A decade on, Brexit still means Brexit
It’s been almost a full decade since Britain voted to leave the European Union. Inside Labour, whatever words are muttered…
A tale of two cities
The ‘Wimbledon of Chess’ is underway in the Netherlands. Meanwhile in Spain, there’s a gaming industry expo. Magnus Carlsen and…
Can superintelligent AI be regulated?
In the House of Lords on Monday there was a short discussion, prompted by a question from an ex-Labour minister,…
Dear Mary: How do we get more men to our singles’ events?
Q. Last year I decided to share a flat with an old, but not very close, friend from school. It…
How to drink like you’re at the Savoy – from your sofa
There are two great American bars in London. One is perfect to escape the winter chill, the other to embrace…
Hell is a dog café
The dog café had a pretty pink sign describing its many services and I stood outside it mesmerised as I…
My family is divided on the meaning of ‘genocide’
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna We were en route to the junk shop in search of a pair of robust tongs for…
The stealth philanthropy of buying a Range Rover
Even though Christmas is over, I’ve been thinking about the season just gone. There is a tradition of complaining about…
How we all got hooked on Calpol
At the present count, we have 14 syringes. Some are stuffed in kitchen drawers, but I have also found an…
Pity the modern-day spy novelist
I write spy thrillers that attempt to deal authentically with the world around us. The Syrian civil war. Spy games…
Why is Ukraine trying to cancel Swan Lake?
Two of Ukraine’s most famous ballet dancers face dismissal, cancellation and possible mobilisation into the army. Their crime? They dared…
Welcome to XL bully death row
‘There’s no way of finding out what’s really happening in there,’ says Aaron Rainey, an XL bully expert who advises…
Which US city is the most violent?
Black in the day A new book claims William Shakespeare’s works were really written by a black woman and were…
No one is safe from a wealth tax
No matter how many jurisdictions discover the hard way that wealth taxes backfire, in California an initiative is collecting signatures…
Where Trump would have stood on Athens vs Sparta
In 416 BC in its war against Sparta, Athens instructed the fleet to break the small island of Melos’ alliance…
