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This article was written by John Kemp. All views and opinions expressed are strictly his own. Walking along the North Downs Way last weekend, I came across two striking cast iron posts near the summit of Colley Hill outside the town of Reigate in Surrey. The posts stand about one metre high, are painted brilliant white, bear the coat of arms of the Corporation of London, and refer to a piece of legislation from the reign of Queen Victoria. The posts mark the boundary where du

This article was written by Anthony Lipmann. All views and opinions expressed are strictly his own. If you happen to have seen Chicago the musical perhaps you will remember the character of Mr Cellophane? He is the foil for the intoxicating female lead, Roxie Hart, and a plot based around a glut of homicides committed by women in the Chicago of the 1920s. The character of Mr Cellophane, who gets some good numbers in the show, is her sweet-natured, naive, and ignored husband (

A couple of weeks ago, Anthony wrote here an article (“The Consolations of Metals”) which was broadly speaking about decision-making. He spoke of the relative merits of different academic backgrounds of politicians, and the possible effect that may have on their ability to make decisions effectively. (I should interject here that - unlike him - I do not wish our new PM well; I wish him gone, with his whole cabal, as soon as possible. But that’s a discussion for another day…)

This article was written by Anthony Lipmann. All views and opinions expressed are strictly his own. Extraordinarily, Britain, as of the summer of 2026, acquired a Prime Minister with a degree in English Literature. Also, a runner and a supporter of Everton FC - two further endearing qualities to me, but perhaps not to all. But how, you may ask, does the study of Emma or Wuthering Heights assist a PM to make good judgments about the war in Ukraine or the ‘triple lock’? Som

This article was written by Richard Horswill. All views and opinions expressed are strictly his own. Ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran are taking their toll on the global economy. The tipping point seems to be in sight particularly as refined oil products are in tight supply due to refinery outages in Russia and in the region of the Strait of Hormuz. Ukraine having attacked Russian oil infrastructure, and Iran keeping the Strait all but shut, whilst the US is attempting to exp