Is Elon Musk a free speech champion or a bombastic fool? Perhaps, he’s both October 31, 2022 Finally, it has happened. In a story with more drama and grandstanding than Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Elon Musk has bought Twitter for $44bn. The man himself announced the success of his deal in a tweet – of course. He has also dubbed himself “Chief Twit”, with which some may agree for the wrong reasons. There [...]
Rishi Sunak’s ‘City chic’ style is bringing back the suit October 27, 2022 Rishi Sunak represents many firsts: he is the first prime minister of South Asian origin, the first to hold an MBA, and the first, perhaps, to be wealthier than the sovereign who invited him to form a government. But he is also unusual for a male prime minister in being acutely conscious of style and [...]
Boris Johnson can win elections, but he never knew what to do once he did October 24, 2022 It also reduces politics to its bones as a mere transaction, with retaining office the only objective.
Peter O’Toole is the style icon, not Harry Styles October 20, 2022 As a society obsessed with novelty and hyperbole, we seem to anoint a new “style icon” on a weekly basis, more often even than we change chancellors of the exchequer. Recently we have bowed down before Harry Styles, who seems to have slept in his grandmother’s laundry basket; Tom Holland, awkward out of his Spider-Man [...]
All the world’s a circus and Donald Trump front and centre again won’t help us October 17, 2022 To haul him in to answer questions is to play into Trump’s game.
Truss has just about survived the rhetoric melodrama, now for the work October 10, 2022 Harold Wilson’s maxim that a week is a long time in politics is in danger of becoming a rule for 2022 too. In the last eight days, we have seen the Conservative Party conference take place in Birmingham, the MPs and activists churn themselves into a maelstrom of high drama, and the government abandon its [...]
Truss has no real choice but to stick to her risky pro-growth proposition October 3, 2022 No one could say that Liz Truss had started her premiership quietly, after the hiatus of mourning the late queen. The chancellor’s “mini-budget” ten days ago was one of the most significant changes of economic policy in a generation. While Kwasi Kwarteng might have hoped for better reviews of his first major outing, he has [...]
Liz Truss wants winning to be as easy as quick cash in voters’ back pockets September 26, 2022 We often complain that politicians are unwilling to give straight and unambiguous answers. Last week we saw something different: the government was very clear that Friday’s statement to the House of Commons by the new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, was not—repeat, not—a budget. The name of the so-called fiscal statement, “the Growth Plan”, had a faint [...]
As politics resumes, a cold winter is closing in on Truss’ free market plans September 20, 2022 We face an autumn and winter of difficult political circumstances, it will take all the new prime minister’s deftness and agility to find a way through.
Charles III: Why he Britain’s King of Style September 15, 2022 The man we had known for decades as Prince Charles is a stalwart of “best dressed” lists. Now King Charles III, he has played a strong sartorial game in this solemn week, from the dress uniform of a field marshal to his immaculate (but venerable) morning dress. The new monarch has needed an outfit for [...]