Peter Lilley MP is the Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden, and has been an MP since 1983. He was a Cabinet minister in both the Thatcher and Major governments, and today talks to us about Waugh, Tolstoy, and his quest for timeless literature. 1) Which book is on your bedside table at the moment?
‘Wow! Look at the tax on that — it must be delicious.’
Tarzan of the apps
‘You heard of the “Tiger Who Came to Tea”? That was me, too.’
‘I feel terrible. I drank too much last night.’
‘That? That’s the smoking area.’
‘Around here somewhere they have an English quarter.’
‘It looked different in the brochure.’
‘Here comes the world’s largest super-jumbo airbus...’
‘Don’t the stars make you feel small.’
‘Maybe Madam would like to try something that matches her personality?’
‘And the winner is… Nigel Farage.’
‘I love the horror genre.’
‘This film contains strong language from the outset, soon giving way to mealy-mouthed euphemism.’
Sir David must stand down Sir: Reading the reports of Sir David Nicholson’s evidence before the House of Commons Health Committee on 5 March 2013 (Leading article, 9 March), it seems to me inconceivable that he could remain in his post. We are informed by the Prime Minister that in the current circumstances the NHS
Minority report The Queen signed a new Commonwealth charter denouncing ‘discrimination of all kinds’, leading campaigners to suggest that she was supporting gay marriage. Peter Tatchell asserted that 6 per cent of the population are gay. What other estimates are there? — 37% by Dr Alfred Kinsey in 1953 (strictly an estimate of men who
