This year’s yuletide challenge was to supply a carol with a topical twist. ‘In the bleak midwinter’ just about captures the general tenor of the entry, although George Simmers injected a lighter note with his invitation to ‘Deck Ed Balls with boughs of holly…’ and W.J. Webster, too, was looking on the relatively bright side:
I’ve never met Donald Trump, but I have come across his daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared. I met them this summer at a media conference in Aspen organised by the great US network anchor and renaissance man Charlie Rose. It’s fair to say the event was not stuffed with Trump supporters, and there were a
Novelists can’t merely tell cracking tales. We’re supposed to save the world. At the University of Kent, a student implored me to inscribe The Mandibles with instructions for ‘how to keep this from happening’ — for the feverish young man now vowed to devote his life to preventing my new novel’s debt-fuelled near-future financial collapse.
Last month, prison officers went on strike in an attempt to draw attention to the deteriorating conditions of England’s prisons. It was, by and large, a failure. But recent the 12-hour riot in HMP Birmingham has provided a more vivid example of the crisis that is to come. Yesterday’s disturbance has been described by the Prison
The one good thing about Twitterstorms is that they tend, witlessly, to prove the point of the person they’re hounding. In the very act of whipping up fume and fury against someone who’s said something you’re not meant to say, these virtual pitchfork gangs confirm that person’s point, which was normally something like: ‘Have you
Theresa May was not the only elephant in the room at Thursday’s European Union summit in Brussels, and EU leaders studiously ignored the other one as well. Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s new Prime Minister – its fourth unelected one in a row since 2011 – must somehow save Monte Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank,
300,000 people were hit by Aslef and the RMT’s strike on Southern Rail yesterday. The bad news for commuters is that things will get worse in the New Year. The unions have a six day strike planned for January, that means a whole working week of commuters not being able to get to their jobs,
From Ed Balls Q. I have been doing a lot of exercise over the past few weeks and I’ve lost well over a stone. Sadly my (full-time) exercise regime has just come to an enforced and rather abrupt halt. How do I stop just regaining all those pounds over Christmas? A. You are unlikely to
One remark from the Christmas party season knocks insistently around my head. It came from Nigel Farage on a staircase in the Ritz. For those who didn’t enjoy 2016, a year of political revolution, he gleefully promised: ‘2017 will be a hell of a sight worse.’ My, my. What did he mean? Had he taken
Never having experienced anything that I would attribute to a supernatural cause, I am obliged to confess that my prayers have always gone unanswered. But I only have to read George Herbert — rector of a small church near where I grew up, and therefore a poet who has always been particularly precious to me
Lyndal Roper’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet (Bodley Head, £30) is an impressive and fascinating read. I have no idea what Lutherans have made of it, but for those of us who have harboured an irrational dislike of this extraordinary and unpleasant man, it’s a comfort to know we weren’t completely wrong. It’s taken me a long
Although the trouser-gate row between Theresa May and Nicky Morgan looked as though it was beginning to die down, the feud has been given fresh life thanks to brains at the BBC. After the Prime Minister banned Morgan from Downing Streeet for criticising her £1,000 trousers, the former education secretary dropped out of a planned
Theresa May looking embarrassed and awkward as European leaders appear to make a point of ignoring her at last night’s EU summit is such a good symbol of Britain’s place in the world that Number 10 is going to struggle to shake it. The footage, of course, was rather selective, with other clips showing the
The murderers and persecutors of Christians have had a good year. With one exception – the killing of Fr Jacques Hamel in July as he celebrated Mass in a church in Normandy – the world has continued to look away as Islamists and other fanatics have slaughtered followers of Jesus Christ. I don’t mean that we consciously look
I have a confession to make. I go to Trump Tower in New York a lot. It’s an easy jaunt for a New York-based hack: where better to chat with Trump supporters than in its golden lobby or with opponents outside its golden doors? Maybe you’ll spot a celebrity like Kanye West or, if you are
The Government has announced it will scrap the much-criticised 5 per cent penalty fee for those who cash in a Lifetime individual savings account (LISA) during the first year. While it’s good that politicians are listening to criticism of the new product, any extra complexity is always a barrier to consumer understanding. And don’t forget
The payments regulator has let banks off the hook meaning that customers will be left vulnerable to fraudsters, according to Which?. The consumer group made a super complaint to the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) regarding the increase in fraud over the phone, internet and on mobiles, the BBC reports. In response, the PSR has said
As commuters turn on Chris Grayling over the ongoing Southern rail chaos, the Transport Secretary has now managed to clash with cyclists too. The Guardian has published video footage that appears to show Grayling knocking over a cyclist — as they approached a cycling lane — by opening the door of the car he is
I have no idea whether Russia successfully interfered in the US election; I imagine it’s one of those situations where everyone is lying but the Russians are lying twice as much. But there are a couple of questions that no one seems to be asking, which makes me curious. Firstly, how could America have got
One morning, in early February 1952, the nation learned that the King had died. At school assembly we were told by our headmaster to stand in silence and think about this sad event. I was not sure what to think. We were then instructed to pray for the King. This was more like it; I