Let them eat dust
I have written to the government asking for the funds to develop a programme of ‘tightly focused retI have no wish to add to Gordon Brown’s troubles. I am happy to leave him in peace as he rolls up his...
View ArticleUnsanctioned penguins
Stalinism is all the rage, as think tanks seek to relocate the population. Meanwhile, Telford's pengI have a scoop. A genuine scoop. Or something very close to it.We Midlanders remained neutral on the...
View ArticleA barn conversion cabinet
England is a palimpsest of Medieval churches, ruinous Gothic institutions and follies built by mad aRural England has been laid waste by the rich. Just look at the names of their houses: The Old...
View ArticleThe truth about Darling
'Darling may be miserable, but the trajectory of his career will keep anyone with a long memory laugThe cabinet did meet here last week.I know the BBC interviewed people in Birmingham who said things...
View ArticleNuisance caller?
Plans to telephone 250,000 people using a recorded message from Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg have been The Information Commissioner's Office has done the Liberal Democrats a favour by ordering them to...
View ArticleLabour's film stars
I have been told that Glenda Jackson, an obscure backbencher who was briefly a transport minister, aWith the polls the way they are, many Labour MPs will be preparing for alternative careers after the...
View ArticleLabour's private school heroes
Jonathan Calder looks down with bafflement from the top of the Stiperstones at the Labour Party's atI shall never understand the Labour view on education. You think they would be proud to have a...
View ArticleManners and the super-rich
Magnates and oligarchs now spend most of their time on their yachts - hence Roman Abramovich’s stranSo there I was moored off Corfu with Oleg Deripaska and Nat Rothschild. Nat told me that Peter...
View ArticleTory MP: Ferry political prisoner
Until now, Kawczynski has been as keen on locking up people as any Tory backbencher. Only this summeThe last time we heard from Daniel Kawczynski, the Tory MP for Shrewsbury, he was announcing plans to...
View ArticleAaronovitch and me
The Stiperstone's most famous resident on his love of good music and dislike of David Aaronovitch. PThis raging at the radio must stop. It is time to systematise my prejudices. Hand me down that...
View ArticleStalin's lovechild
The rozzers enter Westminster without a warrant, help themselves to the contents of an MP’s office aThis is the time of year for traditions. And one of them is that the newspapers are full of untrue...
View ArticleLondon's secret garden
There's a little known wildlife reserve by St Pancras station but as the area develops will Camley S“A lot of kids have never engaged with nature,” said the volunteer at Camley Street Natural Park,...
View ArticleNo time for comedy...
The economic crisis, the relentless attacks on Gaza and a very real threat to trainspotting. JonathaMy first piece of the year. I have taken legal advice and understand what is required under the...
View ArticleEmma Thompson and me
When Tony Slattery and Stephen bloody Fry turned up and started mwah-mwahing and calling one anotherSipson is a hamlet in the Middlesex parish of Harmondsworth. It is first mentioned in a document from...
View ArticleIt's not cricket!
If you are planning a long journey with Andy Burnham, take a supply of comics, colouring books and cIt’s stories like this that make it worth buying the Shropshire Star: A four-inch lizard found in...
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