It started with a royal succession and ended with an abdication under the clouds of looming war. It was 1936, the “hinge” of a decade when hunger, fascism and violence rubbed up against opulence and optimism.

UK Politics

Progressives: very best of enemies

03 May 2010
1 comment

We shouldn’t get overexcited by talk of a revival in the leftist alliance –– not just yet. The rift between Liberal and Labour is deep and owes as much to class and culture as to differences of ideas.

UK Politics

Less nanny state, more caring mate

29 March 2010
1 comment

Welfare was designed to improve our lives, but hasn’t. What we need is a compromise between Fabian-style state socialism and naked Thatcherism. Enter the new era of volunteering.

Life & Society

Koestler: the Indispensable Intellectual

18 February 2010

Koestler’s life and death have been the stuff of lurid speculation. But, as a new biography shows, his work remains his greatest legacy.

UK Politics

Doing deals in Downing Street

26 November 2009
1 comment

Recent opinion polls have fluctuated wildly, but one thing is certain: there is still no great love for the Tories. So, how likely are we to wake up to a hung parliament after election night 2010? And what does history suggest will happen next?