Simon Carr on The Independent

The Sketch: Electrifying growl shows the authentic voice of the Mail

10 February 2012 12:00 AM

On the last day of the "first module", we had the recall of Mail editor Paul Dacre to the Leveson Inquiry. We were all in suspense – right until victims' counsel finished his first question and the room reacted with one big "Huh?" What an example of forensic eloquence he made Ed Miliband look; eventually Mr Dacre was able to "refuse to answer" any more questions about the "mystery woman who didn't exist".

The Sketch: Not quite a clean bill of health, but Ed's stable

09 February 2012 12:00 AM

The important thing was the voice. It had lost the pleady, plaintive thing

The Sketch: How's an honest terrorist to know what's going on?

08 February 2012 12:00 AM

One after the other, MPs stood up goggling at their individual and collective helplessness

Simon Carr: Seeing him, it's hard to believe the reputation

07 February 2012 12:00 AM

Off his ground, out of his tank, Dacre looked nervous, defensive, even awed under examination

Simon Carr: Drowsy hum of an education bureaucrat

03 February 2012 12:00 AM

The Sketch

The Sketch: Meet silent executioner from the Cabinet Office

02 February 2012 12:00 AM

How long does it take to abolish 16 Agricultural Dwelling Houses Advisory Committees?

The Sketch: Another good day for Ed. Have the shackles come off?

01 February 2012 12:00 AM

He got away with it, on the whole, there was no animus on the backbenches against the Prime Minister; even David Davis left without asking a question. No Tory really blamed him for his EU-turn on the breakaway group's use of the common institutions like the European Court. The Lord only knows whether that really matters or not.

Simon Carr: All this talk of silos is getting us nowhere

31 January 2012 12:00 AM

Lord Turner talked of 'macroprudential systemic risk' but no one hurled rotten fruit at him

Simon Carr: No wonder Deputy Clegg hates inequality

27 January 2012 12:00 AM

The Sketch: As Dave was in Davos with the billionaires, Nick was struggling to make ends meet

The Sketch: Ed's role needs a rewrite – and recasting

26 January 2012 12:00 AM

A wild, warrior cry came out of the back of the chamber from the visitors' bench. Was it Meryl Streep researching her next political role? She's got Fiona Mactaggart off to a T. Looks, manner, voice like a screeching brake. "THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER!" she unleashed herself at Cameron from 50 feet, halfway through PMQs.

Sir Richard Branson gives evidence to the select committee

The Sketch: The war on drugs? There's no fight Branson can't win

25 January 2012 12:00 AM

He knows better than anyone the way to crush enterprise is to have them register for VAT

Simon Carr: It's transparent – the pay divide will not be bridged

24 January 2012 12:00 AM

Sketch: And what of Vince's plan to rein in executive pay? Transparency, exhortation and workers on the remuneration committees

The Sketch: An ambitious effort, but Tory leader could do with a kitten

20 January 2012 12:00 AM

If the main shareholder can't make a kitten out of a fatcat, how will the little-interested ones?

The Sketch: By jingo, 2012 is the year of true-blue bulldog spirit!

19 January 2012 12:00 AM

It's quite a Tory year coming up – what with the Queen's Jubilee, Boris's victory in the mayoral elections, Lord Coe's Olympics, the anniversary of the Falklands. Cameron seems to have lifted himself up an energy level to meet it. He's fizzing. He sometimes goes off in the wrong direction but his blast-area has doubled in size since the Opposition collapse.

The Sketch: Britain has a new supercop. Now all he needs is his mission

18 January 2012 12:00 AM

In a snapshot of modern policing, the new DG of the NCA (which replaces the SOCA and the NPIA) was in front of the HASC describing how the SRC would operate with the PP to interact with the PCCs.