There are few certainties in British political life right now, but here is one. If the government follows through on its recent promise to allow the culling of badgers in areas infected by bovine TB, it will quickly find itself in trouble. Conservatives will be seen as the nasty party once more; there will be… Continue reading The danger in attacking Mr Brock
Read moreThe much-loved author Alexander McCall Smith is concerned about moral pollution. He believes that swearing blights society, representing “casual aggression” and, under certain circumstances, “a form of sexual intrusion”. Coincidentally, what McCall Smith calls “strong language” has been on my mind, too, although it is fair to say we take a slightly different tack on… Continue reading Stand up for swearing
Read moreAnyone who prefers to believe, with Woody Allen, that there is no such thing as bad sex would be advised to avoid a recent interview with one of the two women who have found fame by selling their accounts of going to bed with the footballer Wayne Rooney. The incident which has excited the press,… Continue reading Spare a thought for Rooney
Read moreThe famous novelist is making his promotional video. Shortly, his face will be on the front of Time magazine, his book praised to the heavens and at No 1 in the American bestseller list. “This might be a good place to register my profound discomfort at having to make a video like this,” he says,… Continue reading The quiet dignity of Mr Franzen
Read moreThe clatter of police horses’s hoofs on tarmac, the wail of sirens, the throaty roar of English malehood up for a fight, alarmed bystanders scuttling into side-streets for safety: it was not just any old midweek evening game of football. It was Millwall’s visit to QPR. For four hours on Tuesday night, parts of Shepherds… Continue reading A night of football violence: ugly, noisy – and exciting
Read moreRecent publishing history suggests that there is good money to be made from telling women how to change their lives. In the 1980s, Shirley Conran surfed a great wave of female dissatisfaction with her bestseller Superwoman. It was no longer necessary for women to choose between family and work, Shirley told the world. With a… Continue reading Is this really a journey to fulfilment?
Read moreHow much more mature and sensible our culture would be if primary school children were taught about the countryside, preferably with regular nature walks in the company of a well-informed teacher. It may sound-old fashioned, even Blytonesque, but, if children were occasionally taken outside the bubble of our cosseted, urbanised culture, the results in later… Continue reading It’s time we tackled people’s ignorance about rural life
Read moreIt was one of those moments of quiet smugness at which the British excel. The director-general of the BBC had delivered the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Festival, arguing that the BBC is more popular than ever with the general public, that there is a gulf between the criticism of the corporation to be found… Continue reading Misplaced smugness at the BBC
Read moreI’ve been thinking about song lyrics recently – or, rather, the translation of French song lyrics into English. The folk wisdom among serious translators is what, while French is the more natural language of romance and love, English is more economic, muscular and flexible The first is certainly true. If you doubt the superiority of… Continue reading Love and sex in song – why it helps to be French
Read moreAt a time when the careers of successful authors are as carefully marketed as those of politicians, it is good to be reminded now and then of the true nature of the literary life – egocentric, brutal, unreliable and often fuelled by fantasy and rage. Two sacred monsters of modern letters, Bruce Chatwin and… Continue reading We need these brilliant obsessives
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