Exhibit A: The government declines to send a Minister to appear on a politics show. “They’re frightened of us because we hold them to account,” the host informs the audience. Exhibit B: A female observes a certain froideur from a man in her social circle. Can’t handle strong women, she concludes. Two different events, one macro, one micro, but […]
How We Use Our Enemies Read More »
There are moments when a country reveals itself with a kind of accidental clarity, not in the great ceremonial language of politics, nor in the slogans with which governments flatter themselves, but in some apparently local incident in which ordinary people suddenly see, with perfect plainness, what sort of civilisation they are now living in.
Shoplifters, Starmer and the Cult of Process Read More »
I have just been on a luxurious two-week college residential in St Lucia. This was part of the Turing Scheme, the government’s global programme that provides funding for international study, work and training placements for students to widen access to worldwide opportunities. Sports students had to apply for the trip, and I was fortunate enough to be shortlisted.
Two Weeks in St Lucia Read More »
Hollywood sexism is more nuanced than we sometimes allow. It is not that there are no roles for older women – the movies need just as many grandmas as grizzled veterans – but that there is a gap beneath that age. Once the children leave home, and before they return with children of their own,
The Value of Negative Success Read More »
“What a week, huh?” “ Captain, it’s only Wednesday.” If you’re as terminally online as I am, you’ll recognise the Tintin and Captain Haddock meme, deployed whenever the world seems particularly unsettled. Which means it gets deployed a lot these days. In the Anglophone world, we tend to think of comic strips as childish literature, those
How We Miscount Time Read More »
Five years ago, another #MeToo attack bit the dust when one of Australia’s best-known entertainers, Craig McLachlan, was found not guilty of 13 charges of indecent assault and assault. What’s more, the magistrate awarded costs against the police – Victorian police ultimately paid out half a million dollars, which is the highest payout ever against
Not Guilty Verdict Ignored in Feminist-Led Court of Public Opinion Read More »
Sometimes Fate/Karma/Destiny – call it what you will – seems to juxtapose things just to make a point. Or perhaps the human mind, always desperate for coherence, imposes its own structure on the messy reality of random chance. Thus, a couple of days after Artemis II returned to Earth, the BBC decided to screen a
The Paradox of Pride Read More »
A young lad from my hometown of Hull went on holiday to Latvia a couple of years ago, and met a young Latvian lady. They fell in love and have been conducting a long distance relationship ever since. Back and forth to see each other, and now they have decided that they want to make a life
Get a Dinghy – You Know It Makes Sense Read More »
The story about a family of benefits’ recipients buying £4 tickets for the Tower of London, rather than the £111 charged to non-welfare claimants, marks a return to the Eliza Doolittle school of social engineering. If we just show the peasant underclass how the other half live, perhaps they’ll all start behaving. In many ways,
The Real Cultural Crisis Facing Britain’s Benefits Class Read More »
I bought a book the other week. Nothing unusual there. One of my regular treats early in my working life was to leave the office, head to a bookshop, buy a stack and then pop to the sushi place round the corner for an early supper and a quiet read. I have been a sufficiently
The Littlest Thing Read More »
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