Commentators

PORTFOLIO ARTICLES

Most articles in the Comment Channel are part of the Independent Portfolio. Click here for details of charges.

Sean O'Grady: The last thing the Lid Dems need now is a 'consolidating' leader

Published: 06 May 2006

Whenever a politician uses the word "consolidation" you know things are bad. Sir Menzies Campbell used the expression when he was defending the Liberal Democrats' performance in the local elections, and that should have made any sensible Liberal Democrat worry. The problem isn't that the results were actually that bad.

Jemima Lewis: What my granny told me about class

Published: 06 May 2006

It's pervasive, pernicious and often unkind - but at least it's not driven by cash

John Curtice: Why this was not a disaster for Labour

Published: 06 May 2006

Labour - and Tony Blair - narrowly avoid disaster. Tories acquire a spring in their step. The Liberal Democrats falter. These are the clear headlines that emerged as the ballots were counted into the small hours yesterday.

Michael Brown: Vindication for new Tory leader

Published: 06 May 2006

David Cameron can afford to celebrate Thursday's council election gains with a bottle of non-vintage champagne. The Tories made very good gains and are entitled to point to a solid advance in the party's fortunes.

Richard Ingrams' Week: Where's Les Dawson when you need him?

Published: 06 May 2006

The late Adolf Hitler famously decreed that no politician should ever be photographed in a bathing costume.

Michael Brown: Labour should prepare for peasants' revolt

Published: 05 May 2006

There are angry Labour councillors who are not only out of power but out of pocket

The Third Leader: Pipe dreams

Published: 05 May 2006

Exciting news: we have, allegedly, our first million-pound plumber. Hail to Mr Charlie Mullins, top man at Pimlico Plumbers, dab hand at drips, facilitator of flow, wizard of the wrench, titan of the faucet thread, master of the male pipe swivel connection, and now revealed as the earner of that amount last year.

Shami Chakrabati: Too much politics, not enough policies

Published: 04 May 2006

I am very disappointed with yesterday's statement in the House of Commons by Charles Clarke, but I am not surprised that yet more asylum-bashing legislation might be the solution dreamt up by the Home Office to deal with this issue. This is a typical example of an old maxim: that when powerful people are in trouble, they reach for their chequebooks, but when home secretaries are in trouble, they reach for the statute book.

John Curtice: Northern losses could be fatal for Blair

Published: 04 May 2006

Events have conspired to make today's local elections primarily a potential pitfall for Tony Blair. But the contests are just as vital for David Cameron and Sir Menzies Campbell. They will be the first test of how well their parties are faring under their leadership. Both will be keen to demonstrate that they are leading their parties to new heights.

John Lichfield: An explosive end to the Chirac era

Published: 04 May 2006

Enormous damage is being inflicted on France and French democracy

Julia Stephenson: The Green Goddess

Published: 04 May 2006

Today is polling day and I'm confronted with the appalling realisation that thanks to my bureaucratic meltdown, which resulted in my not getting my nomination papers ready in time, I have no Green candidate to vote for today.

The Third Leader: Contemplative order

Published: 04 May 2006

Reactions to the news that 10 million people a day log on to a website to watch a bald-headed eagle in its nest will be mixed. Some will be uplifted by such interest in nature, others marvel at the irresistible communion of cyberspace, and others, less charmed, will wonder if these people have nothing better to do, and on whose time, exactly, they're doing it.

Catherine Pepinster: Church's stance has made people question its compassion

Published: 03 May 2006

Whose voices should Roman Catholics listen to when it comes to whether condoms should be used to combat Aids? The Pope? The cardinal who claims condoms are ineffective because they are full of microscopic holes? The elderly theologians in the back-rooms of the Vatican? As the church seems to be edging towards making a statement some might once have thought impossible - that it will be permissible to use condoms to prevent the spread of the HIV virus - the voices that I most like to remember are those of people working in Africa with the sick and the dying.

The Third Leader: Some seasonal tips

Published: 03 May 2006

No one can accuse me, in these trying times, of not doing my level best to keep your spirits up. Yesterday I celebrated May Day at Oxford and began the jamboree of jubilation that is Engelbert Humperdinck's 70th birthday; today I seek to remind you that asparagus is about.

The Third Leader: Rites of spring

Published: 02 May 2006

Spring, we think, is finally here, marked by at least two fitting tributes to the resilience of the human spirit. Yesterday saw Oxford students continuing to jump off Magdalen Bridge into two feet of water, and today sees Engelbert Humperdinck in his home city of Leicester to celebrate his 70th birthday.

Oliver Miles: Questions to ask before you vote on Thursday

Published: 02 May 2006

How do we interpret our international obligations? How do we leave Iraq?

Christina Patterson: Angelina Jolie and the bank manager

Published: 02 May 2006

So Gordon Brown has been anointed by Angelina Jolie. Oh dear. There is, luckily for the Government, no suggestion that the bump that has triggered so much intelligent media debate over the past few months - or is it years? - has sprung from any loins other than those of her exquisitely athletic, and versatile, film-star fiancé. (When you're that beautiful, Tracey, you get looks as well as power. You don't have to settle for a few fumblings from a man whose grasp of sexual technique is clearly on a par with his grip on the subjunctive.) Angelina has yet to make any major pronouncements on the Chancellor's fiscal policy, but, speaking "personally", she would "like to see" him as leader of our quaint little country.

Catherine Townsend: Sleeping around

Published: 02 May 2006

After a party one night, my sometime boyfriend Richard and I found ourselves in a bit of a bind: he had locked himself out of his flat, and the paper-thin walls separating me from my flatmate, coupled with my creaking bed, meant that inviting him upstairs was out of the question. So I led him to an alley behind my building to continue our make-out session.

David Usborne: Our Man in New York

Published: 01 May 2006

A culinary revolution recently rolled into New York that was especially good news for patrons of such pricey joints as Per Se or Bouley Bakery. Their highly trained and highly salaried chefs had discovered boil-in-the-bag. Yet, we must reluctantly report, amid threats of fines and imprisonment, this is an enlightenment rudely interrupted.