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How the Belgians got their Waffles

Before she arrived, across Europe, it had been decreed that the cuisine should be made fine. The vegetables should be cut into fine pieces. The meats should be served in fine portions, the spices sprinkled in fine measure, the servings dished up on fine plates. This fine food should be eaten by fine people, whoContinue reading “How the Belgians got their Waffles”

Dear England and History

In 1996, Gareth Southgate missed a penalty for England against Germany at Wembley. That meant England lost, and were knocked out of the Euros. In 2018, now as manager, Gareth Southgate led England into a penalty shootout against Columbia in the World Cup. Since his miss, England had lost to Argentina on penalties in theContinue reading “Dear England and History”

Phillip Schofield – Dirty Monkey

The finale was perfect – right down to the last, minute detail. All HBO’s screenwriters and Sky’s producers could not have written a dirtier crime, a more surprising villain, or a faster fall from grace. Nor could the scene before the fall have been more perfectly set, a TV double act painted in the softestContinue reading “Phillip Schofield – Dirty Monkey”

“There just aren’t many women around”

I’m basically happy with my life. Law school is alright, I think I’m getting better at football, and I live in Swiss Cottage, which is pretty beaut. It’s got Primrose Hill next door and a neat range of coffee vans that make me feel grown up. There’s just one problem. I’ve been trying to fillContinue reading ““There just aren’t many women around””

The 19th century idealist state theory of TH Green and Bernard Bosanquet, and Hobhouse’s critique

It is a fact sometimes commented upon in histories of British state theory that two of the key thinkers, Henry Sidgwick and Thomas Hill Green, were schoolmates. Recalling his time at Rugby in the 1850s, TH Green remembers Sidgwick, who grew into the philosopher behind Rule Utilitarianism, as the ‘chubby pot-bellied little Rugby boy.’ BothContinue reading “The 19th century idealist state theory of TH Green and Bernard Bosanquet, and Hobhouse’s critique”

What is the relationship between political rhetoric and leadership?

*This essay connects classical ideas about rhetoric to the 21st century scene of tv chat shows, twitter, news by phone and laptop etc. It shows why rhetoric has changed, how it has changed, and the problems connected with rhetoric today. Specifically – that it makes political leadership harder* Introduction In 4th century BC Athens, AristotleContinue reading “What is the relationship between political rhetoric and leadership?”

Figgis, pluralism, and the role of politics

Clement Attlee, in one of the most effective and respected 20th century governments, took on the ‘Five Evils’ – Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness – by guiding the young British welfare state towards its maturity. Less well known, although equally important, was the Liberal government of Herbert Asquith, 1906 – 1914, the government that createdContinue reading “Figgis, pluralism, and the role of politics”

Lyndon Johnson: stories and anecdotes

In the third volume of Robert Caro’s ‘The Years of Lyndon Johnson,’ Caro describes the way LBJ spoke to people. Between 1948 and 1960, the years documented in ‘Master of the Senate’, LBJ was able, time and again, to persuade Senators, financial backers, page boys and anybody else whose help he needed, to play alongContinue reading “Lyndon Johnson: stories and anecdotes”

Hobbes and the start of politics

When did our politics begin? When did the thing that we think of as politics, with its to’s and fro’s, tides of opinion, its parties, elections, its winners and its losers, when did that thing start? It is hard to say, but we know that it definitely didn’t begin in 1651. Then, England was engulfed in civilContinue reading “Hobbes and the start of politics”