Starmer will need a miracle to boost his ‘AI growth zones’
The government has unveiled its new ‘AI Opportunities Action Plan’ – a ten-syllable, fifty-point proposal to grow the UK’s AI…
Bowen exposed
At the Grammy Awards last week, the celebrity rapper Kanye West paraded his Australian wife Bianca Censori along the red…
Brown study
My loyal readers have told me I should end my uncharacteristic silence on the war in Gaza. They are right.…
Trump redefines the ‘special relationship’
White House plays good cop/bad cop games with far-left Britain
Sweeping exit
It will be fascinating to see what Jamie Martín, the head of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, makes of Mahler’s Second…
Aussie life
Harpy. Shrew. Harridan. Virago. Vixen. Hellcat. Scold. Fishwife. Fury. The English language has no shortage of words for belligerent and…
Language
We are still at the beginning of 2025, but Brendan O’Neill has already named his ‘most irritating phrase of the…
Around the world, people want their own Donald Trump
Common sense prevails as democracy is revitalised
Trump’s move on Canada is as mad as it is insulting
When I visited Toronto with a UK delegation last winter, conversation focused on the issues of immigration, housing and inflation…
The best way to approach sake
We were discussing civilisation, as one does, and its relationship with cuisine. Pasta in Italy, paella in Spain, the roast…
How I took on Microsoft’s AI – and won
‘This is an assault!’ I screamed in my study, oblivious to the fact that my husband had a guest downstairs.…
Has email destroyed decision-making?
The discourse around ‘flexible working’ has degenerated into a narrow debate over whether people come into the office on three…
Dear Mary: Should I admit to being a Donald Trump supporter?
Q. This may sound ridiculous but I have an issue with the Big Issue seller near me. I am in…
‘Loved ones’ are everywhere at this time of year
‘My heart will melt in your mouth,’ said my husband gallantly, unwrapping some leeks from a copy of the Sun…
The AfD’s moment has arrived
‘The firewall has fallen!’ Alice Weidel, co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), posted on X, barely able to…
The problem of back-story in drama
Olga in Three Sisters, the opening speech: ‘Father died just a year ago, on this very day – the fifth…
