Cressida Dick should go and her successor needs to jump-start the police force September 13, 2021 Even a palate jaded by the madness of modern Britain will have found piquancy in Dame Cressida Dick’s two year extension to her term as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis. Dame Cressida will stay in his position until 2024. She has been the UK’s senior police officer since 2017, is the first woman to [...]
Shearing in the right direction: The haircut in a post-Covid world September 10, 2021 We need to start with a disclaimer, or maybe it’s a caveat; perhaps even an apologia. This column is entirely dedicated to men’s hair. That’s partly because I am, well, a man, and partly (in connection with that) I know little to nothing of the murky and rebarbative world of women’s hairdressing. I know it’s [...]
How much is that window with the doggie? An end to no-pets leases September 6, 2021 We are a nation of animal-lovers. 45 per cent of UK homes have a pet, of which the most popular is man’s best friend, the dog (7.3 million), followed by man’s most inscrutable observer, the cat (7.2 million). But we also keep rabbits and rats, hamsters and horses, snakes and salamanders. These numbers have swollen [...]
Gentlemen do wear plaid: How to sport the tartan September 2, 2021 I spent the bank holiday weekend in Glasgow. I hadn’t visited the former second city of the Empire for a couple of years, but from its suburbs spring my roots and I always feel a degree of comfort—admixed with wonder and bewilderment, it is true—when I step into the throngs on Buchanan Street or Argyle [...]
What does Extinction Rebellion actually want? August 31, 2021 Last week was a busy one for climate activists Extinction Rebellion. A series of non-violent but obstructionist protests saw them block first Seven Dials then Oxford Circus with a giant table representing an offer to “come to the table” to discuss fossil fuels. They also had chairs, as if the symbology were not heavy-handed enough, [...]
The best terraces in London to catch some bank holiday rays August 26, 2021 If we’re honest, the summer has not been great. The weather in London has flattered to deceive, and ongoing uncertainty over Covid-19 has affected many people’s holiday plans (which is why I’m not writing this from Cape Cod). But this weekend is the last breath of summer proper, the late August bank holiday (except for [...]
City Pages Review: Twitter fame, the meaning of life and abortion rights August 26, 2021 Since the curtains came down on 2019, many of us have spent more time inside our homes than we had ever imagined. The pandemic has thrown up political and social change rarely seen in peacetime, but living through and talking about Covid has consumed incredible amounts of oxygen, often to the exclusion of other worthy [...]
Leaders are entitled to holidays but Dominic Raab’s Crete vacation was a dereliction of duty August 23, 2021 Last week Foreign Secreatry, Dominic Raab was harangued from all sides because he was on holiday and either uncontactable or unwilling to disrupt his respite to make a telephone call to a minister in Kabul. The question of whether or not a conversation between Raab and his Afghan counterpart, Mohammad Hanif Atmar would have made [...]
It’s wedding season on steroids: Here’s how to dress properly August 19, 2021 I’m at an age where most of my friends who are so inclined have already married. However, throw in a partner a decade younger and some pals who have made mid-stream horse changes, and I do still get invited to weddings. This year is special, of course. The pandemic and its attendant lockdown acted as [...]
The fall of Afghanistan: Western governments got bored and Taliban rule has been resurrected August 16, 2021 We are watching a strategic and humanitarian calamity unfold. We are watching it live on TV and social media and yet, despite its immediacy, despite information from the scene of unparalleled detail and accuracy, we are doing nothing. Nothing except, perhaps, trying to evacuate the last few thousand of our troops who are still in [...]