Columnists
There’s something very wrong with children’s history books
The first editor I worked for was Charles Moore and, like many of his old and ageing former staff, I…
Nigel Farage is right: the City should not kowtow to Shein
Nigel Farage and I agree on one thing: a red-carpet welcome at the London Stock Exchange for Shein, the Chinese…
What tax rises are Labour planning?
The Tory manifesto is ‘a clear plan’ promising ‘bold action’. Rishi Sunak uses the word ‘bold’ three times in two…
The return of Douglas Alexander
It’s a sunny Friday afternoon in Gullane, an affluent seaside town on the Firth of Forth. For political campaigners, golden…
Why Britain isn’t following Europe rightwards
My father was fond of telling anyone who would listen that Britain would never entertain fascism because we all had…
The trouble with calling everyone ‘far right’
There is a favourite Fleet Street story about the legendary Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie. While editing the paper, he discovered…
The moment Starmer lost control of the Labour left
‘Tony Blair walks on water.’ Decades ago this statement led a Times photographer and me to the front door of…
Another election boost for Trump
Last Thursday evening a companionable London dinner party was just wrapping up when our hostess returned to the table brandishing…
Sunak seemed the challenger; Starmer the establishment figure
I watched Tuesday night’s leaders’ election debate with fellow guests at a party to launch Conservative Revolution, a book to…
Reform wants the Tories destroyed
There was a very excitable young man on Sky News last week, talking about the Sky/YouGov MRP poll which suggested…
A thriving City will test Labour’s tolerance
The City is having a busier year than pessimistic observers – including me – might have expected. The biggest deal…
Bury the Canaletto, now
I’m not on the guest list for the Duke of Westminster’s wedding, but I wish him luck anyway. Mind you,…
Vote Rod!
It suddenly occurred to me that I need to stop dressing like a radical lesbian bag lady if I am…
Could Michael Gove support Labour?
Now that Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed he is a socialist, interviewers are asking other leading Labour figures if they…
The right must unite
I mentioned here recently that to my mind Boris Johnson bears a fairish similarity to Dr Faustus, as Christopher Marlowe…
I’m taking mental notes for my old age
I know straight away, from the look on my friend Alice’s face, whether it’s a ‘bad carer’ day. Five years…
The need for greed
I suspect I’ve had a lot more fun writing about the annual Sunday Times Rich List over the years than…
My message for Columbia’s protesting students
There are several frustrating things about American college campuses, just one of which is the sheer volume of column inches…
What will Europe look like in the future?
This year, several articles in mainstream papers have sounded the alarm that the global human fertility rate will soon cross…
Inside Labour’s fight with the unions
By the end of the year, Britain may be one of the few countries in the democratic world where the…
Cyclists are the Jeremy Corbyns of the road
Three years ago next month, the journalist Andy Webb put in a Freedom of Information request to the BBC. He…
Obesity isn’t an ‘illness’
About 20 years ago, Burger King stopped selling its magnificent Double Mushroom Swiss burger, an act of corporate vandalism matched…
Are ultra-processed foods really so bad?
Last week saw a flurry of media reports, of whose headlines one of the worst preceded one of the best…
Will Labour fall into the migration trap?
Brexit was the issue that won the last general election for the Tories but botching it may well lose them…
