Leader: In defence of Project Fear
The Leave camp must make its case with a sober assessment of the arguments.
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American Psycho
George Osborne’s stock has fallen, but it’s too soon to write off his leadership hopes
The Chancellor’s position was never as strong as suggested. Nor is it now as weak.
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Hugh McIlvanney will be named a bully, braggart and bore – but he had a rare gift
As McIlvanney retires from sports journalism, it is worth remembering why to read him on Muhammed Ali or Matt…
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How the migrant crisis is helping Erdogan control the Turkish press
The clampdown on critical media groups is just one element of Turkey’s censorship of journalists.
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Why George Osborne’s climbdown from pensions reform was predictable – and poor
Plus Daily Mail euphemisms, ignoring Bernie Sanders’s success, and a councillor’s righteous rage.
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Why I’ll be doing stand-up comedy about politics, power and the pink bus
Stories about working in politics are told largely by white men educated at Oxbridge – now I’m no longer…
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The fall of Maria Sharapova
Should we be surprised by her humiliation?
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Should we subject candidates for President to psychiatric testing?
According to Frederick Burkle, “today’s tyrants” exhibit a range of narcissistic and antisocial traits.
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Commons Confidential: Bipartisan tandoori
Menu faces, press gallery places and why you should never get on the wrong side of Michael Dugher.
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Could this be the year the Tories make headway in Scotland?
Scots may like Ruth Davidson, think little of Scottish Labour and even agree with the Conservatives on income tax…
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The day the Devil found my secret garden
I loved the walled garden until one day a sign appeared, placed there by developers and warning me to…
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I never could stand Janis Joplin’s voice – until I began to understand her
I have to confess, Joplin’s singing had always set me on edge. But seeing the way she struggled to…
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It may surprise you to hear I was single-handedly responsible for keeping the Independent alive
Even as my column shrunk, my pay remained the same – until, the editor told me, only my departure…
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What thrilling doomsday scenario will English football come up with next?
The rumoured meeting between the Big Five clubs risks creating an unfair Premiere League.
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Want to see your neighbourhood in a new light? Move around the corner
Inhabiting any new locale involves adopting new perspectives, and relocating a few hundred metres up the road makes the…
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My mother elbowed Tony Benn out of the way to get to her Vietnamese comrades
Molly descended the stairs and, going straight over to the ambassador, elbowed Tony Benn out of the way.
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I know what you’re thinking – but this graphic novel of Proust is a triumph
Stéphane Heuet’s illustrated adaptation of Swann’s Way is a triumph.
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The new books exploring masculinity and family life
I Am Sorry to Think I Have Raised a Timid Son and The Seven Good Years may two more books…
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Joanna Walsh’s Vertigo is artful and intelligent – but not wholly successful
Walsh’s short stories are elegant, but the closed-off life they portray is an impoverished one for anybody.
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“What if?” history books normally annoy me – but History’s People is an exception
Margaret MacMillan’s selection of neglected voices in History’s People reminds us how individual choices and actions come to shape our…
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What we can learn from the economic theories of a former Bank of England governer
Mervyn King’s The End of Alchemy is rigorous – but his “audacity of pessimism” may be more pessimistic than audacious.
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How do we know what we believe is true?
Ultimate Questions by Bryan Magee invites us to reconsider the very nature of truth – but its answers are sometimes…
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The Coen brothers on the music that scores their films
The brilliance of Saturday Night at the Movies on Classic FM is that it gets people sick to death of talking…
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Julian Fellowes is back – and this time it’s Trollope
Though my loathing for Downton borders on the pathological, I am keen on Trollope – but while Doctor Thorne…
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Stop-motion film Anomalisa reminds us that perfection is an illusion
Charlie Kaufman may be the most original voice in US cinema since David Lynch, and this latest film has…
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Margaret Forster: A northern lass in NW5
Antisocial and curious, rude and generous, a literary EastEnders fan – my friend was full of contradictions.
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