The Week
Diary
I only voted in one no-confidence motion. The leader was Iain Duncan Smith, and it was a bit awkward. I…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, told the Commons that Britain was prepared to send troops to protect Nato allies…
Cher options
The singer Cher, now 75, has announced that, because she refuses to appear old, she is not going to allow…
Portrait of the week
Home Sue Gray, Second Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office, having been asked by Boris Johnson to look into accusations…
Diary
After my Unapologetic Diaries were published recently, I was apparently accused of offending several people. At a lavish Christmas lunch…
After Omicron
Covid-19 is in decline in Britain, with Omicron cases now falling as fast as they rose. The booster programme —…
Gathering storm
Whatever the result of Sue Gray’s report on ‘gatherings’ in Downing Street, there is a political lesson to be learned:…
Barometer
Stumped again Were England always so hopeless playing Australia at cricket? Since the first match in 1877 there have been…
Letters
Beyond the party Sir: Rod Liddle is spot-on in arguing that the attitudes revealed by ‘partygate’ extend to senior civil…
Diary
On Monday, I had a whinge-walk with Lizzie, my friend of 47 years. We met at breathing classes for our…
Dishonest mistakes
On 20 May 2020, the Metropolitan Police issued a statement on social media which summed up the conditions in the…
Letters
Take care Sir: Your editorial (‘Counting the costs’, 8 January) makes valid points regarding the funding of social care. The…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson admitted to attending evening drinks for about 40 staff in the garden of 10 Downing Street on…
Barometer
No vax There is nothing new about the anti-vax crowds supporting Novak Djokovic. Organised protest in Britain began with the…
Stone cold revenge
The statue of the Bristol merchant Edward Colston is apparently guilty of a hate crime. Let us hope that the…
Counting the costs
Two and a half years into his premiership, Boris Johnson has enjoyed no more than a month of that time…
Diary
More than 200 non-US residents stood in the queue ahead of me. A grand total of four Homeland Security officers…
Stranger than fiction
Saturnalia was a period of Roman fun and games held just before our Christmas. Macrobius (c. ad 430) composed a…
Barometer
Waiting for the gong Tony Blair was knighted, 14 years after leaving Downing Street. How long have other ex-PMs had…
Letters
Welcome changes Sir: Lloyd Evans’s sympathetic piece on the fate of Afghans once they arrive in the UK made for…
Portrait of the week
Home The warmest New Year’s Day on record saw a temperature of 16.3˚C (61.3˚F) in St James’s Park, London. A…
Barometer
Centenaries 2022 will see the 100th anniversary of: the BBC; Reader’s Digest; Ulysses by James Joyce; insulin treatment for diabetes;…
Letters
Wrong cure Sir: In referring to the UK as the highest-spending European nation in healthcare proportionate to GDP (‘Hospital pass’,…
Rethinking Penelope
Problems about the misuse of history, especially on subjects such as race and colonialism, have been running for a long…
Diary
I have not given up on my Build Back Boris campaign, which is the most pressing concern facing the UK.…
