Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sweden: how a ‘dull country’ is still worth living in

Posted on July 14, 2018 by

In the first of a three-part series about modern Sweden, I look at what twentieth and twenty-first century writers have to say, and how the reality of life in Sweden compares to the euphoria or opprobrium that it often provokes. “I … Continue reading →

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A word of advice to the National Trust’s new Director-General: urbanise

Posted on September 20, 2017 by

It’s been an eventful six years for the National Trust’s Director-General Helen Ghosh, who’s announced she’ll be stepping down in April 2018. She’s been constantly bombarded with criticism from right-wing newspapers ever since her appointment  in 2012.  When she suggested … Continue reading →

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Victoria’s secret: how a carbuncle got away with it

Posted on September 8, 2017 by

Building Design magazine’s awarding of its Carbuncle Cup for this year’s worst new building to Nova, a new office and retail development around the corner from London’s Victoria Station, sets off predictable reactions. How could it have been built? Who … Continue reading →

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Peterborough: how an ancient city became a New Town

Posted on September 7, 2017 by

There are few pleasures like exploring an unfamiliar town on foot for the first time. A new series of posts on this website, In Praise of Ordinary Places, looks at Middle England towns that are overlooked by tourists (Oxford, Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon … Continue reading →

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Northampton, a town that needs to grow up and become a city

Posted on July 6, 2017 by

There are few pleasures like exploring an unfamiliar town on foot for the first time. A new series of posts on this website, In Praise of Ordinary Places, looks at Middle England towns that are overlooked by tourists (Oxford, Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon … Continue reading →

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To win next time, Labour must overcome its Midland problem

Posted on June 12, 2017 by

Theresa May is utterly humiliated, forced to rely on the Democratic Unionists for a majority. Jeremy Corbyn has exceeded all expectations. Far from losing ground, Labour made a net gain of 30 seats – not just in the north and … Continue reading →

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The big surprise of this election campaign? Not how badly Theresa May has fared, but how well

Posted on June 7, 2017 by

A screeching U-turn on long-term care bills. Uninspiring, robotic TV appearances – and several non-appearances at leadership debates and Today programme interviews. An inability to think on her feet, answer unscripted questions from the public, show herself as a team … Continue reading →

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If Macron wins it proves that despite five years of terror, France can resist the siren calls of fascism. I’m not sure Britain could

Posted on May 6, 2017 by

Imagine that a terrorist had shot dead four police officers, in two daylight attacks on the streets of Winchester and Southampton, a few months before the 2012 Olympics. After a few days at large he attacks the playground of a … Continue reading →

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Somewhere in England: Bedford, a quiet success

Posted on March 31, 2017 by

There are few pleasures like exploring an unfamiliar town on foot for the first time. A new series of posts on this website, In Praise of Ordinary Places, will look at Middle England towns that are overlooked by tourists (Oxford, Bath … Continue reading →

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One place where the Trump presidency may do no harm? Cuba

Posted on January 25, 2017 by

I’ll leave aside – for now – his misogyny, racial prejudice, egotism, and contempt for democracy and the rule of law. I will even cast my eye away from Michael Gove’s fawning interview in the Times at the beginning of … Continue reading →

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