Richard Ingrams

Richard Ingrams has written a column for The Independent since 2005. A key figures in the satire boom of the 1960s, he helped found Private Eye and edited it for 23 years. In 1992 he founded The Oldie, which he has edited since. Vintage humorist, scourge of the pompous and the power-hungry, Ingrams brings a unique perspective to bear on the political foibles of the age and on a culture in thrall to celebrity.

Richard Ingrams' Week: The perils and pitfalls facing today's historians

The story of Martin Allen, the self-styled "eminent historian" who published a book in 2005 accusing my father of assassinating Heinrich Himmler on the orders of Winston Churchill, was revived last week in The Financial Times.

Recently by Richard Ingrams

Richard Ingrams' Week: Blair's Babes were hardly battleaxes – more's the pity

Saturday, 26 April 2008

Pictures of Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero surrounded by members of his 90 per cent female cabinet call to mind similar pictures of Tony Blair surrounded by his newly elected female MPs, the so-called Blair Babes.

Richard Ingrams' Week: God forbid that religion is part of religious studies

Saturday, 19 April 2008

Further confirmation that we live in a mad world came this week with the announcement that in future, the GCSE syllabus for religious studies will include the study of humanism.

Richard Ingrams' Week: Our distorted priorities are ruining the economy

Saturday, 12 April 2008

The price of food is rocketing up while the price of housing is beginning to rocket down. The strange thing is that both the up and the down are considered to be serious cause for concern.

Richard Ingrams' Week: I'd prefer a bookie to a clergyman in Number Ten

Saturday, 5 April 2008

Malcolm Muggeridge used to divide prime ministers into two categories – bookies and clergymen (Attlee a clergyman, Wilson a bookie, etc). I was reminded of this by Thursday's pictures of Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair taken at the time of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations.

Richard Ingrams' Week: We all need a lesson in morals, or so it seems

Saturday, 29 March 2008

Britain is heading off the cliff, says the cover of this week's Spectator in big, black letters. It refers to an article in the current issue of the magazine by Mr David Selbourne, lamenting the decline of Britain and the "moral cowardice" that now reigns in the corridors of power.

Richard Ingrams' Week: Is this the diagnosis for the condition called 'Blair'?

Saturday, 22 March 2008

An observant doctor watching Tony Blair on TV noticed how at one point his hairline appeared to have moved forward but then later seemed to move back again.

Richard Ingrams' Week: No wonder there is little pride and patriotism left

Saturday, 15 March 2008

The former attorney general Lord Goldsmith is famous for one thing. In December 2002 he was asked by Tony Blair to adjudicate on whether the imminent invasion of Iraq would be legal under international law. Goldsmith's response was that it would be legal only in the event of a second UN resolution. But a few weeks later in March 2003 Goldsmith changed his mind and gave his approval to the imminent invasion. The reasons for the change have never been officially explained. But people are entitled to assume, despite his many protestations to the contrary, that he was leant on by Blair and meekly gave way.

Richard Ingrams' Week: Scorn is the price people pay for having an education

Saturday, 8 March 2008

When education minister Andy Burnham was talking last month about plans to introduce schoolchildren to culture, I pointed out that nowadays what we older folk think of as culture is regarded by many people in authority as elitist. I am grateful to Burnham's fellow minister, Mrs Margaret Hodge, for spelling this out very clearly in a speech this week to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Richard Ingrams' Week: Nowhere to hide when the thetans are on your tail

Saturday, 1 March 2008

Not content with ID cards, the authorities are now talking of a national DNA database. As if it was not bad enough having all kinds of personal details being made available, I now find I must be on my guard against other more dangerous incursions into my rapidly shrinking private environment.

Richard Ingrams' Week: He may be troubled, but Al Fayed is far from mad

Saturday, 23 February 2008

"Troubled" is the latest word to be used to describe the motley collection of deadbeats and drug addicts who comprise today's celebrities. Paul Gascoigne is a troubled former footballer. Amy Winehouse is a troubled singer. I was only surprised not to see Mohamed Al Fayed described as troubled Harrods supremo.

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