As my mother lay on her deathbed, visitors who asked her how she was feeling would get one of three answers: ‘I’m very well, thank you’; ‘I’m blooming’; or, ‘I’m in the pink’. You didn’t have to be a consultant oncologist to realise this wasn’t strictly true. For one thing, she was so ill towards … Read more
Climate-change activists will not be the only ones celebrating the Court of Appeal’s decision to block a new third runway at Heathrow. It saves the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who once threatened to lie down in front of the bulldozers, from having to make an embarrassing U-turn. It is a great victory for British Airways … Read more
Priti Patel has been Home Secretary for six months, almost to the day. She seems to be tough and demanding, which is exactly what we want — well, it is certainly exactly what I want — from the person who wields the big stick in one of the great offices of State at this perilous … Read more
Michael Gove was charged with updating the House on the Government’s Brexit strategy yesterday. Of course he was. For years the Govester has been the Government’s man for big occasions. The closer, the ‘death’ bowler entrusted with the crucial last overs. Need to rally the troops? Send for Gove! Under the previous lot this was … Read more
Estimates vary but it’s widely predicted that Britain is well on the way to becoming a cashless society, and could reach that state within ten to 15 years. Has the public been consulted? No. Is the Government showing signs of concern about the millions of people who would struggle to cope with a cashless society? … Read more
Well, it was no knockout blow but it was certainly a decent jab to the sweetbreads. Sajid Javid’s resignation speech to the Commons yesterday may have lacked Sir Geoffrey Howe’s verbal pyrotechnics against Margaret Thatcher, but it will have rattled a few Downing Street teacups all the same. Modest, witty, stylishly courteous, the ex-chancellor’s ten-minute … Read more
‘When did this debate turn into the Jerry Springer Show?’ Viewers mock CBS’ chaotic Democratic debate coverage with memes and call it an ‘undignified mess’ CBS’ coverage of the Democratic Debate has been blasted on social media Viewers criticized moderators Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell for failing to keep candidates in order as they shouted … Read more
The sordid story of Harvey Weinstein has taught us many unsavoury truths about Hollywood, and about the kind of abuse that lurks behind those million-dollar smiles. Never before have the workings of this tawdry world been laid bare in such excoriating detail. We have been spared nothing, from detailed descriptions of the ex-mogul’s apparently deformed … Read more
No matter what they take from me, sings Whitney Houston in one of her most famous songs, they can’t take away my dig-ni-ty. Can I be frank, girlfriend? Right now they are having a damn good try. Whitney Houston has been dead for eight years but via the mawkish wonders of technology, this singing treasure … Read more
Whenever John McDonnell addresses the Commons, weird things happen in Westminster. The entire parliamentary estate is gripped by unexplained phenomena. Dark nimbus clouds suddenly form over Big Ben. Birds stop tweeting. Flowers along New Palace Yard begin to wilt. Over on Parliament Square, excitable puppies abruptly cease their wagging and curl into defensive balls. It … Read more