Features

Season’s beatings

10 December 2016 9:00 am

My colleagues at the commercial and chancery bar are all at their chalets in Gstaad, funded by the endless fees…

‘I get so frustrated with Whitehall’

10 December 2016 9:00 am

The Prime Minister’s office is a small, unimpressive room in 10 Downing Street with miserable views and unexceptional furniture. Since…

Unforgiven

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Now that almost six months have passed since the EU referendum, might it be time for old enemies to find…

The Netflix revolution

10 December 2016 9:00 am

There have been two revolutions in television during my lifetime. The first happened in 1975 when Sony launched its Betamax…

The invention of Santa

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Santa Claus ate Father Christmas. It happened quite suddenly. Well, it took about a decade, but that’s suddenly in cultural…

Notebook

10 December 2016 9:00 am

One thing I won’t miss about No. 11 Downing Street are the Christmas cards: 2,056 Christmas cards to be exact. That…

From goth to Chancellor

10 December 2016 9:00 am

If only I’d known. If only I’d foreseen that the teenage classmate who strode through our school gates every morning,…

Brexit’s breaking points

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Trying to write the first draft of history on the EU referendum and the leader-ship mess that followed had both…

Have you ever had a prayer answered?

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Justin Welby Archbishop of Canterbury There have been lots of wonderful answers to prayer over many years, including recently. One…

Red with the people’s blood

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Few 20th-century historians doubted that the 1917 Russian revolution was one of the most influential events of their time, indeed…

Knowing the score

10 December 2016 9:00 am

When I come home from work and stick my key in the door, there is a pitter-patter of tiny feet…

My naughty list

10 December 2016 9:00 am

In the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge, here, in no particular order, are my current irritants:   • Paddy Ashdown   • Lady…

Julia’s Baby

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Julia should not have come to the wedding. That much was clear as soon as she arrived. Late, she was,…

Notebook

10 December 2016 9:00 am

It’s weird being friends with someone who suddenly becomes President of the United States, not least for the reflected glory…

The Dwelling

10 December 2016 9:00 am

Charlie Zailer wasn’t sure if she’d won or lost. On the victory side of the equation, she’d managed to avoid…

When the Donald met the Vlad - a leaked transcript

10 December 2016 9:00 am

SpeccieLeaks presents: Transcript of private meeting between President Trump and President Putin, 14 February 2017, Andreyevsky Hall, Grand Kremlin Palace…

The Dwelling

8 December 2016 3:00 pm

Charlie Zailer wasn’t sure if she’d won or lost. On the victory side of the equation, she’d managed to avoid…

She should have stuck to the vodka

Hangovers

8 December 2016 3:00 pm

Although drinking excessive levels of alcohol is up there with Olympic cycling and democracy as things the British excel at,…

Julia’s Baby

8 December 2016 3:00 pm

Julia should not have come to the wedding. That much was clear as soon as she arrived. Late, she was,…

A curse on silky teabags

3 December 2016 9:00 am

Inventor of the silky teabag, take a bow. You have achieved something that until now no one would have thought…

Who’s on the Supreme Court

3 December 2016 9:00 am

Ordinarily, the Supreme Court sits in panels of no more than nine. All 11 justices will hear the government’s appeal, to…

Algerian winter

3 December 2016 9:00 am

It is more than possible that before any Brexit deal is discussed, let alone concluded, the EU will have effectively…

Ultimate fighting president

3 December 2016 9:00 am

Last month a rich, boastful alpha male savoured the greatest victory of his life in New York City. Almost no…

The Brits behind Trump

3 December 2016 9:00 am

It’s the Brits wot won it. That is, the US presidential election was won for Donald Trump with the help…

Europe: the Next step

3 December 2016 9:00 am

It often seems like the European referendum campaign never really ended. Everything from budget forecasts to Britain’s Olympic performance is…