Highlights
Count Binface and electoral theatre
Don’t be a costumed loon — It’s trivially easy to stand for Parliament in the UK. Any loon can do so. You need ten electors to nominate you and £500 for a deposit – and it’s actually been getting easier. The deposit was introduced in 1918 (£150 – quite a lot of money then). Before […]
I hate this
But does it matter? — I don’t usually say that sort of thing here. I try to be more measured, less personal. I’m talking about the police face recognition vans obviously. This might not surprise you: I mean that I don’t like them. I’m an old git after all, a man who’s written here before […]
Where is my patriotism?
Come, love of country, fill my heart… — I do love Britain. I guess I love England more. London most of all. I hope that in my life I’ve honoured the place I live and not disgraced it or undermined it (I support England and GB in sporting events – I fly a little flag […]
Browse by year
Latest
-
Heartbreaking space news
I don’t think I could work in space exploration (like they’d have me). The stress or the grief (or both) would kill me. The tiny (really tiny: it weighs about…
-
I’m growing a beard
Just a little one, a goatee really. My wife says Trinny and Susanna reckon it’s the best look for a middle-aged man with a big fat head. Who am I…
-
Sophisticated kids’ fiction
Elmore Leonard, A Coyote’s in the HouseCarl Hiaasen, Hoot Under the seedy glamour and wise-cracking cynicism of your classic American crime novel there’s usually a pretty basic story with all…
-
Outstanding political radio
Geoff Mulgan ran New Labour Think Tank Demos and then Number 10’s Strategy Unit. He’s an interesting man, full of ideas, unconventional, a proper modern thinker/doer. His three part series…
-
Howard flips
We’re getting used to a certain amount of political role reversal since Blair turned the tables on the Tories eight years ago but watching Michael Howard putting the boot into…
-
The trees are moving
This is where the story starts to get really Shakespearian. Blair’s messianic tendencies – his readiness to put belief ahead of logic – make him look more and more like…
-
The three lives of a photograph
My Mother, Bridie, was born in rural County Kilkenny at the end of the twenties. I think this photograph was taken there by my Dad in about 1960, after they…
-
I’m a blogdaddy!
Clever Alex Barnett’s blogdaddy, in fact. How cool is that?
-
Blunkett brutalised
His offence was foolish but hardly a crime. The Ministerial Code is intended to prevent conflicts of interest from arising. None arose. He entered every transaction into the register of…
-
A little local difficulty
Local politics round my way is getting more interesting daily. An exciting and incendiary public meeting in the village tonight was about the nastiest and noisiest assembly I’ve seen since…
-
You can call me guv
Democracy is alive and well, if uneven as to outcome. The Iraqis have – heroically – produced something approaching a viable constitutional basis for the next round of elections. Morgan…