Features
The man from nowhere
Before the horrified gaze of its militants, the French Socialist party — which has been a major force in French…
Surviving Trumpworld
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was asked an intriguing question by Bob Lonsberry of WHAM 1180…
The ghastly truth
Paul Johnson once wrote that the ability to say ‘really’ in 12 different ways was the birthright of every true…
Rules for loneliness
An old acquaintance died recently. A friend of mine, who was closer to him than I was, rang to tell…
‘Above all else, fun’
Alexander Chancellor’s ‘Long Life’ is over; but it was not nearly long enough. I was feeling rather gloomy last Friday,…
Jaipur Notebook
Did Winston Churchill, like Donald Trump, also like to ‘grab them by the pussy?’ Last week at the Jaipur Literary…
Abandoned to their fate
Another day in northern Nigeria, another Christian village reeling from an attack by the Muslim Fulani herdsmen who used to…
The man from nowhere
Before the horrified gaze of its militants, the French Socialist party — which has been a major force in French…
Surviving Trumpworld
While he was on the campaign trail, Donald Trump was asked an intriguing question by Bob Lonsberry of WHAM 1180…
Save our stables!
There are plans in place to tax horses out of British life. Proposed adjustments in business rates for non–residential properties…
Losing patients
For weeks now, we have been reading about a crisis in A&E — a symptom, we’re told, of a funding…
Dutch courage
It looks like the people might do it again. After the British electorate misled themselves so badly and American voters…
Our debt to the Tudors
‘The Reformation was a process of both renewal and division among Christians in Europe,’ said the Archbishops of Canterbury and…
Keep the change
Can we do without cash? Since 2015, digital payments in the UK have outnumbered those in cash, and we are…
Keynes’s grandchild
‘Did you really deserve the Nobel prize?’ I ask Amartya Sen. ‘Why do you think you won?’ When you’re sitting…
Washington Notebook
On Wednesday afternoon I went to the British embassy in Washington for ‘a tea and champagne reception’ to mark the…
Corduroy
Every Christmas, I ask my loved ones for at least two pairs of corduroy trousers. Off with a sigh tramps…
Orange alert
That the US should have elected as president someone like Donald Trump came as a shock. But the US is…
Corduroy
Every Christmas, I ask my loved ones for at least two pairs of corduroy trousers. Off with a sigh tramps…
The love Labour’s losing
Stoke-on-Trent is an unsettled place, figuratively and literally. The ground under the city is riddled with shafts from coal and…
The plots against Trump
The ‘most deadly adversaries of republican government,’ wrote Alexander Hamilton, arise ‘chiefly from the desire in foreign powers to gain…
How did you kill that hat?
The well-dressed lady turned the fur collar over in her hands and fixed me with a withering stare. ‘Is this…
Monumental folly
The astonishing has happened at Stonehenge. Some prehistoric force has driven ministers to make a decision. It is to spend…
Killer plots
We all love to mock Bond villains for their hilarious ineptitude at killing the hero. The ‘genius’ Dr No has a…
Flight into Israel
I’ve always lived in London. I grew up near Baker Street and went to school in Camden. Even when I…
