As the Chinese think in long time-spans, those who wish to understand them should do likewise. In the late Fifth Century BC, the Marquis Yi died in Wuhan. His grave was magnificently accoutred with bronzes, pottery and ivories; more than enough to kit out today’s museum. There were also cloths and scrolls, which have perished. […]
Anyone who believes that the UK should stay in the EU ought to be worried. Last Monday, the pro-EU campaign was launched. It was a profoundly unimpressive event. The Chairman is Stuart Rose, who used to run Marks and Spencer. He must know a lot about selling socks; he has no feel for politics. Lord […]
Denis Healey, now Geoffrey Howe: two great adversaries from the 1970s have passed from the scene within a week of one another. Margaret Thatcher chose Sir Geoffrey to be her Shadow Chancellor, thus putting him in conflict with Mr Healey. In Commons knockabout, Geoffrey rarely prevailed. Denis Healey famously said that being attacked by Geoffrey […]
It was not a good speech. It was a great speech: one of the greatest. A defining moment in the Cameron Premiership, it will be quoted for decades to come. It could be a Parsifal climax, when ancient wounds are healed and a new world emerges – a new Conservative world. For fifty years, the […]
This will be a notable week in British political history. In an audacious speech, the Prime Minister will seize the central ground of British politics with the intention of inflicting terminal damage on the Labour party: political, sociological and moral. For decades, in government and in oppposition, Labour has sustained itself – and appealed to […]
Denis Healey was one of the greatest of the nearly men: characters such as Austen Chamberlain, Rab Butler or Reggie Maudling who seemed to have everything needed for the Premiership but somehow never made it. He had a good war, reaching the rank of Major. A beach-master at Anzio, he was unlucky not to pick […]
Thatcher’s Trial: Six Months That Defined a Leader. Kwasi Kwarteng, Bloomsbury Publishing, RRP £21.99 History is written backwards. Before he embarks on the story, the historian already knows the ending. That can cause a problem. It is possible to slip into the complacency of hindsight and conclude that outcomes were inevitable when they were anything but. For […]
Some simpler-minded Tories have been disappointed by the Labour Conference. They had hoped for chaos, blood in the aisles, hatred. Although there was plenty of hatred just below the surface, Jeremy Corbyn was determined to sound kinder and gentler. His looks also help. This is a man who would not get far in an audition […]
Cameron at 10: The Inside Story 2010-2015. Anthony Seldon and Peter Snowdon, Harper Collins, RRP £20 This is an indispensable book and everyone who is interested in British politics should read it. To amass and synthesise so much material in such a short time is a considerable achievement, and it will endure as an essential […]
It was the most astonishing result since the by-election in 1 Samuel 17, when David beat Goliath. It demonstrates the truth of the old adage: be careful what you wish for. A few weeks ago, a simple proposition would have gained universal assent in Labour circles. Far too many idealistic young people were alienated from […]
We are condemned to live in a fallen world in which even wise non-Christians recognise that “original sin” is the best two-word summary of the human condition. As a condition of continuing sanity, we have to harden our heads to the evils which grown-ups inflict on one another. It is impossible to open one’s arms […]
You could not make it up. If you tried, no-one would believe you. Four months ago, the Labour party was challenging for government. Now, it is descending into farce. This must be the most ludicrously ill-run leadership campaign in political history, and it will have a ludicrous outcome. Let us suppose that at the beginning […]
It is the greatest of games, and we have just witnessing a match which will be talked about for as long as cricket is played. The first Ashes test marked the dawn of Test cricket, and since then, every series has been fiercely contested: none more than this one. England’s triumph was as unexpected as […]
China is an ancient civilisation. That even colours its political insults. Once, when Chris Patten was Governor of Hong Kong and did something of which the Beijing authorities disapproved, they described him as “the criminal of a thousand generations” That is an adaptable expression. What about “the dullest headline of a thousand generations?” I have […]
This is ideal holiday reading, but there is a caveat. It is an anti-social book. You are part of a house party in Provence. There are plans to deploy allied appetite superiority, advance on the village and lunch chez le Patron Mange Ici. You will be strongly tempted to dodge the column and continue reading […]
August approaches. For T. S. Eliot, April was the cruellest month. It brought spring and new life to challenge the evasions of despair: the men who try to live without God. The Crucifixion took place in April: “And yet we call this Friday Good.” The cruellest event, the greatest event: a hideous death, a triumphant […]
This is a complex budget, but it has a simple core and common theme. George Osborne wants to use the tax and benefits system not only to promote economic changes but also cultural ones, which are even more important. Although the British economy is recovering, there are still three related problems. The first is low […]
It could have been tricky. Hundreds of Tories had gathered for a summer party. After the unexpected election victory, they would have been in a mood to celebrate, with the help of a speech from the Prime Minister, largely consisting of jokes and knockabout. Then came Tunis. Terrorists cannot be allowed to derail such events; […]
It all started in 2003, quite unexpectedly. Iain Duncan Smith had been the leader of the Tory party for two years, without ever looking like a convincing opponent for Tony Blair. So his party got rid of him, even before he had lost an election. IDS was entitled to feel hard done by, or to […]
The British Labour party is in an existential crisis. This has three related aspects: psephological, psychological and philosophical. First, psephology: Labour lost 40 of its 41 seats in Scotland, and no-one expects many of them to be won back anytime soon. So to win an Election, Labour would need to capture around 90 seats in […]
