Columnists A - L

Philip Hensher: Why would anyone want to be famous?

Published: 20 February 2007

Britney Spears is now much more famous for things other than her singing career. There have been two marriages, one undertaken on the spur of the moment in Las Vegas which lasted all of a weekend. There have been the gloating shots of her looking terrible in the street. There have been the photographs of her getting out of a car without any knickers on. There have been endless sanctimonious comments about her driving with a baby on her lap, or her smoking, or her eating too much and "letting herself go", as it used to be called.

Dominic Lawson: You can blame it all on Karl Marx

Published: 20 February 2007

"We know of no spectacle so ridiculous" said the Whig historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, "as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality." Despite that, I can't resist joining in the latest such fit, occasioned by the coincidence of the targeted murder of a schoolboy in south London and the publication of a report which purported to demonstrate that British children are the most wretched in the world.

Mary Dejevsky: The French election is not a two-horse race

Published: 20 February 2007

So they're off, and it's Sarko leading Sego by a length and extending his advantage, despite Sego's frantic efforts to make up lost ground. On this side of La Manche, these are the only two runners we can spy through our binoculars. And we are urging on Sarko as though there were no tomorrow. Much though we like the idea of France with a Presidente, we just prefer to back a winner - and Sarko's appetite for the race suggests he would be our kind of guy. Why hesitate, when the odds are so unambiguously in Sarko's favour?

The Sketch: Why little Miliband can never be prime minister

Published: 20 February 2007

When you want the unthinkable thought, Frank Field's the man. At the last election he had a very daring neighbours from hell policy - kick them out of their council houses, stick them into concrete hose-down pens under the motorway and have them decontaminated every evening by the fire brigade.

Miles Kington: A sorry saga of disparaging literary labelling

Published: 20 February 2007

Lesley Pearse is a writer of what are called "saga" novels. I didn't know anything about "saga novels" until, listening to Radio 4's excellent Open Book at the weekend, I heard Lesley Pearse and Meg Hutchinson, who is another "saga" novelist, talking about the genre.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Worries about our children have been dismissed by those who should be listening

Published: 19 February 2007

Labour responds with a tantrum. It isn't true, it isn't fair, they hit back, rubbishing the UN figures

Johann Hari: Young people are the victims of the war on drugs

Published: 19 February 2007

Guns are not inherent to the sale of drugs, only to the sale of drugs under prohibition

Bruce Anderson: The Tory Party must placate its own angry brigade

Published: 19 February 2007

There are two mysteries: why is Tony Blair doing so well and why is David Cameron not doing better?

The Big Chill: Alex James braves the coldest therapy on earth

Published: 19 February 2007

The coldest therapy on earth Saunas in Sweden, muscle mashing in Moscow, a quick tweak in Thailand - Alex James is an extreme therapy junkie. But would stripping to his underwear and stepping into a deep freeze be going one degree too far?

Miles Kington: Fables for our troubled times

Published: 19 February 2007

'Although I have fallen as a beech tree, I have risen again as a matching suite of leisure furniture on which people delight to sit and picnic' 'You should have thought of that before you came to Britain,' said the beech tree. 'You are are only a foreign tree, after all'

Dom Joly: When minor celebrities hurt themselves

Published: 18 February 2007

I'm not one for body decorations - show me the vaguest hint of a tattoo and I run a mile. It's the same with piercings... OK, I did have my ear pierced when I was a goth, three times if the truth be known, but I was young, dumb and full of glum so that doesn't count.

Howard Jacobson: Our unhappy, drunken children are the result of not placing any value on culture

Published: 17 February 2007

Why can't we say their lives would be better if they were curious about something other than celebrity?

David Lister: The Week in Arts

Published: 17 February 2007

This national arts debate could be rather fun

Dominic Lawson: Bernard Matthews, a heroic figure laid low by snobbery, hysteria and ignorance

Published: 16 February 2007

If the NHS were able to achieve a similar standard of hygiene in its hospitals, we'd all be better off

Joan Bakewell: Why art needs a healthy injection of vandalism

Published: 16 February 2007

Oppose Banksy's graffiti and you reject artistic expression. Praise it, and you boost the art market

Terence Blacker: Why do we want marital perfection in our leaders?

Published: 16 February 2007

There needs to be a change in public mood, a move towards a more grown-up attitude

Miles Kington: Agents on the scent of a smouldering conspiracy

Published: 16 February 2007

'My name is Z,' said the instructor. 'It is best not to use real names. We do not want our cover blown'

Mary Dejevsky: Our national disease is lack of parental time

Published: 15 February 2007

European parents work shorter hours for a higher living standard overall

Adrian Hamilton: Wanted: some big beasts in the Cabinet

Published: 15 February 2007

If you exclude the PM and the Chancellor, it is hard to see a small duck, let alone a big beast

Miles Kington: How to put the zing and zoom back into a marriage

Published: 15 February 2007

The first time a barman tries a Margarita, it tastes very good. The hundredth time, it still tastes good. But the five thousandth time...

Terence Blacker: Why sex surveys are going to the dogs

Published: 14 February 2007

This month, some startling new statistics have come to light. A higher proportion of Britons find Sir Cliff Richard a powerfully erotic fantasy figure than they do George Clooney. Between Carol Vorderman and Nicole Kidman, it is the Countdown presenter who is found to be the more arousing. Eight million British adults, crushingly described as "neo-virgins", have become sexually inactive, while a plucky 1.8 million (you know who you are) have had sex with more than 100 partners. In Scotland, people have significantly more orgasms than in London.

Alex James: The Great Escape

Published: 14 February 2007

I spent the morning considering dark matter and the afternoon considering the dairy cow. Cows weigh more than half a ton and there is something very pleasing about their extra-largeness. All the equipment that comes with cows is satisfyingly chunky and mechanical, too: tractors and fork-lifts. It makes my sheep and pig paraphernalia look flimsy. There is an extra element of drama in dairy farming, as the cows must be milked twice daily. Sheep just gambol and graze. I feel the pigs would like me to play more football with them, but they're happy rooting, munching and chasing each other all day.

Miles Kington: We have come to liberate you from this living hell

Published: 14 February 2007

On his desk, almost invisible in the mess, was an ashtray which he could only locate by the smoke curling up from it

Dominic Lawson: Peter Hain and the politics of envy

Published: 13 February 2007

Not a single member of the current Cabinet forgoes a penny of his or her official salary

Philip Hensher: You can trust me, I'm a doctor...

Published: 13 February 2007

It's always been a great puzzle why the Home Secretary likes to be referred to as 'Dr John Reid'

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Columnists A - L

Philip Hensher: Why would anyone want to be famous?

Dominic Lawson: You can blame it all on Karl Marx

Mary Dejevsky: The French election is not a two-horse race

The Sketch: Why little Miliband can never be prime minister

Miles Kington: A sorry saga of disparaging literary labelling

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Worries about our children have been dismissed by those who should be listening

Johann Hari: Young people are the victims of the war on drugs

Bruce Anderson: The Tory Party must placate its own angry brigade

The Big Chill: Alex James braves the coldest therapy on earth

Miles Kington: Fables for our troubled times

Dom Joly: When minor celebrities hurt themselves

Howard Jacobson: Our unhappy, drunken children are the result of not placing any value on culture

David Lister: The Week in Arts

Dominic Lawson: Bernard Matthews, a heroic figure laid low by snobbery, hysteria and ignorance

Joan Bakewell: Why art needs a healthy injection of vandalism

Terence Blacker: Why do we want marital perfection in our leaders?

Miles Kington: Agents on the scent of a smouldering conspiracy

Mary Dejevsky: Our national disease is lack of parental time

Adrian Hamilton: Wanted: some big beasts in the Cabinet

Miles Kington: How to put the zing and zoom back into a marriage

Terence Blacker: Why sex surveys are going to the dogs

Alex James: The Great Escape

Miles Kington: We have come to liberate you from this living hell

Dominic Lawson: Peter Hain and the politics of envy

Philip Hensher: You can trust me, I'm a doctor...

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