William Shawcross

My friend Margaret Thatcher

14 December 2019 9:00 am

By the time you read this it will all be over, but will it? I’ve had a bad feeling all…

A memorial for 92-year-old Olive Cooke, Britain's longest serving poppy seller, who sold poppies for the Royal British Legion every year after her husband was killed in 1943. (Photo: Getty)

Why it's better to give money to a beggar than to a charity

30 January 2016 9:00 am

No good deed goes unpunished. This is a saying that applies with special poignancy to Olive Cooke, the 92-year-old poppy…