Columnists
Why there’s still a chance of a deal
One of the reasons why Boris Johnson is Prime Minister is that he is an optimist. After the negativity of…
Why didn’t Cameron realise the ‘strength of feeling’ about Brexit?
In his memoirs, David Cameron admits that he ‘did not fully appreciate the strength of feeling’ in favour of Brexit,…
The Lib Dems have revealed the extreme side of modern liberalism
A friend’s seven-year-old daughter was asked by her school to write something about the NHS. Her only experience of it…
Letting China join the WTO was the worst decision the West ever made
It’s not often that you come across a book that completely transforms your understanding of the world. Just recently I’ve…
The screaming souls on London’s streets
When I first moved to London N1 four years ago, no one seemed to notice let alone discuss all the…
An oil price spike doesn’t mean a recession is on the way
An oil price surge from $60 to $72 per barrel, as happened after the drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq…
Will turning the Tories into the pro-Leave party pay off for Boris?
An election might still be months away, but the parties have already made their big strategic choices. The Tories and…
Theresa May’s honours list makes me sick
The BBC featured a gay wedding on Songs of Praise recently. Of course it did. The thinking was, I assume:…
Britain’s political system is broken. America’s isn’t
American liberals perceive it as a jarring inconsistency: my opposition to Trump and support for Brexit. Especially outside the UK,…
The appalling vanity of Western feminists who think Margaret Atwood writes about them
Imagine a country where women have no jobs, no rights and are valued only for reproductive success. Imagine a country…
WeWork is no more than an overhyped and overstretched landlord
Long ago in my investment banking days I had a glimpse into the mind of the British Airways long-haul pilot.…
There’s nothing wrong with Jacob Rees-Mogg lying down in the Commons
If you are a journalist covering politics this year, every moment is a bad moment to take a holiday. I…
When it comes to Brexit, everything that can be tried will always fail
It is all beginning to feel like the closing scenes of the 1980 spoof comedy film Airplane! In particular the…
How to beat the autumn blues
You know that awful, gnawing, depressing feeling you’ve got right now? The one that notices how shockingly early the sun…
The PPI scandal ends at last – but the nuisance calls will keep coming
Of all the stains on the reputation of UK banks, the PPI scandal is surely the most shameful, the most…
The Amazon fires are as much a political story as an environmental one
We do not yet know which 100 citizens will make it to the ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to be chaired by the…
Might there be a Brexit deal after all?
Parliament has not yet returned from its summer break but we are already in a bitter constitutional battle, with the…
History will soon judge this fraught time
Good stories have a dénouement. The Act III moment when all is revealed and the narrative comes in to land…
Don’t blame snowflakes – grown-ups are the idiots
San Francisco must be the virtue capital of the world. (The latest: just across the bay, Berkeley’s city council voted…
Now is the wrong time to tackle rising boardroom pay
The average FTSE 100 chief executive earned £3.5 million last year — 117 times the £29,574 pay of the average…
The royals should embody virtue – not signal it
ONE should not be censorious if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly in private jets to their holidays, though…
It’s time to talk about what no deal really means
The main reason Conservative MPs prefer Boris Johnson’s government to Theresa May’s is because of its clarity of message. The…
Is there anything that can’t be put down to a ‘condition’?
I suppose it is overstating the case to suggest that dyslexia is simply a term coined to assuage the disappointment…
When did English A-level become a science?
Now that my youngest has got her A-level grades, I’m finally free to say just how much I have loathed…
Who’ll be the next jihadi-jackpot winner?
Reading the news this week of Jihadi Jack (née Letts, of Oxfordshire) having his UK passport withdrawn, my mind went…
