Commentators
Richard Ingrams' Week: Who are these New Men trying to kid?
Published: 10 December 2005
Questioned on the Today programme about how he would hope to measure up to the much more youthful David Cameron, Gordon Brown boasted that he was the proud father of a two-year-old son and that only the night before he had been sitting up with him at 4am.
Jemima Lewis: Why would any woman want to become an MP?
Published: 10 December 2005
Matthew Norman: The powerful never know when to go
Published: 09 December 2005
The Third Leader: Sofa, so good
Published: 09 December 2005
Knowledge is the most splendid thing, isn't it? Oh, I know, courtesy of Francis Bacon, about it being power; and I know how useful it can be, particularly when I can't find the washing machine handbook and that seeping on to the floor is continuing and I'm trying to get through to customer services with the hand that isn't holding the towel. But even the most useless knowledge has a compelling quality. Just the other day, for example, I learnt that the old Chislehurst and Bickley telephone exchange was called "Imperial", in honour of Napoleon III, who came to live in Chisle- hurst after that unpleasantness with the Prussians in 1870. Marvellous.
The Third Leader: Lure of the lamp post
Published: 08 December 2005
Dogs had a bit of a day yesterday, with the latest news on their genome, carrying important implications for both biological and medical advances, canine and human. Interpretation of this sort of thing is, of course, normally best left to our excellent science writers, but I thought you might benefit from what is incontestably a fresh mind in the field.
James Bethell: Forget the old and focus on the young
Published: 07 December 2005
If there is one thing David Cameron must do, it is to make sure his ageing party puts an appeal to young voters at the centre of its strategy, a radical move that would reverse political battle lines. In May's general election, Conservatives polled a desperate third place among 20-34 year olds, with a measly 26 per cent of the vote underlining their dependence on the Saga vote.
The Third Leader: The fractious life
Published: 06 December 2005
Bliss! We should be clear that we are all fallen creatures; and, of course, some would say that this trade has fallen further than most. Nevertheless, there can be few who do not enjoy a good local row, even, or particularly, when they're not involved. And when someone famous is involved, well.
Bianca Jagger: This persistent prejudice against Aids sufferers
Published: 05 December 2005
Julia Stephenson: The Green Goddess
Published: 05 December 2005
Chris Mullin: America must tell us the truth about its gulag
Published: 04 December 2005
Marina Cantacuzino: Forgiving: the ultimate revenge
Published: 04 December 2005
Jeremy Laurance: How smoking takes its toll on the young
Published: 04 December 2005
Charles Kennedy: Prime Minister has squandered chance to push green agenda
Published: 04 December 2005
At the start of the year, the Prime Minister said that he would make the environment a centrepiece of his G8 and EU presidencies. We have been in the driving seat for the past six months, but what has been achieved? We haven't moved forwards. We're moving backwards.
A C Grayling: The French surgeons have performed an act of liberation
Published: 04 December 2005
Suggs: Dumping the Routemaster: now that's what I call madness
Published: 04 December 2005
This week, the famous Routemaster bus will finally disappear from London's streets. I'm disgusted that they are going. I was a supporter of Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, but I feel let down by him over this.
Rupert Cornwell: Out of America
Published: 04 December 2005
Richard Ingrams' Week: The story of Porkypies and the two Blairs
Published: 03 December 2005
Quite apart from their name, the two Blairs - Tony and Sir Ian - have a great deal in common. In some respects the resemblance is almost uncanny.
Jemima Lewis: Are you dreaming of a black Christmas?
Published: 03 December 2005
Elizabeth Wilmshurst: It is time for Britain to come clean
Published: 02 December 2005
Allegations about the use of British airports to refuel CIA planes carrying terrorist suspects to countries where they are to be interrogated and tortured raise the question whether this has anything to do with us. Why should the UK be involved or concerned?
Bethan Marshall: Learning requires common sense, not just phonics
Published: 02 December 2005
The Third Leader: A safe bet
Published: 02 December 2005
Gambling, we report, is set to increase several fold over the current decade. Many place the blame for this with the Government, citing permissive attitudes, beneficial regulation and its own widely publicised examples of the practice, like invading Iraq.
Patrick Cockburn: Military progress is an illusion
Published: 01 December 2005
The Iraqi armed forces on the ground in Baghdad look very different from the encouraging picture of them painted by President George Bush. Its men are often packed into pathetically vulnerable convoys of ageing white pick-up trucks.
The Third Leader: Up and away
Published: 01 December 2005
Cold snaps, Christmas, terrorism, murders, pensions: what we need is some uplifting news, something to reaffirm, gloriously, our confidence in the indefatigable spirit, goodwill and ingenuity of humanity. And so I am proud to salute the liberal display of all those qualities in yesterday's bold attempt to teach a vulture to fly in a wind tunnel in Milton Keynes.
