MPs
Inside an MP’s inbox
There is nothing so ex as an ex-MP, Tam Dalyell used to say. Now that parliament has returned from recess,…
Parliament's poignant tributes to the Queen
That so many people have wanted to say something about how the Queen touched their lives, whether or not they…
Boris’s desperate tearoom tour
This afternoon, a text message went out to certain Tory MPs telling them that the Prime Minister was going to…
I feel sorry for Rishi Sunak
Perhaps I should stress from the get-go that I do not know Rishi Sunak. So far as I know, we’ve…
The sleaze row isn't finished yet
Number 10 will have been relieved that the weekend did not bring new stories about Conservative MPs raking in lots…
Does Boris have a supporters’ club left in Parliament?
Boris Johnson needs to use the departure of Dominic Cummings and Lee Cain to repair relations with his Parliamentary party.…
I have no clue what’s going on, but can’t wait to find out: BBC1’s The Capture reviewed
How did the police ever solve any crimes before CCTV? That was the question which sprang to mind watching the…
Letters: Britain needs HS2
Moaning minnie MPs Sir: I was recently quoted in the Sun newspaper in a story about how MPs were reacting…
How much do you think it costs to travel from London to Manchester?
Success of the SDP The breakaway Labour MPs would have an uphill task emulating the SDP’s early success. It fought…
Corbyn’s false democracy
At the Labour party conference, Jeremy Corbyn said that he would do whatever his party members told him to. This,…
Corbyn dares to be different – why don’t other MPs?
One of the better plays at the National Theatre in recent weeks has been about a 21st-century banker, Judy, who…
The DUP is quite likely to cave in over ‘regulatory alignment’. Here’s why they should not
I’m afraid I have a deep faith in the Democratic Unionist Party’s capacity to cede an issue of principle in…
Cull the lawyers – there are too many for democracy to work
Last week the Daily Telegraph’s front page showed the 15 Tory MPs who had voted against the government under the…
Women used to forgive men their defects, but the quality of mercy is under strain
Poor Gordon Brown. He embodies the problem traditionally associated with being male, which is that our sex finds it difficult…
Derek Jacobi as Mercutio is half-genius, half-prank: Romeo and Juliet at the Garrick reviewed
Out come the stars in Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo and Juliet. He musters a well-drilled, celebrity-ridden crew but they can’t quite…
This really isn’t how Robert Mugabe would run a referendum
It is not what Robert Mugabe would do. Calm down. These are ‘spiv Robert Mugabe antics’, said the Tory backbencher…
What Pericles knew that David Cameron doesn’t
It does seem extraordinary that the increasingly puce-faced Mr Cameron offered us an ‘in-out’ referendum and is now telling us…
Inside the Tories' EU dogfight
The Brexit campaign has only just started to demonstrate its strength
Why I now believe in positive discrimination
The Prime Minister no doubt knew he would be fanning the flames when he waded into the argument about the…
Why lawyers deserve Michael Gove
A great test of political leadership is how well you deal with vested interests on your own side. In his…
The last Europe vote, 40 years on
Forty years on The forthcoming EU referendum has rekindled memories of the in-out Common Market referendum of 1975. But it…
Which behaved worse: callous Thomas Cook or cynical Barclays?
Which is worse, morally and reputationally — to be Thomas Cook, shamed by its refusal to show proper human concern,…
How Spain got blamed for the Spanish flu — and where to find Ebola on a map
Plagued by stigma The World Health Organisation told doctors to stop naming diseases after people, places and animals so as…
Five more MPs making Malcolm Rifkind’s day rate
Golden league Some MPs who earn Sir Malcolm Rifkind’s rate of £5,000 a day: — Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury): £3,333…
