Columnists A - L

Dominic Lawson: A lesson in how to dig yourself into a hole

Published: 29 May 2007

We should not be surprised that the Soil Association is so careless of the wider interests of the world

Philip Hensher: Why do we ignore the bigotry of our neighbours?

Published: 29 May 2007

In the UK, most of the gay rights battles have been won. In eastern Europe it's a very different story

Miles Kington: Warning... you are now passing your second unit

Published: 29 May 2007

What sounds real is pints and litres and measures and doubles and large ones. That sounds like real booze

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: As his power fades, so does Blair's posturing as a man committed to progressive ideals

Published: 28 May 2007

New 'wartime' measures give the police draconian powers to interrogate anyone brown at will

Johann Hari: The tricky question of Gordon Brown's God

Published: 28 May 2007

Even more so than with Blair, Christianity is at the centre of the incoming PM's world-view

Bruce Anderson: Cameron must be careful what he does with his intellect

Published: 28 May 2007

Unlike Gordon Brown, the Tory leader relishes debate and argument

Miles Kington: There's something strange going on at McDonald's

Published: 28 May 2007

'We are starting to get whole potatoes which we cut into fries. It stresses that we care about individuality. We might even start using them'

Dom Joly: Lord's, ladies and birthday boys

Published: 27 May 2007

Women cricket followers are to be avoided like the plague

The Week In Politics: Aspiration the key word as Brown woos the South

Published: 26 May 2007

After this month's local elections, there was much debate about how much progress David Cameron's Conservatives had made in the north of England. Along with Labour losing power in Scotland, it diverted attention from a more important question: Labour's dramatic decline in the South.

The Week In Arts: Scandalous business at the Bristol Old Vic

Published: 26 May 2007

I have a soft spot for the Bristol Old Vic. It's partly because I once worked in Bristol, and it was my cultural haunt. It's partly because it is a beautiful 18th-century building, and it's partly because it's the oldest working theatre in Britain.

Howard Jacobson: The state is always wrong and the individual is always right. Don't old habits die hard?

Published: 26 May 2007

The term Kafkaesque answers to a deep anxiety in us about power being wielded cruelly

Dominic Lawson: There is something sinister in the way that the Auditor General is now being vilified

Published: 25 May 2007

The little band around Brown is almost feral in its attacks on anyone who dares challenge him

Joan Bakewell: Don't live in fear - set the people free

Published: 25 May 2007

The complexity of road signs is so great you can cause a traffic accident by trying to read them

The Sketch: The twisted genius of Dr Demento (otherwise known as John Reid)

Published: 25 May 2007

With his eyeballs rotating in opposite directions, the strange twisted genius of Dr Demento rose yelping to the dispatch box; two of his tongues flickered over four of his lips - I'm trying to convey the effect of the outgoing Home Secretary in the House yesterday. He was notionally answering an Urgent Question on Control Orders.

Terence Blacker: Being wasteful is not a personal liberty

Published: 25 May 2007

We are being watched from every street corner. Those slightly creepy men from Google are turning our computers into domestic spies. But the surveillance that really has the British people worried, at least if one believes reports in the family-values wing of the press, is the microchip that could be included in our dustbins. A Tory shadow minister has even pronounced upon the subject. "We face the prospect of bin chips quietly being fitted in bins across the country to spy on families without their knowledge," says a man called Eric Pickles.

Miles Kington: Why sheep don't count when you feel sleepy and jaded

Published: 25 May 2007

Have you ever tried counting sheep? Sheep are not numbered so how can you count them? It's the hardest thing. No wonder people don't do it

Adrian Hamilton: A mini-treaty won't solve Europe's problems

Published: 24 May 2007

On the question of the European summit, it suits Gordon Brown to wait in the wings

The Sketch: Ming hounded by the merciless as Blair breezes on to the end

Published: 24 May 2007

Whatever else he has done, Ming has made a unique contribution to the Commons for the Liberal Democrats. In his field he is the champion, the man who causes a hot flush of anticipation when he stands up. He's prompted better heckling than anyone else in Parliament. No one will ever break this record, I suspect.

Johann Hari: Distraught parents and terrified children

Published: 24 May 2007

In the Congo, more than 70,000 children have been seized at gunpoint by militias in the past six years

Miles Kington: Captain Haddock and the second Mrs de Winter

Published: 24 May 2007

Tintin had not thought about Manderley for many a long year, scene of one of their most exciting adventures

The Sketch: I take full responsibility... but it's all the Tories' fault

Published: 23 May 2007

When there's no one else to blame but themselves they do come up with some brilliant ways not to take the blame. Patricia Hewitt takes "full responsibility", she said yesterday. But for what, exactly? For sorting out a solution. She will defy the Tories and take full responsibility for finding and implementing an eminently sensible solution to junior doctors' training places.

Terence Blacker: Wanted: adulterers, slobs and sadists...

Published: 23 May 2007

A lucrative double vacancy for ambitious media professionals has just become available. No outstanding writing skills are required but the two applicants should have a high threshold for personal embarrassment. They will also need to be a married couple and hate one another. Applications from adulterers, slobs and domestic sadists will be particularly welcome.

Alex James: The Great Escape

Published: 23 May 2007

When channel Five's Fifth Gear invited me on to the show, they asked me what car I wanted. I had no idea. I'm not mad about cars. I like tractors and diggers. I called them back and asked for the biggest crane and the biggest cherry-picker that would fit down the drive, and on Thursday morning, three-quarters of a million pounds' worth of crane and a very large floating platform were waiting outside. My son was doing somersaults. My dad was displaying a deep fascination. There is something about huge, bright-yellow machines that speaks to the hearts of all men. Going up is absolutely exhilarating. It's much better than going forwards, backwards or fast around corners.

Miles Kington: Never underestimate what a little moonlight can do

Published: 23 May 2007

How did the moon make the man play his guitar? Very, very occasionally there is a point where idle knowledge becomes good research

The Sketch: To Ruth, consultation means re-education

Published: 22 May 2007

Looking at Oxford railway station, I suddenly realised the aesthetic origin, the architectural inspiration for so much modern public building. It's the double-page spread you get when you open the Noddy books. Planners, developers, architects - they've created a Toytown for us to live in.

Columnists A - L

Dominic Lawson: A lesson in how to dig yourself into a hole

Philip Hensher: Why do we ignore the bigotry of our neighbours?

Miles Kington: Warning... you are now passing your second unit

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: As his power fades, so does Blair's posturing as a man committed to progressive ideals

Johann Hari: The tricky question of Gordon Brown's God

Bruce Anderson: Cameron must be careful what he does with his intellect

Miles Kington: There's something strange going on at McDonald's

Dom Joly: Lord's, ladies and birthday boys

The Week In Politics: Aspiration the key word as Brown woos the South

The Week In Arts: Scandalous business at the Bristol Old Vic

Howard Jacobson: The state is always wrong and the individual is always right. Don't old habits die hard?

Dominic Lawson: There is something sinister in the way that the Auditor General is now being vilified

Joan Bakewell: Don't live in fear - set the people free

The Sketch: The twisted genius of Dr Demento (otherwise known as John Reid)

Terence Blacker: Being wasteful is not a personal liberty

Miles Kington: Why sheep don't count when you feel sleepy and jaded

Adrian Hamilton: A mini-treaty won't solve Europe's problems

The Sketch: Ming hounded by the merciless as Blair breezes on to the end

Johann Hari: Distraught parents and terrified children

Miles Kington: Captain Haddock and the second Mrs de Winter

The Sketch: I take full responsibility... but it's all the Tories' fault

Terence Blacker: Wanted: adulterers, slobs and sadists...

Alex James: The Great Escape

Miles Kington: Never underestimate what a little moonlight can do

The Sketch: To Ruth, consultation means re-education

Advertiser Links...

Editor's Choice

BMW M5 Touring

Press Association

Health alert

Mark Hix on curing

The big question

The double life of Julian

A summer of evolution

Independent services

Day in a page