Athens and the EU
The EU has regularly been likened to the Roman Empire. But its current direction suggests that the Athenian Empire (478-404…
Sense and sensitivity
‘Whatever you do, don’t call them snowflakes,’ Caroline said the last time I spoke to Oxford students. ‘That’s not a…
Aural hot chocolate
I’ve given up comfort food. I’m trying to shift lockdown pounds that have left me with the physique of the…
Sweet nothings
Our hosts are Lauren and Drew and they want to talk about Karl Ove Knausgaard. Or rather, they want to…
Real life
Exciting news from my father’s cousin in Canada. ‘You asked about our grandfather, there is much to tell,’ he writes.…
Two men and their dog
At the time Supernova went into production one headline read: ‘What did we do to deserve a love story starring…
GB News has chutzpah but does it have legs?
Help! If I’m too kind to GB News, my bosses at LBC will be cross as the channel nicked their…
Solution to 2509: Current description
The perimeter quote is from ‘Ode to the West Wind’. The remaining unclued lights were the east wind (24A), south…
There’s trouble brewing for Boris
Covid restrictions are meant to end on 19 July. But parliament will not return to normal until September. The Commons…
Bridge
On the whole, I’ve enjoyed playing bridge from the comfort of home during lockdown. One regrettable outcome, however, is that…
Diary
I’ve always maintained I go to Fermanagh for sanity, and after the past few months, I need a return to…
Why private equity sharks are shopping at Morrisons
The late Sir Ken Morrison — founder of the eponymous supermarket chain that’s the latest UK target for US private…
Won’t the Catholic church stand up for mothers?
I’m used to waiting for the Catholic church to make sense. I’m a convert to Catholicism, and Catholic ideas sometimes…
Does Derek Chauvin deserve a 22-year sentence?
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to over 22 years in prison by Judge Peter Cahill on Friday…
Hancock has made a mockery of his own rules
How much trouble is Matt Hancock in? The Sun splashes this morning on the Health Secretary’s affair with aide Gina…
Did the SNP cover up a cancer crisis?
The news that a Scottish woman died from cancer after being among more than 400 wrongly told they did not…
Will Biden’s stricter gun laws apply in his own household?
President Biden’s White House, like his jaw, is made of glass. But you have to give the 78-year-old credit: he never…
Mumford and Sons versus the mob
So it’s finally happened. Cancel culture has come for Mumford and Sons. Winston Marshall, former banjo player in the hugely…
One Britain One Nation: How to write a proper propaganda song
How do you make an emotional appeal for a united United Kingdom? So far, unionists have tried flag flying, resolutely refusing another…
A plea from a pollster: stop listening to the public
When Dominic Cummings released his WhatsApp messages with Boris Johnson earlier this month, perhaps the most alarming was the one…
The hypocrisy of Matt Hancock
Matt Hancock has not, we can agree, made it his business to lighten the public mood during the pandemic. That…
