If universities and employers are disappointed by gaps in the knowledge or skills of their new recruits – and their loudest recent complaints have been about the mastery of basic reading, writing and maths – this should not be laid at the door of ind...

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, Reagan and Thatcher displayed Churchillian magnanimity towards Gorbachev's broken nation. Relations were never better. There was no triumphalism. Then came Madeleine Albright, with all the inbuilt prejudices a...

It is clear that we are in the midst of a sharp slowdown; one that could very easily turn into a full-blown recession. It is hard not to draw a contrast between such dire reports and the optimistic tone adopted by the stewards of our economy this tim...

Take today's A-level results. Why are grades so much higher these days? Because teachers, under pressure, are getting better and better at squeezing every last mark out of every pupil regardless of whether the students really understand what they are...

Embarking on my journey to Edinburgh to become director of one of Europe's oldest and finest cultural organisations, I have been hugely inspired by the open-spirited debate about the future of the European Union; a future that is being robustly conte...

Questions of safety and personal responsibility are not irrelevant when it comes to rape. Women should be wary about drinking to excess and making themselves a possible target for those with criminal intent (although this applies to men, just as much...

Lead mediator President Thabo Mbeki and other Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders should press Zimbabwe's leadership to address crucial human rights issues prior to any transitional government arising from the current negotiations. ...

But more significantly, he developed their careers at the nation's public service broadcaster, the BBC. Without Sir Bill's brilliance as an impresario of light entertainment in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, ITV might easily have developed a monopoly on thi...