Letters
Irrational EU Sir: James Forsyth’s otherwise excellent piece on Brexit talks (‘Britain’s winning hand’, 26 November) suffers from the flaw…
Playing the identity card
‘And the union people crawled away…’- Billy Joel, Allentown ‘Funny that Billy just endorsed Hillary. He must have forgotten…
Have a cigar
Whatever else may be said of the late Fidel Castro, he has one distinction no-one can take from him or…
Engineering Club Sensible
If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it is that the times are changing. When news of the…
Our grandads didn’t die for this
It is, perhaps, a poor reflection of our times when a historian feels compelled to remind others that the Nazis…
A good night’s sleep
Have you, on hearing the story of the princess who felt a pea through 40 feather mattresses, ever thought that…
Overreach
Game eight of the World Championship in New York broke the deadlock of hard-fought draws in the first seven games.…
Chess puzzle
White to play. This position is from Rubinstein-Johner, Carlsbad 1911. How did Rubinstein gain a winning position with a standard…
The long view
In Competition No. 2976 you were invited to submit an extract of a speech in which a well-known figure from…
Bottle shots
This is something to be said for starting to celebrate Christmas before the end of the grouse season. It provides…
Brexit strategy
For months, now, a hunt has been on for the government’s Brexit strategy. Theresa May has quite rightly refused to…
High life
Richard Spencer made the front page of the New York Times two days in a row last week, and earned…
Long life
Most people who die in Britain are now cremated — more than 70 per cent of them — but there…
Long life
Most people who die in Britain are now cremated — more than 70 per cent of them — but there…
Low life
My mother is a bore magnet. They travel from miles around to sit in the chair opposite hers and tell…
Low life
My mother is a bore magnet. They travel from miles around to sit in the chair opposite hers and tell…
They
‘When I asked the bank,’ said my husband, ‘they were no help at all.’ My attention was distracted from his…
Real life
‘How was your week?’ I asked my friend as we rode our horses to Bookham Common. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Except…
Snowflakes in the workplace
Last week I was asked to give a talk about generation snowflake. This was at a breakfast organised by a…
Snowflakes in the workplace
Last week I was asked to give a talk about generation snowflake. This was at a breakfast organised by a…
Scandals that make you switch off
Do any of us honestly have any idea how serious the Hillary Clinton email scandal was? I haven’t got a…
Aristophanes on Trump
As self-important comics fantasise about unseating Donald Trump with their wit, they should remember the great Aristophanes. In 424 BC,…
Barometer
Autumn Budgets Philip Hammond announced that in future the Budget will be held in autumn rather than spring. This is…
