Society

The school trip now seems rather quaint. When you can see the whole world on Google Maps, what’s the point of traipsing to the seaside to see longshore drift in action? In an age of austerity, moreover, the school trip might seem an unaffordable indulgence. Yet parents seem to think otherwise: according to a recent Family Finances Report, 69 per cent of parents are willing to pay for school field trips in Britain. Experiencing the real world — rather than merely reading or writing about it, or staring at it through a computer — should be an essential part of education. The government agrees. Last October, Michael Gove unveiled a

As Mr Steerpike reported late last night, the gloves were off between Russell Brand and Charles Moore at the GQ Man of the Year awards. But that was not the only fight to split the audience. After American comedian Seth MacFarlane’s disastrous turn at this year’s Oscars, you would have thought that award ceremony hosts might be wary of musical numbers. Yet that did not stop Rob Brydon bursting into song about Stephen Fry’s recent suicide attempt, warbling that the National Treasure could not be left alone with ‘vodka and pills’. A shaky start to say the least, which was not helped by a bad Eric Pickles joke that left

The Foreign Secretary was left not knowing where to look at tonight’s GQ Man of the Year awards, when this parish’s very own Charles Moore declared war on the media luvvies. Invited to present the award for Writer of the Year, Hague looked noticeably relieved to hand over the gong for Moore’s epic biography of Baroness Thatcher. But the fireworks were yet to come. Taking to the stage to Elvis Costello’s She, it was a poignant moment, only to be shattered by Moore himself who decided to take a chunk out of Russell Brand for his jokes earlier about the sponsor, Hugo Boss, who infamously designed uniforms for the Nazis. While

The government could save £70 billion from the Whitehall spending bill by moving into a new digitised age. That’s the gist of a new report from Policy Exchange, detailing the amount of archaic waste that exists in the civil service. Some of the examples in the Smaller, Better, Faster, Stronger report are astounding — the Crown Prosecution Service prints one million sheets of paper every day. Two articulated lorries loaded with letters and paperwork drive into the DVLA every day. Policy Exchange suggests many of these wasteful paper-based services could be taken to a central online location, aka the GOV.UK website. Bringing the government’s online presence into once place has been divisive. I think it’s a great example of

Sir David Frost died of a heart attack this morning, aged just 74 Here are a few videos from his truly extraordinary career – starting with his own take on satire: His famous Richard Nixon interviews – highlights: With Margaret Thatcher:- With Mohammed Ali: And John Lennon: The exiled Shah of Iran:- With Brian Clough, two months after being sacked from Leeds United:- Giving Prince Charles his first television interview:- ‘Trial by television’ with Emil Savundra: Paul McCartney

The Great British Bake Off – or ‘GBBO’, as it’s known to the more dedicated fans – is one of the breakthrough television programmes of the past few years. It started off as ‘just another’ cookery show – albeit with a reality twist. But now, as Season 4 kicks off, it has attracted a loyal and devoted following. Just what is it about baking that attracts such an audience, wonders Clarissa Tan in her TV review this week. Perhaps it’s the sharing quality of cake – ‘after all, baking is communal, isn’t it?’ But there’s also the sheer patriotism of the programme. ‘Little Union flags… all the foodstuffs that make

I’m off to Balcombe this weekend. In fact I might even carry a placard and paint my face with a clever pun, like ‘F*** off!’ or ‘Go f*** yourself.’ Because it’s time to add my voice in opposition to a greedy industry which threatens your ground-water, exudes greenhouse gases, leaches chemicals into the earth, destroys the beauty of the landscape and imperils our native fauna and flora wherever its grasping hand is felt. This extractive activity fills the air with noxious smells and clogs the roads with slow-moving vehicles; its safety record is appalling, with a high rate of work-related injuries and famously low worker pay. Moreover it has been shown to