I learned a new term yesterday: the ‘Dachau School’. You might be able to guess what it means – I did, and I was right. Unfortunately. I’ve actually just had a double-dose of exposure to the brutality human beings are capable of inflicting on fellow human beings....
It’s absolutely right that we should be scandalised about Oxfam aid workers paying for sex in the places where they were supposed to be alleviating poverty. And the cover-up is in some ways as bad as the original crimes. But the whole debate is missing a vital...
There are great moments in life, many of which fall in sport. And there are some great films. But to assume that a great moment in sport automatically translates to the cinema is a serious flaw, as the new Borg vs McEnroe film proves. I only hope it doesn’t put people...
We’re all vulnerable to settling into echo chambers – being happiest reading and listening to those whose opinions we already agree with, even if we know it isn’t good for our mental stimulus. But are we also guilty of falling into a different kind of echo chamber,...
This is the kind of column that will get me into trouble because it expresses an opinion in stark terms. So let me make it clear – it’s expressing how I feel about something. My feeling may not be rational, and I’m very open to discussion about whether what I feel...
As an antidote to the madness of British elections, I found myself at the Wimbledon tennis site today for the annual press conference to announce the prize money and other changes for the fortnight. But while I was there I saw something else which I’d urge all fans of...
Call me a mug, but I always believed Theresa May when she said she never wanted an early general election. Even when she announced that Britain would go to the polls on 8 June, I still got the sense she didn’t really want it, that her hand had somehow been forced. And...
Happy International Women’s Day! What is there not to celebrate in a day designed to showcase what women have done, are doing, and are capable of? Answer: the fact that missing from the picture is one very important element in the welfare of women. When one looks at...
How much should a political party set out who it would and wouldn’t work with after an election? And is too strict a statement ultimately disrespecting the wishes of the voters? I was prompted to wonder this following a packed public meeting in Lewes last week at...
The job of the journalist is to find a good way to sell a story, ideally with a snappy headline. We are generally observers and describers, rather than actors, but in 2017 it will be vital for those who believe in a compassionate approach to the world to take a giant...
