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’s Week: Why say what you mean when you can use jargon
I was never much good at philosophy, which I studied at Oxford, but it did give me the useful habit, in the age of jargon, of asking what people mean when they say certain things.
Recently by Richard Ingrams
Richard Ingrams’s Week: The public has little faith in this 'war on terror'
Saturday, 15 November 2008
Put on the spot over the affair of Baby P, the head of children's services at Haringey, Sharon Shoesmith, said her services had "worked effectively". It reminded me of Commander Cressida Dick apropos the de Menezes shooting who said the other day that "we did nothing wrong".
Richard Ingrams’s Week: We're running out of firms we can trust with our data
Saturday, 8 November 2008
It is reported that the Post Office and Boots are among those firms being encouraged to fingerprint the population for the Government's new identity card scheme.
Richard Ingrams’s Week: Feel confident about your money? Don’t bank on it
Saturday, 1 November 2008
A man jailed this week who made more than £2m from stolen pin numbers and credit cards
Richard Ingrams's Week: Defenders of the sanctity of human life grow weaker
Saturday, 25 October 2008
It was Trotsky who referred scornfully to "the Papist-Quaker babble about the sanctity of human life". And it would be nice to think that such sentiments, only too typical of ruthless and bloodthirsty revolutionaries, have no place in the civilised world we live in today.
Richard Ingrams's Week: Fred the Shred loses the job but not the gong
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Sir Fred Goodwin, who has resigned as chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, lists his recreation in Who's Who as restoring cars. He may have some more time for this now, while others, hopefully less cavalier, are embarking on the more difficult task of restoring banks.
Richard Ingrams’ Week: Being in the Met means never having to say you're sorry
Saturday, 11 October 2008
"We did nothing wrong," so said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick, giving evidence at the inquest into the shooting in July 2005 of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Richard Ingrams’ Week: My friend Claud, and advice the high street might heed
Saturday, 4 October 2008
One of my earliest lessons in life was given me by the veteran left-wing journalist, Claud Cockburn (father of The Independent's intrepid Patrick).
Richard Ingrams' Week: Secretive world of family court and expert witnesses
Saturday, 27 September 2008
Incompetent doctors can take heart from the story of paediatrician Dr David Southall. His case proved once again that professional people never like to see one of their number prevented from earning a good living, whatever he or she may have done in the past.
Richard Ingrams' Week: Now we all have to pay for the banks' mistakes
Saturday, 20 September 2008
City whizzkids and investment bankers have traditionally benefited from the general inability from the rest of us to understand what they actually get up to.
Richard Ingrams' Week: Here's proof of how much the US differs from us
Saturday, 13 September 2008
Tania Head, the American who fooled everyone into believing that she was one of the few survivors of 9/11, explained that "something gave me the strength to get out. I believe that it was my fiancée on his way to heaven" (the fiancée, a figment of her imagination, had, according to her fictitious account, already perished in the blaze).
Columnist Comments
• Andrew Grice: The Chancellor must consider tax hikes.
Despite the weight on his shoulders, the Chancellor remains remarkably calm.
• Howard Jacobson: The lesson of Hitler's deformity.
So Hitler actually did have only one ball. I call that a pity for history.
• Deborah Orr: Praising the public on pointless decisions.
People power, as it pertains to television anyway, is proving to be a tricky beast.
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1 Kabul 30 years ago, and Kabul today. Have we learned nothing?
2 Howard Jacobson: Read more literature and less history. That's the lesson of Hitler's deformity
3 Robert Skidelsky: What would Keynes have done?
4 Robert Fisk: Once more fear stalks the streets of Kandahar
5 Leading article: The overwhelming case for a major economic package
6 Deborah Orr: It's easy to praise the public on decisions that don't matter
7 Ian Burrell: I doubt the head of compliance finds this prank so 'hilarious' now
8 Rupert Cornwell: Formidable opponent is now the best choice
9 Andrew Grice: A cool Chancellor must consider putting up taxes
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1 Kabul 30 years ago, and Kabul today. Have we learned nothing?
2 Howard Jacobson: Read more literature and less history. That's the lesson of Hitler's deformity
3 Deborah Orr: For most women, prostitution is not a life choice
4 Leading article: The overwhelming case for a major economic package
5 Leading article: The BBC still does not understand
6 Andrew Grice: A cool Chancellor must consider putting up taxes
7 Robert Skidelsky: What would Keynes have done?
8 Leading article: Better education can help to make our roads safer



