Columnists

You can’t possibly hate cyclists more than they hate each other

15 December 2018 9:00 am

I’ve cycled for primary transportation for 53 years. Accordingly, I’m not naive about the degree of resentment — nay, loathing…

Why I don’t, never have, and never will trust the people

15 December 2018 9:00 am

It was late, and a friend and I were left to talk Brexit. He’s a keen and convinced Tory Brexiteer…

Life is about so much more than Theresa May’s crappy Brexit deal

15 December 2018 9:00 am

It’s that time of year again when I put aside my wonted snark and share with you a few of…

All I want for Christmas is a City time machine

15 December 2018 9:00 am

Are smartphones fuelling a pandemic of youthful anxiety and depression? That’s the question parents will wrestle with this Christmas as…

If May’s deal falls, there may be enough Labour MPs to gain a majority for ‘Norway plus’

8 December 2018 9:00 am

Inside the Dominic Grieve amendment carried on Tuesday is the embryo of a new political party. Any parliamentary majority for what…

The Little Drummer Girl [Photo: BBC]

John le Carré is like Shakespeare – his plots are improbable beyond comprehension

8 December 2018 9:00 am

Thank the blessed Lord it’s over. Not Brexit, or Theresa May’s flailing and spastic governance. I’m talking about John le…

Why are children so fearful about the future?

8 December 2018 9:00 am

For any bosses from the Singapore education department reading this, I have a message. It comes from (I’d guess) most…

Will racial blending undermine identity politics? Let’s hope so

8 December 2018 9:00 am

Behold, the most incendiary statistic in America: the Census Bureau’s projection of when whites will become a minority in what…

Who’s really to blame for the Crossrail fiasco?

8 December 2018 9:00 am

There’s been a strong sense of pre-Christmas turkeys coming home to roost in this week’s news, as stories I’ve written…

What if the Brexit vote fails?

1 December 2018 9:00 am

We are heading into uncharted waters. The great hope of No. 10 and cabinet loyalists was that once Theresa May’s…

Britain is making the same mistake it always does in negotiations with Europe

1 December 2018 9:00 am

Theresa May, William Hague and others say that the EU will not want to trap Britain in the backstop because…

Sex in church is fine – just keep the Christians out

1 December 2018 9:00 am

Nic Roeg’s art-house thriller from 1973 Don’t Look Now was most famous, or infamous, for its lengthy and explicit sex…

Will no one ever take on the Green Blob?

1 December 2018 9:00 am

Gosh it hurts when your little corner of paradise is destroyed by a few idiots’ ignorance and greed. This is…

I admit it – I’m a smartphone addict

1 December 2018 9:00 am

I am often extremely dismissive of people immersed in their smartphones. I tut at the mole-ish pedestrians who step out…

How a betting business saved Stoke-on-Trent

1 December 2018 9:00 am

I wrote last week of my fear that we’ll never ‘take back control of our fish’, as Brexiteers ardently wish,…

Will the Daily Mail’s volte-face on Brexit make the slightest difference?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

It will be interesting to see whether the about-face of the Daily Mail on Brexit makes the slightest difference to…

The only thing you’re allowed to hate is hate itself

24 November 2018 9:00 am

If we are to ban states of mind, my vote would be for self-righteousness first, followed by sententiousness, with maybe…

What does it mean to be ‘moved’ by something?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

Catching a train last week at London’s St Pancras I encountered a man playing a piano. You can do this…

Jazz is dominated by men. So what?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

I’d recommend any aspiring writer to marry a jazz drummer. It’s done wonders for my powers of concentration. If I…

Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn was a tall nail. But was he really a bent one?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

The arrest of Carlos Ghosn and the move to oust him as chairman of Nissan in Japan has stunned the…

If Corbyn’s PM, expect him to wear a white poppy and Frida Kahlo T-shirt

17 November 2018 9:00 am

‘It’s time for Bond — Basildon Bond,’ is the joke among pro-Leave MPs as Theresa May serves up her mess…

The maths probably won’t work for May, however hard she tries

17 November 2018 9:00 am

The bad news for Theresa May is that Brexit isn’t over. She might have agreed terms with the European Commission…

The elites will never let us peasants fully revolt

17 November 2018 9:00 am

Peasants’ Revolts tend not to work out too well in this country, for the peasants. I suppose that is why…

Why I won’t be turning Catholic just yet

17 November 2018 9:00 am

I didn’t get an audience with the Pope when I visited Rome last weekend. But given that he’s a borderline…

Anyone seen Jeff Bezos? I’m here to talk to him about tax

17 November 2018 9:00 am

 Los Angeles/Seattle US stocks briefly rallied after the midterm results as markets looked favourably on a divided Congress and the…