Generally speaking, a watershed between the right and the left in politics is formed by the Enlightenment.

People I’d describe as real conservatives detest it, while those on the left feel exactly the opposite.

Sir John, who, I don’t mind admitting, is my political, moral and intellectual idol, hit the nail on the head the other day, with Ukip being the nail and Nigel Farage the head.

Ukip, explained my idol, “is peddling sheer nastiness” that is “profoundly un-British in every way”.

Arithmetic and statistics are useful tools for liars. A little massaging here, a little bending there, and suddenly a lie sounds plausible. When it comes to liars in our government, they don’t have to distort their sums to make a false point. All it takes is applying arithmetic to issuesRead More

It’s endlessly fascinating to observe how modernity rapes the very reason in whose name it was inaugurated,the foundation on which it’s supposedly built. Upon closer examination, however, one realises that the foundation is subsiding and termite-ridden. Detached from its divine source, reason can become very unreasonable indeed. Actually, as ifRead More

I don’t know if Andy Street, head of John Lewis, plays football, but he’s certainly a master of our second most popular sport: French bashing. Nothing in France works, he says. In absolute terms he’s not far wrong: most things in France don’t work as well as they should. ButRead More

David Cameron has only one thing going for him: he isn’t Ed Miliband. Miliband’s speech at the Labour conference proved yet again that he has learned nothing from the disasters his socialist predecessors have perpetrated with predictable regularity. Clearly, this Eddie is not for learning. Dave isn’t a particularly fastRead More

Our country is at war. Historically, that’s what the RAF flying bombing sorties has meant. If this fact now calls for a different interpretation, I’d like to hear what it is. Until I do I’ll be repeating the same old thing: Britain is at war. And I hope you’ll joinRead More

If, like me, you aren’t plugged into popular culture, Robson Green is some kind of TV actor, a rather good one by general consent. That makes him a celebrity, a status that confers on its proud possessor the authority to enlarge on any subject under the sun and have hisRead More

Lord Hailsham’s explanation of conservatism is correct, but only as far as it goes: “Conservatism is not so much a philosophy as an attitude, a constant force, performing a timeless function in the development of a free society, and corresponding to a deep and permanent requirement of human nature itself.”Read More

Ed Miliband is asking for 10 years in power to “turn Britain around”. He’s being uncharacteristically modest. Socialists have never needed years to destroy a country when they take over. Depending on their radicalism, this feat may take them days to achieve (Lenin) or perhaps weeks (Hollande). Never years. WritingRead More