The face of that familiar figure, the government nanny, is changing. Until recently, she was a scary, smiling appropriateness-enforcer with a hint of Cell Block H about her. In the imagination, she looked a bit like Harriet Harman. The new type of nanny is rather different. She is a gentle, middle-aged biddy to whom hard… Continue reading I’d save the world, but they won’t let me
Read moreAlthough saving money is always welcome in these tricky times, it is with a real pang of sadness that I will be cancelling my direct debit to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and resigning my membership. Watching birds gives me untold pleasure throughout the year, and I am generally in favour of… Continue reading Why I feel betrayed by the RSPB
Read moreNo words encapsulate the spirit of the age more perfectly than that familiar phrase “named and shamed”. When someone receives the named-and-shamed treatment, the world briefly seems a better, fairer place. Whether the guilty party is a politician, a dodgy plumber, or a stingy millionaire, their naming and shaming represents a rough, but often rather… Continue reading We are enshrining the right to be angry
Read moreHow comforting it is to be on the side of the good guys. Life may be complicated but at least there is one issue about which every decent, sensible person can agree. We hold these truths to be self-evident: the great financial crisis in which we find ourselves was caused by greed; money men allowed… Continue reading Even Fred the Shred is only human
Read moreImagine that, instead of being an article in a newspaper, these words were part of an opinionated dinner-party conversation. Across the table is someone presenting a controversial and contrarian view – Melanie Phillips, perhaps, or Ken Livingstone. The question is this. Would you enjoy becoming involved in the discussion as it warmed up, or would… Continue reading Less opinion, more debate, please
Read moreAssume good behaviour and the bad can be eradicated It is not difficult to find symptoms in everyday life of our low self-esteem as a nation. Binge-drinking is one, casual violence another. But the most obvious and universal sign of Britain’s dislike for itself is before our eyes on pavements, by the side of roads,… Continue reading Nagging litter-bugs isn’t the answer
Read moreIt has been a good few weeks for Max Clifford, Britain’s new face of morality. With the quiet, caring authority of a bishop, he has presided over the difficult case of Alfie, the 13-year-old boy who may or may not have fathered a baby. At the other end of the life’s spectrum, he has, as… Continue reading Why do they all fawn over Saint Max?
Read moreProving that life can sometimes come up with punchlines with which no satirists could compete, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook have both been in the news this week. Moore, who died in 2002, is being remembered by his rather odd-sounding last wife, Nicole Rothschild, who is reported to be writing a memoir in which Cuddly… Continue reading Beyond the fringe – and wholly safe
Read moreIt is a wonderful joke. It is folk art, like maypoles and cheese-rolling. It is a celebration of our history. It fuses the art of Magritte with that of the great 18th century painter George Stubbs. It is a patriotic symbol, which will remind those who arrive in Britain aboard the Eurostar of this island’s… Continue reading Count me out of the white horse fan club
Read moreWhile an increasingly futile debate surrounding the relative offensiveness of Carol Thatcher, Jo Brand, gollywogs and Jeremy Clarkson has rumbled on, the BBC has unfussily been showing how good public broadcasting can be on its fourth channel. Following the excellently researched Folk America season, a series of programmes about books and reading is now being… Continue reading Defeatism is stalking the classroom
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