Features
The woke corporation: how campus madness entered the workplace
New employees at the British headquarters of Accenture, a global management consultancy, were slightly taken aback during a recent induction…
Would any publisher dare to print Lolita now?
The other day Will Self unburdened himself on the state of fiction with crushing hauteur. ‘What’s now regarded as serious…
Would your son marry me? Inside Shanghai’s marriage market
Shanghai ‘How old are you, young lady?’ A small, curious crowd starts to surround me. ‘How tall are you? What…
I watched Jadon Sancho grow up. That’s why I know he’s Britain’s next footballing megastar
How much is Jadon Sancho worth? Fifty million? A hundred million? As the speculation mounts, the numbers keep growing. Jadon…
Justin Trudeau has fallen from grace – and he has no one to blame but himself
An Italian friend who lives in Rome texted me to ask about the current political crisis in Canada that is…
Delhi notebook: Nuclear war is not around the corner
India is not preparing for war, but picking up the newspapers in Delhi you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.…
It may seem incredible, but I’d trust an Italian over a Frenchman any day
For a few years before coming to Italy, I lived in Paris and I cannot tell you the life-enhancing difference…
Breaking point: can either Labour or the Tories survive Brexit?
The only certainty in the Brexit process is that there is no certainty. Brexiteers had long sought solace in the…
Lying with science: a guide to myth debunking
‘The whole aim of practical politics,’ wrote H.L. Mencken, ‘is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be…
My evening with Jacob Rees-Mogg — live at the London Palladium
A woman dressed as a nun is standing outside the London Palladium with a placard, warning about ‘an evening with…
The art, beauty and joy of videogames
By day, I’m a mild-mannered book-world hanger-on; by night, I roar through the streets of Gotham in my heavily armed…
No deal? No problem
Britain, we’re led to be believe, is heading for the worst catastrophe in its history. Officialdom is warning that a…
My husband was a citizen of nowhere. Where can he rest in peace?
It is cold, dank and muddy and I’m contemplating a barely defined path from the paved road into an ever-darkening…
Bernie Sanders is back – and terrifying the Democratic establishment
Washington, DC Bernie Sanders likes private jets. That, at least, is the malicious word being put about by Hillary Clinton’s…
‘Too English, bizarre, and what are the rules again?’: Cricket in Buenos Aires
For most Latin Americans, who are themselves no strangers to sporting eccentricity, cricket remains a baffling proposition. The game is…
A divided Labour could hand the Tories another 12 years of power
In September 2016, the Labour party reached a turning point but then failed to turn. The re-election of Jeremy Corbyn…
Westminster’s splitting headache: who will quit next?
The first thing to note about the ‘South Bank seven’ is that they are nothing like the four former Labour…
Who’s really to blame for Pakistan’s terror attacks?
Islamabad Six months into Imran Khan’s premiership and the new Pakistan prime minister has been plunged into his first major…
Ignore the science fiction: AI isn’t out to get us
Every ten to 15 years there is a technology breakthrough that really changes what it means to be human. The…
Clucking hell – hen parties are just awful
‘Last fling before the ring.’ ‘Buy me a shot, I’m tying the knot.’ ‘Keep calm and bridesmaid on.’ If you…
There’s only way out of this Brexit nightmare – revoke Article 50
Brexit was a mutiny. Like all mutinies, it was driven by anger at authority rather than by a strategy for…
There’s no programme in the world like Desert Island Discs
At the end of January, I had the honour and pleasure of being on Desert Island Discs. I liked Lauren…
Everyone hates Maggi Hambling’s ‘Scallop’ – but I love it
Benjamin Britten was adamant that he did not want any memorial sculpture of himself in Aldeburgh, the Suffolk coastal town…
The Corbyn crack-up
To say that the May administration is ‘the worst government anyone can remember’ is to abuse the English language. It…
Jeff Bezos isn’t a resistance hero – he’s a ruthless monopolist
It is tempting to view the blow-up between Amazon’s billionaire owner Jeff Bezos and David Pecker, publisher of the tabloid…
