win
Some years ago I heard a moving story about Roy Jenkins. An unpromising start to any anecdote but stay with…
Britain is entering its Rococo period
There were many reasons why John Ruskin hated Rococo. The overly decorated style was a bête noire for the great…
I bid fond farewell to Great Lives
By my bed at home is a little shelf on which I put useful things for the morning. Coins, keys,…
John Healey should slash fuel taxes to avert a winter diesel crisis
Chancellor John Healey’s ‘new age of industrialisation’ was one of the catchier soundbites of the Labour conference. But (to adapt…
Can Andy Burnham resist the techlash?
If Andy Burnham wants a reminder of the case for artificial intelligence (AI), he need only walk down the streets…
I like a good hypocrite
I’ve always admired Diane Abbott, though admittedly only for one thing. Many years ago the MP for Hackney North and…
The fourth plinth is racist
As Labour meet in Liverpool, from Sunday, Andy Burnham and his advisers are worrying about his lack of a mandate.…
Just stop asylum
In late July, when roughly 72,000 migrants stormed the tiny Spanish enclave in North Africa, Ceuta (thanks to which I…
Happy retirement to the wise and benign Warren Buffett
‘Father Time always wins,’ 96-year-old Warren Buffett told shareholders as he retired last week from the chair of Berkshire Hathaway,…
The fantastical world of Ed Davey
I’m sort of in awe of Ed Davey. How does he still manage to wake up every day and, despite…
Can Reform reform?
Of all the uses to which Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne might put their money, there are few more innocent…
America is not our friend
Imagine, if you will, King Charles in the Deep South. The aesthetics are easy enough: it doesn’t take much to…
Who exactly can wear a face covering?
I’m trying to work out what the new rules are in this country. I think I’m getting there, though any…
Where are my reparations?
The natural coalition of rural people which was forged 25 years ago, before the hunting ban, is forming once more.…
The real reason children no longer enjoy reading
At the tail end of the summer holiday, my son and I had a shouting match in King’s Cross station.…
How to defeat Reform on immigration
It’s now 24 years since I started writing about the urgent need to reform or quit the asylum provisions of…
Could I bear to vote for Zack Polanski?
Will Labour’s ‘visitor levy’ generate £52 million of revenue for public spending in York and North Yorkshire, as a House…
Where have all the Normans gone?
Does Britain understand where Javier Milei’s move on the Falklands is heading? It is becoming clearer that, behind the nationalist…
Meet the most powerful woman in Britain
Some years ago Antonia Romeo, now the Cabinet Secretary, was stuck in a boring meeting about civil service reform. She…
Would Sadiq Khan back a rave in a mosque?
I must return, regrettably, to the subject of the Church of England. Readers with long memories may recall the year…
Long live death’s dark humour
One of the things people don’t tell you about grief is the humorous side of it. Many will warn that…
Bring back apprentices, Chancellor!
The only photo I could find of the invited audience at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry for John Healey’s…
Don’t sympathise with Lindsay Clancy
The declaration of a mistrial in the filicide case of Lindsay Clancy coincides, for me uncomfortably, with a new UK…
Who will remember Keir Starmer?
I am starting to think that Keir Starmer might have been in it for himself. In saying that, I am…
