Features
Sentences without end
My first sight of Colin was as a lanky manifestation lying on a desk in the Dartmoor prison education department…
Say nothing
To my embarrassment, ever since my novel We Need to Talk About Kevin was published in 2003, I’ve been a…
Imran’s biggest test
It’s been a long journey for Imran Khan. He founded his political party, PTI (Pakistan Movement for Justice), in 1996,…
The shootings prove…
It is terribly important whenever an atrocity occurs to scour the internet for information — however specious — that proves…
Spanish practices
In October 1936, on the anniversary of Columbus’s discovery of the New World, a ceremony was held at Salamanca University,…
Following suit
Why do Tories all look the same? This year, having never been to a party conference before, I went to…
Putin the peacemaker
When Russia entered the Syrian civil war in September 2015 the then US secretary of defense, Ash Carter, predicted catastrophe…
The great unknowns
Have you heard about the invention that cures your smartphone addiction? Whereas normally you can’t go more than a minute…
Low spirits
You may have noticed that we’re in the throes of a 21st-century Gin Craze. It’s not as serious as the…
Soho drinking clubs
When someone says ‘Let’s go for a drink at my club’, what do you imagine? A grand St James’s establishment…
Notebook
To Skibo Castle for a four-day wedding, a dream of super-luxury and great good fun. I was struck by how…
Notebook
I’m currently dwelling on past times. I have a film coming out based on the crazy events that took place…
Prague
Prague. Prague. It helps to say the name at least twice as a countermeasure to the ridiculous ease of modern…
His first 100 days
Many assume that if an election were held soon, Jeremy Corbyn would win. But what if, say, the government fell…
A clear run for Corbyn
Paralysed by Brexit divisions, the Tories risk handing Britain to the hard left
Abe’s challenge
Is his rival Yuriko Koike behind the Japanese PM’s decision to call a snap election?
The lady’s not for quitting
May’s right-hand man Damian Green on her survival plan
Not refugees, not children
It’s time to fix our broken asylum system
Life in the e-lane
Why do I have to do everything myself?
Abe’s challenge
As the only nation to have suffered mass casualties from a nuclear bomb, Japan has been understandably nervous about Kim…
Close of play
This retiring is a hectic business. When I said in June that it was going to be my last year…
Gresham College
How many people need to gather together before it becomes more likely than not that at least two of them…
Can we be friends?
Have you heard the one about the new Labour MP who refuses to be friends with Tories? When Laura Pidcock…
Brexit wars
The time for choosing is fast approaching for Theresa May. Soon she must make a decision that will define her…
A court’s contempt
The issue of sovereignty has mysteriously disappeared from the debate over Brexit. Some business-focused commentators even like to assert that…
