Category: Politics

The Easter Egg

I hoped to wake up in Skopje this morning; in the Balkans following in the footsteps of Saki who was there before the First World War as foreign corespondent for The Morning Post; a warm, sunny Easter weekend ahead.

Dress to be Killed

My generation is divided into those who went to see Maureen Potter in panto at the Gaiety and those, like me, who went to see Jack Cruise at the Olympia. Miss Hickey, a spinster friend of Mrs McGinn, gave me an autograph book. She thoughtfully stood at the stage door to christen it with JC’s… Continue reading Dress to be Killed

Knights and Daze

In May this year I watched (on television) with sadness the funeral procession of Jean, Duke of Luxembourg. Now cast your mind back to 1558 when Charles V’s funeral procession took place in Brussels.

Midnight in Minsk

y Every Picture Tells a Story Sveltana Alexievich has a flat in this apartment building. She knows how to tell a story. She has written about the Second World War, sorry The Great Patriotic War, the war in Afghanistan and Chernobyl. Her technique is to interview people and tell the story through their words. This… Continue reading Midnight in Minsk

Arms and the Man

Arma virumque cano  (of arms and the man I sing) as Virgil puts it so succinctly in the Aeneid. A reader tells me a schoolboy hazarded this translation: “I sing of arms, men and dogs, sir”. I cannot sing but I do want to flaunt my Arms. The late Sir Iain Moncreiffe in Simple Heraldry, Cheerfully… Continue reading Arms and the Man

Thank You, Plum

September was a good month for Wodehousians. On the 20th we assembled in Westminster Abbey for Evensong and then, in a state of Grace but not Monaco, the Duke of Kent presented a memorial to PGW to the Dean, who dedicated it.

News from Downing Street

An unexpected invitation to Downing Street yesterday. A few privileged people working there could ask friends and family and show them round.

It’s Too Late Now

There was only ever one solution to Brexit. I often talk what what you might term bollocks; I’d merely call it nonsense. But in 2016 I made two good calls: that Parliament would obstruct Brexit and the best way forward was to join the European Economic Area (EEA).