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Almost 40 years ago to the day, as a young journalist, I watched Margaret Thatcher make her famous ‘The lady’s not for turning’ speech at the Tory Party Conference in Brighton. As she shot off the dais after the usual standing ovation, perspiring somewhat and in a state of high emotion, I was the first … Read more
Donald Glover is now a father three times over. The Atlanta star revealed in a British GQ interview published Tuesday that he and his girlfriend Michelle White had welcomed their third child months ago amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The 37-year-old actor and writer spilled the beans while chatting with I May Destroy You star and … Read more
Will the BBC rue the day it drove Andrew Neil – by widespread agreement Auntie’s most forensic and best informed political interviewer – into the arms of a fledgling rival news channel? That is what many will ask following the announcement that Mr Neil is to be chairman of GB News, a new channel that … Read more
Our Prime Minister is in thrall to a group of blinkered scientists What has happened to the Boris Johnson I used to know — a man of open mind who welcomed debate and resisted the groupthink of government drones? Our Prime Minister is in thrall to a group of blinkered scientists. When his views are … Read more
Are we heading for a second wave of Covid-19 as gruelling as the first? Not according to unidentified government officials quoted in yesterday’s Mail. During an off-the-record briefing in which comments weren’t attributed to individuals, experts suggested the second wave won’t be nearly as bad as the first. This is not a view openly expressed … Read more
Brexit is over. It has all been sorted out. It is ‘a historical event’ that ‘took place on January 31, 2020’. So declares a leaked, confidential Brexit ‘lexicon’ approved by No.10 and issued to ministers to make sure they are all singing off the same hymn sheet. If only it were true! But, alas, it … Read more
Bear in mind with what follows that I voted Brexit in 2016, and for Boris Johnson and the Tories last December. I long for the moment that Britain truly leaves the EU. With that said, let me express my shock that Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis should have told the Commons on Tuesday that the … Read more
For those who remember militant trade unionists laying siege to newspaper offices in the 1980s, the scenes outside printing plants in Hertfordshire and on Merseyside on Friday night and Saturday morning brought back bad memories. Only this time it wasn’t trade unions stifling a free Press by blocking the distribution of newspapers. The culprits were … Read more
The wicked old Soviet Union had a privileged administrative class. By Soviet standards they were well paid, and the lucky ones got dachas — cushy second homes. These unaccountable bureaucrats were called the nomenklatura. Although Britain is a parliamentary democracy, we have developed our own nomenklatura. They are highly remunerated and not infrequently incompetent. Although … Read more
Are we turning the corner? Is there light ahead? Can we discern traces of economic recovery? Or is this a comparative calm before a storm that will be far more tumultuous than anything we have experienced in the past six months and test this error-prone Government to breaking point? Let’s look on the brighter side for … Read more