Ali G and the death of comedy
Ali G: Who Iz I? is set to hit cinema screens next month. The return of this bling-bedecked denizen of…
Why ‘I’m backing Britain’ would never happen today
The economic storm clouds continue to gather over Britain. A reckoning of some sort is on its way, possibly a…
The remarkable longevity of Nigel Farage
Do political faces have a ‘use by’ date? Is there a point beyond which even the mugs of politicians that…
Andy Burnham’s laughably unserious summer
What a strange summer this has turned out to be: no rain and no politics. As we enter what the…
Why progressives were desperate to believe Jason Arday
The Jason Arday affair has been a great revealer. On the one hand, it is a glorious romp that has…
The ‘Burnham bounce’ surely won’t last
A change is as good as a rest, they say. Like many such maxims, this is an insightful observation worn…
Andy Burnham seems comically out of touch
It can be hard sometimes to understand the progressive mind. The new Prime Minister’s first speech yesterday was intended to…
Am I missing out on the World Cup?
England are to face Argentina tonight in the semi-finals of the World Cup. But I won’t be looking in. I’ve…
Labour’s tinpot free speech crackdown
We’re in the middle of an ‘orderly transition’ of power from Keir Starmer to whoever might just possibly take over…
The problem with Burnham’s call for kinder, gentler politics
Andy Burnham used his big speech this week to unveil his spiffing new idea to solve all the country’s terrible…
What exactly are ‘Labour values’?
Whether it’s competition or coronation this summer, expect to hear a lot about ‘Labour values’ before (and after) Andy Burnham…
Twenty ways to fix Doctor Who
The BBC has binned its planned Doctor Who Christmas special and put the show ‘out to tender’. This is a…
The real reason Keir Starmer is cracking down on social media
Keir Starmer, spooked by Andy Burnham, apparently wants to leave a legacy, in much the same way that a herd…
I have sympathy with Peter Murrell’s toilet paper panic buying
Let’s leave aside for one moment Nicola Sturgeon’s claim of ingenuous innocence in the matter of her husband Peter Murrell’s…
The problem with Andy Burnham’s ‘passion’
It’s striking how very swiftly we’ve accepted an event so mightily strange as the Makerfield by-election. After a couple of…
My strange beef with rapper Azealia Banks
It’s always fun when worlds collide – when two people whose paths should rightfully never intersect smash into one another…
Andy Burnham is no saviour
The outcome of the Prime Minister’s make-or-break speech yesterday morning was never really in any doubt, was it? It’s break.…
What really terrifies me about Reform in No. 10
Reform in No. 10? As the prospect gets more likely, the hand-wringing gets more theatrical. Should Reform somehow form the…
The insufferable saintliness of Labour MPs
It is a part of the human lot that we lug about feelings of doubt, regret and guilt. We carry…
Why politicians make us wince
Mind your language! There has recently been another smattering of incidents featuring accusations of inappropriate choice of words, or even…
Why is Labour so obsessed by what we eat?
The government has serious work to do. As world war looms and the economy dives perilously close to recession, they…
The surprising conservativism of the old Doctor Who
Before the 1980s, our broadcasters had a terrible habit of throwing their own recordings away to save storage space. Videotapes…
The remarkable blandness of Scott Mills
Yesterday’s news that Scott Mills had been dismissed as the host of BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show – with immediate…
Saturday Night Live is a major breakthrough in British TV
The news that a British version of Saturday Night Live was in the offing raised an enormous gestalt groan throughout…
Starmer’s lecternmania is out of control
When I woke up yesterday morning, almost the first thing I saw was the announcement that Keir Starmer was to…
