Let's start with some counter-factuals. History generally remains a remembrance of all the things that didn't happen, rather than contemplation of all the things that did. But it's a valuable exercise to think about what didn't happen over the past f...

First was the ovation given to Boris Johnson when he came on to hand the Olympic flag to his mayoral counterpart from Rio. It seems incredible that, even in these happy-clappy times when we get all misty-eyed about anything or anyone who represents B...

Who now remembers the failure of G4S to supply enough security staff, or the wrong Korean flag that almost led to a first-round walk-out? Or the arguments about missile batteries on the roof and warships in the Thames, or the doom-laden forecasts abo...

Plumping for Mr Ryan suggests Mr Romney felt the need to cement support on his party's right wing – a job he should have completed in winning the nomination. The custom is for candidates to lean to the extreme during the primaries, then move to the c...

Why would we choose an anthem whose title is a deeply disputed principal city? And if we try to explain that this is the "new Jerusalem" (Heaven?) we will only add delusions of grandeur to our national characteristics.And "Jerusalem" is a hymn to Eng...

This alone will be welcomed by the Government, which had hoped that giving universities more freedom to set their own fees would lead to more competition than it has. It should be equally welcome to aspiring students, who will also have the option to...