Theresa May approaches Christmas in good political shape. She is secure in her job, with approval ratings strong, and the European Union’s agreement to move on to the second stage of the Brexit talks. This has been an extraordinary political year by any standards and the Prime...
Ten years ago this month I took my young daughters to see their first big ‘West End’ show. It was Cinderella at the Old Vic. Expensive tickets were bought, a late night planned, huge excitement mounted. The production was lavish, a real visual feast. The acting, of course, wa...
Chancellor Philip Hammond has now delivered the second Budget of 2017. He did so with humour and grace. On the face of it, he delivered a series of sensible, practical and Conservative measures. In ‘normal’ times this would and should be enough for a Conservative Chancellor. T...
This Wednesday the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, will be putting the finishing touches to his Budget. The big decisions will all have been made. Priorities determined, rows had, compromises made. For better or for worse all that is now left to the Chancellor is to fine tune the...
Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, came to office surrounded by much hope. Here was an experienced communicator, used to appearing on television and radio and apparently at ease with doing so. He had a reputation for being modern in his thinking and was armed...
Much has been written about the new all star production directed and led by Kenneth Branagh, most of it negative. The criticism has generally focussed on the length of the new Murder on the Orient Express, and its flat story development, plodding pace, the prominence of Mr Bra...
It is still less than a year since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States but the Obama Presidency seems, already, a long time ago. The tone of Washington politics, the atmosphere of American public discourse, has changed so fast and so dramatic...
A few weeks ago I went into the National Portrait Gallery, just off Trafalgar Square and in the shadow of the great column that dominates that square, asked whether I could buy a print of Nelson’s portrait. ‘I don’t think we’ve got a portrait of Nelson Mandela in the galler...
On this Trafalgar Day, we mark and remember Horatio Nelson’s great victory over the French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar. The victory marked the culmination of many years of Naval skirmishing, blockading and fighting between Britain and her principal European rivals. T...
Slowly but surely the European Union and the United Kingdom are crawling their way to an accommodation. Behind all the squawking and shouting progress is steadily being made. That it is difficult and fraught is not surprising, nor should it be alarming. This is a process that ...