Austerity
How popular is the British royal family?
Austere environment Who introduced the word ‘austerity’ into the political lexicon? While chiefly associated with attacks on the Conservatives, and…
It’s time for Rachel Reeves to stop gambling
Next Wednesday Rachel Reeves will stand up in the House of Commons to deliver what she is calling her ‘spring…
One damned thing after another: Britain’s crisis-ridden century so far
The Iraq war, the financial crisis, Brexit and Covid have seen many prime ministers blown off course. Will Keir Starmer be any luckier than his predecessors?
A strong whiff of goodbyes: The Pole and Other Stories, by J.M. Coetzee, reviewed
‘The cogs are seizing up, the lights are going out.’ As Elizabeth Costello clears her desk in this collection of stories, we feel that Coetzee may be doing the same
Boris, Biden and the era of big government
Bill Clinton’s declaration that ‘the era of big government is over’ summed up the late 1990s political zeitgeist. Centre-left political…
Toxic regulations, not the fire brigade, are to blame for the Grenfell deaths
It has been bizarre to hear the London Fire Brigade taking the brunt of the blame for the deaths of…
£350 million for the NHS: How the Brexit bus pledge is coming true
A fortnight before Philip Hammond delivered his last Budget, the chief executive of the NHS gave a speech making the…
Corbyn can be beaten – here’s how
The Tory party is suffering from an intellectual crisis of confidence. Before 8 June, its collective view was that Jeremy…
We are not all in this together
Not so long ago I stumbled into a little pop-up in Hoxton: a delightful tearoom hardly bigger than a walk-in…
High life
Athens Viewed from Mars, this is a sunny, peaceful city. Up close, however, things ain’t what they used to be.…
The green ink brigade is now running the show
Daily they drop into my email account — alongside the more obviously useful stuff about how I might elongate my penis…
Greece Notebook
At the weekend, I tried — and failed — to get some money out of an empty cashpoint near Omonia…
Barometer
The spirit of 1945 No one would have been more surprised at the sight of 100,000 people marching in London…
Late news: what was really served at the Mansion House banquet
Last week’s deadline did not allow me to report from ringside at the Mansion House dinner, but there was so…
Let Greece go
To listen to Greek government ministers addressing the outside world during their breaks from negotiations with eurozone leaders this week,…
French suicide
The desperate state of its politics seems to signal the end of the Republic
Liberté, égalité, austérité
How France learned to love cuts
Osborne is entitled to look smug but would be wise to wear a bag over his head
The popular pastime for financial commentators this season is sticking pins in George Osborne. To those on the left who…
By George, he’s got it!
George Osborne has not been a complete disappointment as Chancellor. He has, it is depressing to note, ended up giving…
The real luck of the Irish is that they recognised the folly of the boom
My man in Dublin calls with joy in his voice to tell me ‘the Troika’ — the combined powers of…
