Congratulations to David Frost on leading his team of negotiators in an historic diplomatic operation which will give him a well deserved foot note in history. And there is a lesson in government for Boris Johnson too. If you test a policy to destruction before making a decisi...
It is instructive to read the foreword to the ministerial code. “To fulfil this mission and win back the trust of the British people we must now uphold the very highest standards of propriety, and this code sets it out. Now we must do it. There must be no bullying and no...
I don’t often give Boris Johnson any credit, but today I doff my cap. Not because he sacked Cain and Cummings, but because of the reason. The full frontal, kick in the bollocks, the cardboard box walk of shame normally reserved for the office sex pest or a sticky finger in th...
In 1940, in what has become known as the Norway debate, Tory Grandee Leo Amery rose to his feet and delivered a withering speech which ended with a quote from Oliver Cromwell. ‘You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart I say and let us have done wi...
I am not going to write about the political implications of Trump’s illness although they are enormous and looming. I will be concentrating on the legal and constitutional chaos that could paralyse the country. And cheer the enemies of democracy. Let me try and work t...
What strange times we live in. If the Prime Minister decides to hang up his fright wig for a money making wheeze on the lecture circuit, Fleet Street scribbling, snorterinos de luxe and chasing top Tory totty, it won’t be because he has been the most disastrous Conservative le...
Is there no friend he cannot betray? Is there no promise he cannot break? Is there no lie he cannot utter? Is there no institution he has no contempt for? Is there no law that he has respect for? The poison of Boris Johnson has no boundaries. He is the incarnation of e...
I really do not understand why certain issues have become so polarised. Take the row about wearing face coverings. To Des Swain, whom I rather like, it is a ‘monstrous intrusion’. To others it is a gross infringement of their freedoms. To me, in certain circumstances, it is a ...
It is hard to believe that the general election was only a few months ago. It feels that we are witnessing the slow decay of an era. The gradual decline and fall of an empire riddled with venality, incompetence, cronyism and a whiff of corruption. A government that is limping ...
So at last Number 10 has made up its mind and decided that they need White House televised press conferences to replace the behind closed doors lobby system. In theory it’s a very good idea to have a CJ Creeg figure wise cracking with the reptiles bringing transparency and the...