Where’s the Beef?

I must congratulate Mr Eugenides on penning this moving eulogy for Shambo: Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy T-bone, Silence the tambourines and with muffled drums Bring out the burger buns, let the ketchup come. Let cattle trucks […]

Cannabis: Don’t die of shoddy reporting – UPDATED

I’ve written a couple of articles in the last couple of months on the general theme of the abject state of science/health journalism in the mainstream press – see Why is the Indy Shilling for Big Pharma? and Dumbing Down Dementia– the second of which includes this observation: […]

A moral obligation

It has long been accepted by the vast majority of the British people, whatever their views on immigration in general, that service to Queen and Country counts for something; that regardless of the different rules on immigration and residency that may or may not be in force at […]

It never rains but it pours…

There is no escape… On the steps of the presidential offices in Kigali, sheltered by a pergola from the burning midday sun, David Cameron turned to face a Rwandan television reporter. First, she wanted to know about his efforts to out-trump Labour on international development, and then she […]

An ornament in prosperity

Getting a little caught up in the political knockabout surrounding last week’s by-elections meant that there were one or two things I’d intended to blog that fell by the wayside, at least until Justin reminded me of what I’d intended to write with these observations. The other day, […]

Desperation knows no bounds…

Watching Guido trying to salvage a few meagre shreds of reputation as the blogosphere premier ‘Sleazefinder General’ is, I must admit, rather entertaining. Do You Believe there is No Connection Between Cash and Honours? Tony Blair created 292 peers. Millions were raised from the recipients of those honours… […]

By-elections latest…

Right, I’ll be liveblogging this for the next hour or so until both results are in: 00:15 Sedgefield result estimated to be in about 30-40 minutes. 00:20 Looks a little tight in Ealing Southall but its starting to look like a Labour hold, Lib Dems second and a […]

Labour’s Spartacus Moment.

My, my… The chancellor, Alistair Darling, today became the most senior member of the cabinet to admit he had smoked cannabis “occasionally in my youth”. The shock admission, from the minister best known as a “safe pair of hands”, came after the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, revealed that […]

EXCLUSIVE: 2nd national newspaper breaches electoral law

Following hot on the heels of the Jonathan Isaby’s gaff in publishing what he claimed were unofficial vote tallies taken by a member of the Tory Campaign team in Ealing Southall during the verification of postal ballots, a second national newspaper appears to have repeated Isaby’s gaff. Visit […]

Welcome to the Jeffrey Archer Suite, Belmarsh…

With everything else that’s gone on around the Ealing Southall by-election and mere hours before the polls open, you’d think there was nothing left to be said until the result is announced tomorrow night. And you’d be wrong, because just when you thought you’d seen every last twist […]