Columnists
China is not as strong as it appears
The theory that the pandemic began with a leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan is rapidly gaining currency. Since…
What Dominic Cummings and the Prime Misfit have in common
Should the name of Dominic Cummings ever make it into the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, there’s one Cummings phrase…
Apple’s cowardly surrender to the mob
A few weeks ago, more than 2,000 employees of Apple Inc. signed a petition that led to the sacking of…
My plan for Belarus
A terrible thing, to be torn. Last Sunday was International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, a very painful condition affecting…
How much damage to the government has Dom’s bomb done?
The more anticipated a parliamentary appearance, the less it tends to live up to its billing. But Dominic Cummings’s testimony…
When exactly did harpsichords become racist?
It’s a dangerous thing when you import the worst aspects of another culture. And an even worse thing when you…
Who cares who runs the railways? We just want them to run on time
The long-awaited review of the railways by former British Airways executive Keith Williams chugged past the platform of public debate…
The first step towards restoring the National Trust
It is poetically fitting that the resignation of the chairman of the National Trust, Tim Parker, was announced on the…
The two halves of Ireland can’t be forced together
Last week, Edwin Poots was elected leader of the DUP. You will have read all about him. I have. You…
Can Boris’s roadmap survive the Indian variant?
The roadmap out of lockdown is the signature document of Boris Johnson’s new team in No. 10. It’s intended to…
A tree is for centuries, not just for COP26
We are being urged — and, in some cases, paid — by the government to plant more trees. Actually, this…
The strange theatre of mask-wearing
However surreal and dystopian the pandemic landscape seemed at first, no enduring vista feels ‘surreal’ and ‘dystopian’ indefinitely. Citizenries uniformly…
Is Farrow & Ball’s business model flaking?
The happiest thing that happens in May is the coming into leaf of my long beech hedge. The shift from…
Should monuments to past Archbishops of Canterbury come down?
This week, the Church of England issued its document ‘Contested Heritage in Cathedrals and Churches’. It is guidance for what…
The Proustian power of handwriting
Towards the end of April, my mum sent me a letter. She doesn’t write as a rule — we speak…
The pandemic’s transatlantic divide in executive salaries
‘Consider a temporary cut in executive salaries’ was the Confederation of British Industry’s advice to members at the start of…
Why I spoilt my ballot paper
The headline ‘Government to allow people to hug’ one might have expected to hear on early evening news bulletins in…
Keir Starmer isn’t Labour’s biggest problem
Keir Starmer has turned a drama into a crisis. The local elections were always going to be difficult for Labour.…
The wrath of Nicola Sturgeon
I can’t seem to find the Oracle of Delphi’s complete works. The libraries remain shut and when I go to…
Can Melinda still keep Bill Gates in check?
‘We are seeing very substantial inflation,’ the great investor Warren Buffett told shareholders in his master company Berkshire Hathaway at…
Who regulates the regulators?
This isn’t about David Cameron and Greensillgate; it isn’t about Boris Johnson and wallpapergate or Jennifer-Arcurigate. It isn’t about Westferrygate…
What’s next for the Union?
The Union faces two simultaneous challenges in Northern Ireland and Scotland that both look set to worsen in the coming…
The problem with Britain’s mental health
Experts tell us that we are facing a mental health ‘time bomb’ in the UK, partly as a consequence of…
‘Religious literacy’ rules risk gagging the press
There should be more ‘religious literacy’. So says the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media, chaired by Yasmin…
The true cost of make-believe money
I like Bill Maher. He’s a rare practising left-wing comic who’s actually funny. But last week, his routine on cryptocurrency…
