Category Archives: Politics

Over-heated

Posted on May 17, 2017 by

Is Europe really committing suicide? The reasonable arguments in  Douglas Murray’s polemic about Islamism and immigration are undermined by ultra-Powellite rhetoric. My review in The Times: Anyone who has seen Murray — a gay, Old Etonian associate editor of The … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Politics, Reviews, UK politics | Tagged , , , ,

Article 50

Posted on March 29, 2017 by

Twitter is a Brexit battleground today. I thought I’d feel more passionate one way or the other about the milestone we’ve just passed. Instead I’m just impatient for the whole process to start. I’ve already explained how I voted Remain … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, Politics, UK politics | Tagged , , ,

Notebook

Posted on February 19, 2017 by

We don’t know yet what the televising of the conventions will do to American politics, to elections, to the convention system itself. Some of us fear what one good demagogue with a fine voice and a rousing profile might do … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Politics, Technology, TV, US politics | Tagged , , , , ,

Notebook

Posted on December 5, 2016 by

George Orwell, “As I Please”, Tribune, 1944.

Posted in Notebook, Politics, Uncategorized, World War 2 | Tagged ,

Out of the shadows

Posted on November 20, 2016 by

An intriguing book that sometimes tries too hard. My Times review of David Olusoga’s “Black and British: A Forgotten History” For all the fascinating material that it unearths, Black and British is not always an easy read. In his introduction … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Politics, Race, Reviews, UK politics | Tagged , ,

When John Major met Boris Yeltsin

Posted on October 10, 2016 by

Pithy. A  diplomatic tale from Lynn Barber’s review of Jeremy Paxman’s autobiography: JM: Well, Boris, in a word, how is Russia? BY: Good. JM: And in more than one word? BY: Not good.

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , ,

The life of a politician

Posted on April 10, 2016 by

From a Q&A with author and academic Danny Dorling: Are politicians any more interested in listening to academics than to members of the public? And is your time as an academic well spent in engaging with and advising politicians? Politicians … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, UK politics | Tagged , ,

The champion & the preacher

Posted on March 12, 2016 by

In today’s Times, my review [£] of a fascinating account of the moment when sport and politics collided head-on: Thanks to Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith’s enthralling narrative we now have a better understanding of how a complex relationship was born, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Race, Sport, US politics | Tagged , , , ,

Sundries

Posted on February 6, 2016 by

The FT’s correspondent interviews South Africa’s most notorious revolutionary over lunch and gets a surprise at the end: I shake his hand in the routine English way, apologising that I don’t know the elaborate South African variation, which involves three different … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Politics, Race | Tagged , ,

Notebook

Posted on November 27, 2015 by

The conflicting attitudes towards Philby between the sister services of British intelligence would expose a cultural fault line that predated this crisis, long outlasted it, and persists today. MI5 and MI6 — the Security Service and the Secret Intelligence Service … Continue reading →

Posted in Class, History, Politics, Uncategorized, World War 2 | Tagged , , , ,