Transport
The case for road rationing
Here’s the quandary. How in future can we make the kind of rapid advances we have made during the Covid…
Taxi cabs are New York’s right-wing safe spaces on wheels
Conservatives in a place like New York — squirming daily beneath the iron heel of a newly hawkish progressive minority…
Should we all be alarmed by Boris?
Back when Boris Johnson was editor of this magazine and MP for Henley, I was with him at a Tory…
Why HS2 doesn’t stand up to the test of time
In past years, I have been a critic of HS2. I might now change my mind. One simple tweak might…
The Roman road that came to define Britain
All roads lead to Rome, the saying goes. Well, all roads except for the Roman road of Watling Street, which…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, invited the media to take a photograph of her beginning a holiday with her…
Don’t believe the Tory grumbling: HS2 is on the way
There’s a lot of negativity around HS2, and I sniff a Brexit connection. You might think Leave campaigners whose aim…
How they tried (and failed) to make ‘La Marseillaise’ nicer
Friendly words England football fans sang ‘La Marseillaise’ in a friendly match at Wembley. The anthem has not always been…
The most important test that HS2 doesn’t pass
Despite my opposition to High Speed 2, I am quite a big fan of HS1, the line which runs from…
Should the first modern Olympic drug cheat get to keep his gold?
A marathon of cheats Russian athletes may be stripped of the medals they won at the 2012 Olympics, but what…
Justin Trudeau and four more hereditary prime ministers
Family business Justin Trudeau, son of Pierre Trudeau, was elected to his father’s old job as Prime Minister of Canada.…
Unions vs workers – this is David Cameron’s chance to strike back
Trade unions have ceased to serve working people. It’s time to act against them
One-way streets are a surprisingly old (and dangerous) idea
One-way stretch A study at Louisville University in Kentucky concluded that collisions are twice as likely in one-way streets as…
The mobility scooter plague
The mobility scooter plague
'I will call the police!': My close encounter with 'revenue protection'
Conversations with a ticket inspector on the Norwich train
A censored hymn to motorway misery
Service record The government is to form a design panel to improve motorway services stations. These have not always charmed…
A lesson in decision-making from the world’s worst road sign
Driving from Dover on the M20 a year ago I missed the turning for the M25. A month later I…
The perils of planespotting
A dangerous hobby Three men from Greater Manchester were arrested and held in the UAE after being seen writing down…
What Samsung’s new TVs owe to Jeremy Bentham
Watching brief Samsung warned users of its voice-activated televisions that what they said in front of the TV could be…
Female bishops are very, very old news
Female bishops The Reverend Libby Lane was ordained as Bishop of Stockport, the Church of England’s first female bishop. —…
How HS2 has blighted my parents’ lives
Whether the high-speed rail line is built or not, it is destroying the retirements of people like my parents
Why the most important years in history were from 1347 to 1352
A group of retired Somerset farmers were sitting about in the early 1960s, so Ian Mortimer’s story goes, debating which…
The best navigation idea I’ve seen since the Tube map
I stopped using London buses when some coward put doors on them. Twenty years ago, you could board any bus…
Dear Mary: Show me the tactful way to pay for a lift
Q. My neighbour is really lovely and always helps me chainsaw trees. He used to be the herdsman at the…
Sorry, but trains can’t really replace welfare lines
George Osborne proposed an attractive idea this week: that spending on state benefits should be diverted into new infrastructure in…
