BLOGS
Drummer Lee Rigby
Might I urge people to watch the following video? In recent days the press has inevitably focussed most attention on the perpetrators of the Woolwich attack. Here is a video… Continue reading
11 Comments
Sally Bercow libelled Lord McAlpine, High Court rules
Welcome, Sally Bercow, to the naughtiest club in town: the Libel Club. The colourful Mrs Bercow has often got it in the neck from the press; what with her demimondaine ways… Continue reading
19 Comments
Jesse Norman interview: Edmund Burke, our chief of men
When he arrived in London, Burke had a very brief career in law. He soon dedicated his time to critical thinking, writing and politics. Burke published a number of ground… Continue reading
4 Comments
Nothing to do with Islam?
Immediately after the 7/7 bombings the then police-chief Brian Paddick told a press conference: ‘Islam and terrorism do not go together.’ Now, after Woolwich, the Prime Minister has said, ‘There… Continue reading
135 Comments
You’re going to lose. It is only you against many.
If, in the aftermath of an act of would-be terror, the people refuse to be terrorised does it still remain a terrorist act? Perhaps but there’s a sense, I think,… Continue reading
36 Comments
The words ‘terrorist attack’ only dignify the barbarism
I was slightly puzzled by the early media reports of the appalling murder in Woolwich and particularly the wrangling over whether or not this could be called ‘a terrorist attack’.… Continue reading
173 Comments
Kindling by the pool – the changing face of holiday reading
I’m writing this by the pool in Greece. It’s not a pool I own, you understand (though give it a couple of years and we might all be able to… Continue reading
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‘Soldier beheaded’ in south London: the Islamists repeatedly said they would do such things
Similar attacks in recent years include the beheading of a Dutch film-maker, Theo van Gogh, on a street in Amsterdam in 2004 and the killing of French soldiers by Mohammed… Continue reading
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The Sweet Sorrow of following Somerset Cricket
Marcus Trescothick. Nick Compton. Alviro Petersen. James Hildreth. Craig Kieswetter. Jos Buttler. When all troops are fit and available Somerset enjoy a batting line-up one might compare favourably to this… Continue reading
6 Comments
Exclusive: Clement Attlee backs Michael Gove’s free schools
Great news for all progressives: a private school has been effectively been nationalised. Queen Elizabeth Grammar in Blackburn, founded in 1509, is to enter the state sector as one of… Continue reading
13 Comments
Summer party season begins
Lord Bell opened the summer party season last night, with martinis on the back lawn of Lancaster House. It was a reception for the marriage of money and power. Norman… Continue reading
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The West wants chunks of Apple
Apple, the world’s friendliest technology company, stands accused of tax avoidance. The fashionable corners of Fleet Street, bless them, are appalled. Isn’t Apple supposed to be in the good business?… Continue reading
4 Comments
Michael Sandel interview: the marketization of everything is undermining democracy
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for his ‘Justice’ course, which he has taught for over two decades. Sandel first… Continue reading
1 Comment
Scottish independence: it’s still (almost) all about oil.
The Scottish government published a paper on the national economy today that, according to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, makes the case for independence. You can read the pamphlet here… Continue reading
117 Comments
Swivel-eyed loons are a feature of British democracy
I’d just like to point out, having been a journalist for many years and having met these people, and also having been a member of the Labour Party for more… Continue reading
44 Comments
Writers in a state of fear
A State of Fear, Joseph Clyde’s new thriller*, stands out for many reasons. Thrillers only work if they are thrilling, and Clyde’s description of the search for the terrorist who… Continue reading
45 Comments
Will Nigel Farage and UKIP help ditch Alex Salmond?
Yesterday’s Survation poll reported that UKIP (22%) are, for the moment, just two points behind the Tories (24%) and therefore and given the margin of error in these things possibly… Continue reading
150 Comments
Dangerous romance – Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley
‘The bus company’s yellow tin sign on its concrete post seemed for a long while a forlorn flag announcing nothing,’ notes Stella, the narrator of Tessa Hadley’s new novel Clever… Continue reading
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A point of order, Your Royal Highness
The Duke of Cambridge joined forces with Prince Harry this morning to open Tedworth House Recovery Centre, the military hospital run by Help for Heroes. All power to the duke’s… Continue reading
12 Comments
UKIP, Pierre Poujade and a political class that’s seen to be “out-of-touch”.
Parliament is a “brothel”. The state is an enterprise of “thieves” engaged in a conspiracy against “the good little people” and the “humble housewife”. Time, then, for a party that… Continue reading
35 Comments