Provocateur

Humpty Dumpty and novichok

When I was a Leftie, at Cambridge, my abler Tory contemporaries often argued that their Party ought to embrace liberalism. This had nothing to do with the Liberal Party. They were referring to economic and social liberalism: free market economics plus personal freedom. They were drawing on the Bow Group, as it had been when Geoffrey Howe and others founded it. He and other impatient youngsters - this was more than sixty years ago - were fed up with the economic sterility to which the post-War UK seemed condemned. They also believed in the social reforms which came to be associated with Roy Jenkins: legalising homosexuality, abolishing the death penalty, making divorce easier. They were all in favour of entry into Europe, as a means of promoting economic and social progress. They did not realise just what a divisive issue Europe would become.

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Fear, Incompetence and Calamity

You think that it cannot get worse. There must come a moment when the government will reclaim some self-respect while the Prime Minister recovers some power of leadership. After all, she is the PM. But you are wrong. There seems to be no limit to drift and indecisiveness. No-one understands what is happening; no-one knows how to put it right. Mrs May has forfeited all authority and any claim to loyalty, or even affection. She is now derided, despised and disregarded.

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Grief, Guns and Hard Thinking

Seventeen murders, which means that around twice that number of people are facing a life sentence. There is no remission for grief and loss. Everyone is trying to work out why, and what can be done. In all that fog of confusion, there is only one certainty. This will not end with Florida. There will be more casual slaughters, more parents hoping against hope that their child has not fallen victim, only for that hope to end in heart-rending news and a life hurled into misery.

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An Irishism and a Terrible Sonnet

'May comes good at last' the newspapers proclaimed. This led to a rush to the life-support machine. Were the instruments suggesting that the brain was still alive? 'No' came the swift answer: 'wrong May'. Jonny May, the rugger player, had scored a brace of tries and helped England to victory. Theresa May, the politics player, still showed no signs of trying. The idea that she could help anyone to victory at anything is risible.

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The Ninny, the Clown and the Bennite

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from recent events. No government which includes Boris Johnson is worthy of the name. It would be tempting to conclude that the Foreign Secretary is just a spoiled, attention-seeking child. But that would be a serious underestimation. Boris knows that Mrs May thinks nothing of him and would dismiss him if she felt it safe to do so. So he is determined to remind her of the consequences of parting company.

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