By: Eliot Wilson

Eliot Wilson is a writer, commentator and contributing editor at Defence On The Brink. He was formerly a clerk in the House of Commons and writes regularly on politics, defence and international security, and Parliament and the constitution, including for The Spectator, The Hill, The i Paper and CapX

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After the Martin Bashir scandal, the BBC must claw back its status as a cultural embassy for Britain

May 24, 2021

It has been a bad weekend for the BBC. The fall-out from Lord Dyson’s report on Martin Bashir and his infamous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, has exposed not just individual wrongdoing by a rogue journalist but an institutional desire—and ability—to look the other way and excuse appalling behaviour because it delivered a scoop [...]
Like a virgin? The expanding world of alcohol-free cocktails

May 17, 2021

I gave up drinking three years ago, after twenty-odd enthusiastic years, and so I’ve spent the time since then searching out replacements. Some people say that’s a bad idea, that you maintain the habit and tread a dangerous line: all I can say is that the habit, the ritual, the variety was one of the [...]
An unholy alliance between the Tories, Greens and Lib Dems could hold Sadiq Khan’s feet to the fire

May 17, 2021

The London Assembly rarely cuts through in the news landscape. It’s committee structure does not quicken the pulse or stiffen the sinew. This is in some ways a pity, as the assembly has wide powers to scrutinise the activities of the elected mayor and can, in some circumstances, even amend his budget or reject strategic [...]
Members’ clubs in the age of Covid, from Groucho to Boisdale

May 12, 2021

Are you clubbable? Some people are, fiercely, while others disdain the whole idea. It is thought men are more clubbable than women, though that may not be supported by facts. In any event, if you are what PG Wodehouse would have called a clubman, you will be eagerly awaiting Monday 17 May and the reopening [...]
Vaccine patents: When does free for all become a free-for-all?

May 10, 2021

As the UK begins to see the light at the end of the Covid tunnel, at least in terms of mass vaccination and the lifting of most personal restrictions, the virus has hit the headlines anew elsewhere in the world. Its virulent spread in India has been the most eye-catching and heart-rending, with deaths topping [...]
Capital exports: London should have its own diplomats in every UK embassy to make Britain truly global

May 4, 2021

British embassies around the world run the whole gamut. From No. 35, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré to Level 19 of the Shangri-La Offices in Ulaanbataar, they look different but all have the same purpose: to maintain and develop relations between the UK and the host country. That can mean a multitude of different things in [...]
Red faces full of port wine: how to drink England’s favourite wine

May 4, 2021

What’s the first thing you think of when you read the word “port”? I suspect for many of you it will evoke a very distinct stereotype, and not all of that will be positive. Some of you, I’ll wager, thought “gout”. Most of the images that came to mind will have been of well-off, well-upholstered [...]
Tailoring after Covid: Bespoke womenswear

April 26, 2021

London is famous for its gentlemen’s tailoring: Savile Row and Jermyn Street belong to a city of tailors, not couturiers. It is built in tradition that extends back more than two centuries, and the great cutters and robemakers will show you officers’ uniforms from the high Victorian period and the garments of orders of knighthood. [...]
The Super League was a bungled sales pitch from start to finish

April 26, 2021

It could have been a news story tailor-made for the short attention span of the 2020s: the Super League, a football competition intended to rival or replace the UEFA Champions League at the summit of the European game, was announced last week. It floundered for a moment, before falling into abeyance in a shorter time [...]
Suits you, sir: can bespoke tailoring survive the pandemic?

April 20, 2021

One of the dominant themes to emerge as we fight our way out of the Covid pandemic is what the future of the workplace might look like. Will employees still feel safe congregating together to share that quicksilver creative spark? Will businesses reduce their footprint and have teams at home two or three days a [...]

‘Very concerned’: City watchdog scolds motor finance lenders over £9bn redress scheme

Dallas, Boston, New York New Jersey: Inside England’s Fifa World Cup stadiums

Glengarry Glen Ross at the Old Vic fails to close

By: Eliot Wilson

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