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When Boris Johnson became Prime Minister what seems like a lifetime ago, he traded heavily on his image as a buccaneering, can-do optimist, the sworn foe of caution and compromise. That Mr Johnson was nowhere to be seen yesterday, as an increasingly sombre, anxious, even hangdog figure unveiled the Government’s latest incarnation of the Covid … Read more
The footage could hardly be more chilling, like something from the wilder fringes of Hollywood’s dystopian imagination. A woman sits at a table, recoiling in fear. She is penned in, surrounded by a mob of masked men and women, their clenched fists raised menacingly in the air. Again and again the rhythmic chants go up: … Read more
A few days ago, I took a stroll to the shops. It was a glorious morning and the parks and cafés were full of families enjoying the sunshine. Perhaps the shops were a little quieter than they would have been a year ago; but they were busy enough. The restaurants were preparing for lunch; the … Read more
On the evening of Sunday, January 24, 1965, the BBC made a last-minute change to its schedules. Following Winston Churchill’s death, Prime Minister Harold Wilson had asked to address the nation. Wilson’s opening words set the tone. ‘Tonight,’ he said simply, ‘our nation pays its tribute to the greatest man any of us have known.’ … Read more
For as long as I can remember, late night bust-ups have been par for the course at European Union meetings. Even so, this week’s Brussels summit to rescue the EU’s pandemic-blighted economy was in a class of its own. For more than four days, the leaders of the 27 member states were locked in sweatsodden … Read more
Halfway down the High Street in Oxford, past the chain pubs and boutiques, stands a grandiose building in honey-coloured stone. There, above the central arch, is the little statue of Oriel College’s benefactor, the Victorian diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes, after whom the building is named. In truth, though, you’d never notice it were it not … Read more
Here’s a scene that may sound familiar. A crowd surges through the streets, chanting and shouting, eyes blazing with moralistic fervour. While the police stand limply by, the mob turns its fury on a statue. They rock it on its plinth, their excitement reaching hysteria, before at last it comes crashing down. But they’re not … Read more
Nothing better captures Dominic Cummings’s extraordinary prominence in British politics than the sheer political theatre of his press conference today. The setting alone was unprecedented. Never before has an unelected political adviser given a press conference in the garden of Downing Street, a venue usually reserved for the Prime Minister. The whole thing had the … Read more
Have you ever wondered what a perfect storm looks like? If so, just take a look at Britain’s universities. Only a few years ago our higher education institutions were among the best in the world. But now, crippled by political mismanagement, institutional corruption and shameless greed, they stand on the brink of disaster. The Government … Read more
Even today, almost a century on, the shadow of the Great Depression hangs heavy. To most of us, the very phrase conjures up images of the winding dole queues, haggard faces and starving children that we associate with the 1930s. And, of course, we all know how that particular story ended. The crowds in Berlin, … Read more