During the past three years I have spent quite a bit of time in a rented house in Provence. Volets Bleus is a rectangular breeze-block bungalow perched on the side of a hill. In front of it is a tiled south-facing terrace resting on concrete pillars. The terrace looks over the tops of the trees
‘I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!’ I screamed through the window of the car while driving down Cobham High Street. ‘Are you aware,’ my saner self said to me, ‘that you are driving down Cobham High Street screaming a slogan from a film?’ ‘Yes,’ I said to my
Colin Simpson, who has died after a long illness at the age of 69, was a star both at the bridge table and away from it. I vividly remember first meeting him when I started playing rubber bridge at TGRs about 20 years ago. He was tall, with a commanding presence, and despite playing for
Home Britain and the European Union agreed on a transitional period after Brexit on 29 March 2019 until the end of 2020 in which Britain can make trade deals and EU citizens will be able to claim UK residency. The Irish border question was unresolved. British fisherfolk were sold down the river, despite an undertaking
If Brexit was going to be as easy as some of its advocates had believed, we would not have had weeks such as this one. It’s hard to interpret the recent agreement over the transition period as anything other than a capitulation to EU demands. Theresa May has quietly scrubbed out her ‘red line’ on
Unclued lights form three sets of three, each set related in a different way to a theme-word which is hidden in the grid and should be highlighted. Across 1 Keeping on certain subject, I am an unusual scientist (13) 9 A court’s brief shade (4) 14 Mount paintings an artist submitted (6) 15 In
Donal Ryan is one of the most notable Irish writers to emerge this decade. So far he has produced five volumes of fiction set in post-millennial Ireland. What sets him apart is a striking facility for narrative voice as well as a startling diversity of protagonists. His first novel, The Spinning Heart — about a
‘Now is the woodcock near the gin’, said by Fabian in Twelfth Night, suggests the position of BECASSE in relation to 8, 21, 28, 30 and 37. First prize Jenny Staveley, London SW2 Runners-up Andrew Bell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire; A.M. Dymond, London SE24
In this week’s Books Podcast, I’m joined by the Telegraph’s former parliamentary sketch writer Andrew Gimson, and the Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson, to discuss their latest superhero-style team-up: Gimson’s Prime Ministers. The book is a complete set of brief lives of every occupant of Number Ten from Walpole to May — illustrated by Martin’s distinctive caricatures.
Oh dear. With Theresa May in Brussels today for the EU Council summit, Remain campaigners have been keen to do what they can to undermine her latest Brexit efforts. In that vein, Vince Cable held a meeting with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) on Brexit today. The Liberal Democrats subsequently issued
Ever since Gavin Williamson’s speedy promotion to Defence Secretary, the Conservative MP has divided opinion in his party. While some enjoy his high profile antics (which include banning Philip Hammonf from MoD jets over an outstanding bill), others think he does too little to mask his leadership ambitions. So, last week Williamson offered his critics
On this week’s episode, we discuss the state of mental health in this country, and whether doctors are all too happy to prescribe medication as the miracle solution to mental illnesses. We also ask what on earth is the deal with Cambridge Analytica, and commemorate the death of the world’s last male northern white rhino.
Theresa May’s Home Office record is normally off limits at cabinet. But, as I write in the magazine this week, when ministers discussed the government’s strategy for reducing violent crime on Tuesday, Boris Johnson took issue with what the Prime Minister regards as one of her key legacies: the dramatic reduction in stop and search. He
The blue passport has become one of those symbols of Brexit, mocked by Remainers and taken really very seriously by Brexiteers. So it’s fitting that the row about is production tells us so much about the way the two camps operate. The current manufacturer of the Burgundy passport is De La Rue, a British supplier,
The new British passport being made abroad is a perfect symbol for Brexit Britain. For after we leave the European Union, we should be an open, free trading nation. If a French firm is offering to make our passports to the requisite standard for a lower price than any British company, then the contract should
Since Michael Gove took over Defra, the Conservatives have been on a mission to rebrand as the party of the environment. However, some have questioned whether it’s a move that comes from the heart – or one which is down to more cynical reasoning. Theresa May’s former director of communications Kate Perrior said in the
Some people I respect are content to go on the Russian TV channel RT, on the grounds that ‘they let me say what I think’. I’m afraid this is a form of vanity. Of course, RT lets you say what you think: they would be ludicrously ineffective propagandists if they didn’t. The point is that
Theresa May’s Home Office record is normally off limits at cabinet. But when ministers discussed the government’s strategy for reducing violent crime on Tuesday, Boris Johnson took issue with what the Prime Minister regards as one of her key legacies: the dramatic reduction in stop and search. He argued that more stop and search was
