Features
Turkey’s continental drift
In Turkish the word ‘yurt’ has two definitions. It means ‘place’, ‘land’, ‘territory’, ‘homeland’. It could also indicate a round,…
What wasps do for us
Dom Perignon, Pimms, Carling Black Label, Coca-Cola — one’s as good as the other, so far as they’re concerned. Even…
Beat echoes
Laid out flat, running the length of the exhibition, the original scroll of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road forms the…
Never gonna give EU up
June the 24th was a grim morning for Remain voters, and we’ve been working through the seven stages of grief…
The gardens of Ninfa
I’ve just been given a personal tour of Ninfa by Monty Don. True, I had to share the thinking woman’s…
The gardens of Ninfa
I’ve just been given a personal tour of Ninfa by Monty Don. True, I had to share the thinking woman’s…
‘She doesn’t do likes’
As Tory MPs gathered at St Stephen’s entrance in Parliament to await their new leader on Monday afternoon, a choir…
She’s another Chamberlain
One name leapt off the text of Theresa May’s Birmingham speech, which began as the launch of her leadership campaign…
May’s man of influence
Civil servants in the Home Office, even the senior ones, always felt a little nervous when walking towards Theresa May’s…
Cops and killers
Washington, DC Considering how heavily its citizens are armed with pistols, hunting rifles, shotguns, military semi-automatics, crossbows and nunchucks, considering…
Olympic shames
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ‘Welcome to hell’ was printed on a banner written in English at Rio de Janeiro’s international…
Pilgrimage’s progress
If Christian Britain is fading away, what will survive of it? One answer seems to be pilgrimage. In the past…
Holiday reading
Holidays are a welcome chance to lose ourselves between the covers of a book, especially for those of us who…
Holiday reading
Holidays are a welcome chance to lose ourselves between the covers of a book, especially for those of us who…
A new workers’ party
We are living through the most intense political drama in modern British history. The vote to leave the European Union…
‘I had to step up’
On the way to interview Michael Gove, we meet a government minister, an Old Etonian, who suggests we ask him,…
Sleepless by the strait
In my novel Three Daughters of Eve, a well educated housewife with kids looks at her motherland, Turkey, and thinks:…
Frexit – oui ou non?
In France, Brexit has provoked resentment and shock. For many years-Britain has been seen in both Paris and-Brussels as the…
Give us a break!
As Boris Johnson will know from his love of Greek tragedy, hubris leads to nemesis. And it is Boris’s own…
Downwardly mobile
Last year, I found a pair of trainers in our communal recycling bin: Nike Air Max in black and grey…
Imperial ambitions
Early on the morning of Friday 24 June, Darren Gratton went into his butcher’s shop in Barnstaple and changed his…
Passing through Bologna
Sooner or later, no matter where you are travelling on Italian railways, you are likely to pass through Bologna Centrale.…
Passing through Bologna
Sooner or later, no matter where you are travelling on Italian railways, you are likely to pass through Bologna Centrale.…
So will it be Boris?
The Tory party is in a deeply emotional state. Remain-supporting MPs cry tears of rage when they discuss the referendum.…
Project Hope
Boris Johnson famously said that Winston Churchill would have voted for Brexit. The wartime leader’s grandson — staunch Remainer and…
