Harry Patch, Henry Allingham: the very names of the last two survivors of the Great War have something square-shouldered, clear-eyed and honourable about them. What has been mourned over the past few days is not just the passing of two venerable servicemen but a lost age of straightforward integrity, civility and courage. Those who lived… Continue reading There’s greatness in every generation
Read moreIt is time to celebrate a great British success story, exemplifying grace, dignity and humour when such things are in short supply. Politicians may be fleecing the system, BBC executives may be growing plump on public money, the Royal Family may be playing the property market with the help of the Crown Estates, but one… Continue reading We should be proud of the Beckhams
Read moreThere is a new attraction at Latitude, the London Literature Festival and other hip gatherings this summer. Eminent writers from The School of Life, the social enterprise specialising in thought and ideas set up last year by the popular author and thinker Alain de Botton will be offering literary and philosophical advice on everyday problems.… Continue reading The lesson is: don’t lash out at the critics
Read moreIn the glory days of L!ve TV, the red top-inspired television channel, a show called Topless Darts attracted a certain amount of attention. Its concept, half-naked women paying darts, was based on the simple idea that a combination of sport and sexual titillation would be a ratings winner. Topless Darts disappeared from the screens in… Continue reading But what about her second serve?
Read moreTwo authoritative reports published this week have confirmed, in forensic detail, how one section of the British public is routinely and systematically discriminated against. As a result, thousands are dying prematurely. Those who live are likely to work less, drink more, be more depressed and be considerably more stupid than their counterparts in America. The… Continue reading Ageism – our most popular prejudice
Read moreIt is National Recycling Week. There is a website, revealing all sorts of national and local initiatives. The government body Wrap, (standing for the Waste and Resources Action Programme) has come up with a slogan: “Let’s Waste Less”. Celebrities have made pledges for the week: Antony Worrall Thompson is going to recycle glass; Kim Wilde… Continue reading So how do I ditch my old computer?
Read moreFor a few happy weeks, it was possible to forget how broke and scared most of us were feeling. The endlessly cheering spectacle of politicians having to discuss bath-plug expenditure, of them actually trying for the first time to avoid appearing on Newsnight, was such a diverting tragic-comedy that for a while the great recession… Continue reading At least we’ve oopsification to cheer us up
Read moreIn yet another instance of disastrous news management from the government, the launch of National Men’s Health Week has coincided with a story that Tessa Jowell is now Cabinet minister with special responsibility for getting the Prime Minister to take more care of himself. Gordon Brown is said to be so pasty, frazzled and generally… Continue reading When it comes to health, men are second-class citizens
Read moreThat great and virtuous institution, The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, has for the past two years been studying why British society is in such a terrible mess. It has consulted with commentators and thinkers, and has conducted a survey of 3,500 people. Now and then, tantalising insights into its progress have been released to the press.… Continue reading The problem with society is everyone else
Read moreIn the week of the first ever Green Britain Day, I was fortunate enough to hear an exchange which captured, in an admittedly microcosmic way, the realities behind the energy debate. At a planning committee in Norfolk, one of two energy companies hoping to put up groups of wind turbines near Diss was applying for… Continue reading True driving force in energy debate is cash
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