First, it emerged that as many as 300,000 Britons had kept savings in Icelandic banks, which turned out to be considerably less safe than houses. We then learned that several publicly funded organisations, such as the Metropolitan Police Authority an...

The Government action, pulled together early on Wednesday morning by a legion of exhausted officials, was unprecedented in scale. But it was necessary. These are extraordinary times. Dramatic, even heavy-handed, action is right. It is right to go fa...

Over the past few days, the Republicans have stepped up their efforts to portray Barack Obama as some kind of hostile alien in America's midst. Mr McCain's running-mate, Sarah Palin, accuses the Democrat of "palling around with terrorists", while Rep...

However, I have to express a personal preference for writing that seems closer to the world in which we live, and clearly does illuminate it. When I was at school I saw a performance of Thornton Wilder's play Our Town. The only scenery and props were...

Swingeing conditions must accompany the Government's financial support – a review of bonuses and remuneration can only be implemented by the Government placing their own men as executive directors on pay review committees. Currently they are staffed ...

Smacking is not corporal punishment, or violence, or assault. It lies somewhere between insisting on changing the nappy of a resentful infant and the shrugging of one's shoulders when adult offspring embark upon some youthful folly. When plain words,...

After September 11 2001, Russia – like many other states – instantly, without a second thought, stretched out a hand of friendship. And we did that not only to rebuff terrorism but also for the sake of overcoming the division in the world after the C...

The show – which puts Vicky Pollard at a Utah boot camp and Daffyd Thomas, only gay in the village, at a politically-correct Carolina university – debuted two weeks ago on HBO, after an expensive promotional campaign. Yet so far, it's bombed. Yesterd...