There was a time when politicians were social outsiders, too derided and distrusted to be able to influence everyday behaviour in the wider world. In one area, though, they are turning out to be trend-setters. With dimple-cheeked Old Etonians in government and the Mayor of London spouting Latin when asked a tricky question by Jeremy… Continue reading The return of our old friend, cultural snobbery
Read moreIt seems only minutes ago that it was a good and progressive thing to be local and active. Suddenly the wind has changed. A report on the energy industry, to be published next week, will reveal that the number of onshore wind farms to be granted planning permission dropped by a half in the 12… Continue reading At last, the wind of change is blowing in favour of local power
Read moreAs well-drilled as a squadron of guards, the presenters and guests on the BBC have begun wearing the new medal of concern, the poppy. Each one of them – Huw Edwards, Alan Hansen, Clare Balding, every hack, weather forecaster and speakerine – is, we are supposed to think, expressing his or her own deep and… Continue reading The emptiness of institutional caring
Read moreA new play at the Royal Court Theatre has done something rather dashing and unusual. Ignoring deprivation, globalisation, exclusion, fundamentalism, immigration, injustice and economic meltdown, it has put on a play called Tribes which explores a crisis within one liberal, arty, lightly bohemian, middle-class family – a family much like that of many of its… Continue reading It’s not their fault you’re still a failure
Read moreMysteriously, the BBC weather forecast has come to represent something good and timeless and genuine in a superficial, changing culture. For millions, those moments after the TV news when a nerdy, middle-aged type prances around in front of a map, talking about weather fronts and making bad jokes, has a peculiar emotional importance. It is… Continue reading And now for the weather … it’s turning a bit brighter
Read moreThe world may be awash with a daily torrent of surveys, graphs, league tables and flow-charts, but there are still those who believe we need more numbers to make sense of modern life. For them, the two little words “per cent” represent all that is real and true. To encourage even more mathematical analysis of… Continue reading The secret life of Mr and Mrs Average
Read moreThe morality gap between what people say and what they do is at its widest in matters of the environment. Those who emit concern about logging in Indonesia or coal-fired power plants in China will quite likely squeal in dismay at the suggestion that motorway tolls might be imposed in the UK, or street lamps… Continue reading The awkward ecology around eating meat
Read moreThere is, I am almost sure, a funny world out there. Prince Charles, Ann “Dancing Queen” Widdecombe, Katie Price, Huw Edwards, Wayne Rooney’s vice-girls, the Speaker of the House of Commons: no one could seriously deny that the raw material for a great carnival of comedy is to be found every day in our public… Continue reading Don’t try to be funny with me
Read moreWhen pollsters and statisticians are on the loose, making their comparisons and drawing up their league tables, they seldom bring good news for Great Britain. If the survey is into obesity, teen pregnancy, crime, drunkenness and stress, we are to be found near the top of the charts. If the subject is personal consideration, quality… Continue reading Me-time won’t save you now
Read moreThese are confusing times for the English gentleman. Everything in his background has told him that manners are what help define him, but in this sharp-elbowed, aggressively egalitarian world, he has discovered that old-fashioned niceness is no longer quite enough. If he offers a woman his seat on the Tube, she thinks he wants a… Continue reading How to be a perfect gentleman
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