NHS
Why must B&B guests give us advice?
‘You could mow all this lawn here and it would look a treat,’ said the arborist, returning from a stroll…
Must my fish and chips come with a side of geopolitics?
‘Our boys went to Lebanon and trained Hezbollah!’ shouted the drunk Irish lad in the fish and chip shop as…
I’ve reached zero tolerance on zero tolerance
I know an astonishing 89-year-old who climbs mountains, uses a chainsaw and has the muscular, vice-like grip of a gym-built…
It’s time to get rid of the Rich List
Here’s a takeover tale that captures the zeitgeist. It involves two FTSE 250 companies and some deep-pocketed US investors –…
Speed traps are designed to make you fail
The builder boyfriend returned from a trip to London to inform me he was being done for speeding at 32mph,…
The £486 driving licence con
By changing the address on my driving licence, I was somehow signed up to something that began charging my credit…
The case for replacing nurses with robots
Tending is a work of activism on behalf of the NHS. The script brings together the testimony of 70 nurses…
Aren’t women wonderful?
The mole specialist was wearing a pink Chanel-looking suit and pink diamanté shoes. By mole specialist, I don’t mean someone…
‘We’re going to a more radical place’: Wes Streeting on his plans for the NHS
A copy of a leading article from The Spectator is stuck to the wall of Wes Streeting’s office in the…
The assisted suicide bill should not survive
Until about six months ago, it would have been hard to find a more inoffensive politician than the Labour backbencher…
The ‘physician associate’ will see you now…
There is a war being waged in NHS hospitals. On one side are overstretched junior doctors in understaffed wards. On…
Why is the NHS pushing pregnant women towards sterilisation?
It was a routine antenatal appointment. I’d done it twice before and knew the format. The obstetrician runs through the…
Portrait of the week: Andrew Gwynne sacked, Trump saves Prince Harry and a £30m refund over moths
Home Andrew Gwynne was sacked as a health minister and suspended from the Labour party for making jokes about a…
Does Keir Starmer know what a ‘drag anchor’ does?
The language of sailing ships is as treacherous as a lee shore. Words seldom mean what they suggest or are…
Letters: In private schools, struggling children find the help they need
Growing problem Sir: The first leading article of the year (‘Growing apart’, 4 January) points to the gap in economic…
The appalling truth about London’s ambulance service
‘An old lady’s fallen down – quick! She’s bleeding. Come help.’ An elderly woman lay on the entrance steps of…
Letters: How to save the NHS
The survey says Sir: David Butterfield’s 21 years of experience of higher education (‘Decline and fall’, 26 October) chimes with…
Can Labour save its Budget?
After the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the Budget was published on Wednesday, the cost of government borrowing started…
My boyfriend, the hedgehog hero
‘I’m making a hedgehog rescue ladder,’ said the builder boyfriend, who was on his knees in the farmyard, drilling a…
Is Wes Streeting the Hamlet of the health service?
Is Wes Streeting the Hamlet of the Health Service? Is this undoubtedly talented and thoughtful young Labour prince fatally irresolute…
Portrait of the week: Budget leaks, prisoners released and Israel kills Hamas leader
Home Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was expected to freeze tax thresholds in the Budget on 30 October,…
Wahed’s alarming Tube adverts
As the interminable Budget wait goes on, so does the trawl through the Chancellor’s bin bags. I refer to the…
Does Wes Streeting’s ten-year NHS plan amount to anything?
The Health Secretary is making a big fanfare about a cash boost in the Budget and a new plan to…
Letters: Are there still any reasons to be cheerful?
Doctor’s note Sir: Your leading article ‘Labour vs labour’ (21 September) follows a recent theme that I have noticed in…
My B&B’s first celebrity guest
The TV talent show star was due to arrive at 5 p.m., and would be checking into our house long…
