Britain and Europe need to stop bickering
- 14 Jun 2018
Two hundred and six years ago this month, June 1812, war broke out between the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It would last nearly three years, each side would win and lose battles, the White House was burnt to the ground and the result would be effectively a...
Get ready for a week of Tory parliamentary madness
- 10 Jun 2018
So this is it, Theresa May’s week of destiny. The week when MPs votes on Brexit legislation will determine whether she stays or is pushed out, whether her government survives or falls. There is a formula, a set recipe if you like, for a Tory parliamentary party hullabaloo. The...
Theresa May and Justin Welby are more similar than you might think
- 9 Jun 2018
Theresa May and Justin Welby share similar problems – it’s time we cut each of them some slack. They each have national and international responsibilities. Both occupy positions of power and authority. Both occupy desirable central London residences, with very pleasant coun...
Lost Classics: post-war stoicism in 1948’s The Weaker Sex
- 8 Jun 2018
During and after World War Two films continued to be made. Many, like Laurence Olivier’s Henry V, were intended to be morale boosting productions. Others, like This Happy Breed and The Weaker Sex were stories of resilience and stoicism. The Weaker Sex was one of the most popul...
Italian crisis looks like last chance for Brussels to get Brexit and the EU right
- 22 May 2018
Italy is the latest big European country to have its politics upended in a vote of popular discontent. In voting in this way Italians are moving with the tide of national continental politics. Across the continent one political upheaval after another is changing the establishe...
This Royal wedding matters, a lot
- 18 May 2018
Last minute preparations are being completed and rehearsals undertaken. The Castle has been swept from top to bottom. Security checks are taking place. The men and women of the Armed Forces are applying the final layers of polish to their shoes, blanco to their belts and steam...
China in your hand
- 18 May 2018
Book Review: 'Asian Waters: Chinese Expansion and the Shifting Balance of Power' by Humphrey Hawksley China’s re-emergence as an economic powerhouse with the diplomatic, military, and political consequences that entails is one of the great stories of the first half of the T...
Business, not religion, sits at the heart of the American Dream
- 12 May 2018
Book Review: 'New World, Inc: The Making of America by England's Merchant Adventurers' by John Butman & Simon Target We all know how the United States of America got going, right? Well this book tells you that everything you thought you knew about how a group of religio...
Former Chief Nursing Officer is a worthy first female Bishop of London
- 11 May 2018
Today in St Paul’s Cathedral Sarah Mullally will be enthroned as the 133rd Bishop of London. For her, London, the Church of England and for the nation it is a momentous moment. Ahead of her lies the task of leading and managing the largest and most diverse diocese in the co...
Book Review: Faith Finding a Voice by Cardinal Vincent Nichols
- 11 May 2018
Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, and leader of England and Wales’ Catholic community, is turning into a prolific author. This latest book, following hard on the heels of Hope in Action, continues a pattern of using theology and faith to explore how life, wi...