Does devaluation really provide economic stimulus?
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Opinion blogs
All Blair’s Fault, contd.
I have been inundated with a request, from Polly Toynbee, for my opinion on an article in The Observ...
Twitter, power lists and the question of gender
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Philip Hensher: Why should this lot get rich at my expense?
25 May 2012 08:00 PM
Britain is alone in Europe in maintaining free banking – or "free banking", as one ought to call it. Banks in Europe charge on average about £70 a year for basic banking services.
Philip Hensher: Will nobody mourn the death of classical music?
18 May 2012 08:00 PM
A couple of years ago, I arranged to meet a friend at Vauxhall Tube station. I was there a few minutes early. In the ticket hall, there was a pleasant and familiar sound. Surprisingly, London Underground seemed to have decided to play Beethoven's Seventh Symphony over the tannoys.
Philip Hensher: It's tough to sack a civil servant (I should know)
11 May 2012 08:00 PM
The number of civil servants has, interestingly, dropped very substantially under the Coalition. Whether as a result of redefinition or of stripping down, the numbers have fallen since the Brownite high point, from over half a million to a mere 434,000.
Philip Hensher: There are some crime stories that will never reveal their ending
04 May 2012 08:00 PM
The urges of narrative have their own place. But life does not always conform to its structures
Philip Hensher: The spies who failed to notice a dead co-worker
27 April 2012 08:00 PM
You would expect a faster response to a disappearance if you worked on a till at Tesco
Philip Hensher: Do you think people can be 'cured' of their sexuality through prayer? Get over it!
14 April 2012 12:00 AM
Stonewall's awareness-raising campaign has been running for a few years now. It states, in bold letters, "Some people are gay. Get over it". That's easy to say: persuading people into a position of tolerance, or not caring either way, might take a little longer.
Philip Hensher: A politician's wealth is fascinating, but it's not necessarily our business
07 April 2012 12:10 AM
How gripping it would be to discover how much one’s friends and enemies made last year
Philip Hensher: The Swedes have the right idea on binge drinking
24 March 2012 12:00 AM
The authorities should deny all supermarkets an alcohol licence. Let it be sold through specialist outlets
Philip Hensher: Against gay marriage? Too late, it's already here
17 March 2012 12:00 AM
I don’t know a single person in a civil partnership who doesn’t refer to themselves as being married
Philip Hensher: Is it a castle – or is it just a source of capital?
10 March 2012 12:00 AM
The mansion tax strikes hard at something close to the English heart. Houses are extensions of the self
Philip Hensher: We turn up our music to cover the screams
03 March 2012 12:00 AM
The horrible thing about the murder of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu is that so many people were aware of it as it took its four-day course. Kristy's sister, Magalie Bamu, and her partner, Eric Bikubi, lived in a flat on the eighth floor. Kristy and two of his sisters were visiting from Paris at Christmas, 2010. After a few days, Bikubi decided that they were possessed by devils, and carried out a brutal improvised "exorcism", at the end of which Kristy was left pleading to be allowed to die. His body bore the marks of 101 separate injuries.
Philip Hensher: Of Blackadder and white women of a certain age
24 February 2012 12:00 AM
There are voices out there which traditional media neglect through their age, ethnicity, culture, sexuality
Philip Hensher: All very well in a gallery, but can you imagine living with the icon of urban depression?
22 February 2012 12:00 AM
A City acquaintance had a Damien Hirst medicine cabinet, to the occasional confusion of his guests
Philip Hensher: Do you want an experience or just to film it?
10 February 2012 12:00 AM
Sarah Millican is right. It's theft, as much as if you went into Waterstones and photocopied a new novel
Philip Hensher: My solution to the Falklands problem: sell them
03 February 2012 12:00 AM
I doubt we have much stomach for another war in the south Atlantic. And we need the money
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