“The local election results and the opinion polls convey a pointed message – that my government and I have for the time being lost the confidence of our supporters. We cannot deny the reality that the next election may be a step too far for a government completing its third term.

To accept this is oddly liberating. It means that, instead of focusing exclusively on trying to win an election, [...]

If you are interested in a guided tour of current intellectual fashion, Francis Fukuyama's latest book is just the ticket. It offers overnight stops in anthropology, economics, moral philosophy, psychology, neuro-physiology and other attractive locations. As with all good tours, it offers a combination of the exotic and the familiar. There are enough new names to suggest that we are breaking new ground, but there are also comfortingly established names [...]

When Peter Mandelson's resignation from the cabinet was reported in New Zealand - a resignation apparently caused by Paul Routledge's investigations - he was described to a public which had never heard of him before as "the architect of New Labour". "Yes," said my New Zealand friends, who had noticed the capital N, "but what is New Labour?"

As many have remarked, the capital N is significant (though the New [...]