A few days ago a young Russian man, Grigori Perelman, was awarded a prize for solving one of mathematics’s most difficult problems. A few days ago a young Russian man, Grigori Perelman, was awarded a prize for solving one of mathematics’s most difficult problems. It was an extraordinary achievement. The Poincaré conjecture (a topological conundrum)
David Cameron is always at his best on budget day. This week his response was mocking. He dismissed as nonsensical the projections and figures which Alistair Darling gave to the House. And rightly so: it was the usual mixture of fairytale economics. But it was in keeping with Gordon Brown’s budgets — creative accounting applied
Mr Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, sought in the Budget to give some credibility to the government’s plans to tackle the national deficit. Mr Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, sought in the Budget to give some credibility to the government’s plans to tackle the national deficit. Forecasts had improved, he said,
Monday Rejoice! Rejoice! That’s all I’m going to say on the matter. I don’t want to gloat, I don’t want to make any obvious points like ‘Gordon, you’re so screwed,’ because that would be in poor taste. V moving moment when Dave came into the office this morning and we all chanted ‘Da-vid Da-vid!’ and
Stephen Byers looks more like a seller as he touts himself round the House of Commons like a ‘taxi for hire’. Stephen Byers looks more like a seller as he touts himself round the House of Commons like a ‘taxi for hire’. Romans knew all about this sort of thing. The Latin for ‘electioneering’ was
As valedictory Budget statements go, this one did not disappoint. Alistair Darling may lack Gordon Brown’s verbal chutzpah, but he made full use of Labour’s arsenal of debt and tax concealment tricks, all of which have been carefully honed by this government since 1997. The most important points were buried in the fine print, missing
Rural matters Sir: Alexander Waugh’s reference to planning officers asking impertinent questions about sexuality (‘The countryside under attack’, 20 March) reveals but a glimpse of the crackpot behaviour considered normal by these people. Last autumn, I went to an event sponsored by CABE, the government architecture quango, in which someone was brought in to lecture
