Columns
The political power of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown
There is a rather sweet moment in the middle of each Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown show where, after some magnificently obscene…
Is it time to defund the world’s policeman?
It gets lost in the many creative purposes successive American administrations invented to justify remaining in Afghanistan, but the primary…
What’s the harm in opening the church doors?
The end of summer 2021, the end of the great British staycation. I sat on the grass outside the post…
The Tories aren’t in party mood
Nearly two years on from the general election and 11 years since the Tories took office, they remain comfortably and…
America, the Taliban and a farewell to arms
It was quite the handover at Kabul airport this week. The last American troops to exit Afghanistan reportedly left facing…
The Nobel truth
I suspect that there are no people in the world quite so right-on as the Nobel prize committee members. A…
Would you want London to be overrun with Americans like me?
The Afghans the Home Office is scrambling to resettle in Britain present one of immigration’s most sympathetic cases: translators and…
Can a ‘demented seal’ mascot save COP26?
This time last year, Boris Johnson and his team were making plans to ‘move on’ from the pandemic. He had…
The neocolonialist legacy of Tony Blair
The Americans may have pulled out, but luckily the Afghans have the world’s vibrant community of witches intervening to save…
Is it cruel to eat fish?
It was a hot late evening on the Greek island of Tinos, and we were sitting at a quayside restaurant…
Lily Cole, the burka and why we were right to leave Afghanistan
I have the feeling that Joe Biden will have to wait a while before he receives his Nobel Peace Prize,…
The Afghan withdrawal may not hurt Joe Biden
When was the only time America’s left-liberal media gave President Trump any real credit? The answer is 7 April 2017,…
The flaw at the heart of humanitarian intervention
One of the most interesting aspects of President Biden’s speech on the American withdrawal from Afghanistan is that it shows…
The Covid vaccines affect periods. Are we allowed to talk about this?
It’s fashionable to talk about periods. Books on the subject, with glossy red and pink covers, are bestsellers. They have…
Why vaccine passports are pointless
Despite having mocked app-happy Albion in my last column, I finally downloaded the NHS app. (Lest I seem a raging…
Will anyone publish my rabbit tale?
The literary sensation of the season is apparently a book called The Constant Rabbit, by Jasper Fforde. In brief, a…
The National Trust has lost the language of architecture
Press officers, breathe easy. This is not another column attacking the National Trust. Actually, I tell a lie. It is.…
How to burst the grade inflation bubble
The Tories regard a return to rigorously marked exams as one of their big achievements in education. In 2010, the…
Putting the commie in committee
Last month an epidemiologist called Professor Michael Baker described the UK government’s decision to free its people from Covid restrictions…
How Nextdoor became the new Neighbourhood Watch
Long before the official numbers began to rise, back in 2014, it was clear that knife crime was on the…
Don’t pick a fight with the SNP
Since the Holyrood elections in May, the campaign for Scottish independence has been noticeably quiet. But that is about to…
The path to re-enchantment
Most social occasions now seem to kick off with a wasted hour or two. The time is spent discussing Covid:…
The case for travelling abroad
I’m off. In the week when you may read this, my partner and I will be winging our way to…
Am I alone in not wanting to download the Covid app?
As I begin, I’m tortured by the doo-do-doo-do of The Twilight Zone’s theme music. I’ve hurtled back in time. Suddenly…
Should Britain be vaccinating teenagers?
Last week there was acute concern in government about the country’s re-opening. Would restrictions need to be reimposed when schools…
