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0 shares 147 View comments The passing of Patrick Moore, stargazer, great British eccentric and professional grump, leaves David Attenborough as the last survivor of the golden age of telly-teachers. For half a century, the small screen, and especially the BBC portion of it, boasted a galaxy of presenters whose unembarrassed mission was to deliver sparkling lectures on things they knew a lot about: astronomy, wildlife, science, history, art, gardening. Their programmes were unlike almost anything nowadays, on two counts. First, the BBC lavished on them immense budgets, cash on a scale no modern programme-maker could offer — save for a comedian or rock star. Knowledge: The generation of presenters, exemplified by Patrick Moore, all had a quality that before first getting in front of a camera, they had acquired a store of experience and knowledge of their subject The epic Great War series back in 1963 had a staff of more than 50 (including myself as a researcher) l

0 shares 194 View comments An unknown number of British and other foreign gas workers have been killed in Algeria for no better reason than that they were Westerners who became targets for Muslim fanatics, and apparently ‘collateral damage’ in a rescue attempt. Al Qaeda, which has been in eclipse since the death of Osama Bin Laden almost two years ago, has won itself another bloody headline. And Algeria takes its place in a jigsaw of areas of extremist violence that extends across the globe. Statistically, a Western traveller or expatriate worker is far more likely to die in a motorway smash in the snow than to be murdered by Al Qaeda. But after every new attack, foreigners will continue to feel unsafe – whether they are on the north Kenya coast, in Egyptian resorts, or, now also, across large tracts of North Africa. Scroll down for video Threat: Terrorists have become more eager to attack Westerners in faraway places. This picture shows militants in Mali As a re

0 shares 156 View comments The Government has announced its third round of Armed Forces cuts, imposing 5,300 job losses as part of a programme to reduce the British Army to a strength of 82,000 by 2017. Yet almost in the same breath, the Prime Minister declared Britain’s support for the French military intervention in Mali, telling the House of Commons that Britain is in the midst of ‘a generational struggle’ against Islamic jihadism. It is hard to decide which is pottier: reducing our Army to a strength at which it can troop the colour and not much else, or giving even the smallest military assistance to France’s operations in North Africa, let alone doing both at once. Military assistance: David Cameron has declared Britain's support for the French military intervention in Mali, telling the House of Commons that Britain is in the midst of 'a generational struggle' against Islamic jihadism Moreover, the Ministry of Defence’s right hand does not see

0 shares 563 View comments This week saw Britain’s first ‘Grillo moment’. Just as on Sunday a quarter of Italians responded to their country’s dire political and economic crisis by voting for comedian Beppe Grillo, so on Thursday, the Liberal Democrat candidate was elected to parliament in the Eastleigh by‑election. Worse still for David Cameron, his own party was pushed into third place by Ukip, a protest movement that blames the European Union for almost everything from global warming to the failure of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. Of course the result — which also offered no comfort to fourth-placed Labour — represented a gesture of disgust towards mainstream politicians which lots of people far from suburban Hampshire will welcome. On Thursday, the Lib Dem candidate Mike Thornton was elected to parliament in the Eastleigh by-election But it is very frightening that the relatively prosperous and educated voters of Eastleigh, at a critical moment in the natio

0 shares 172 View comments As if Middle England was not already angry enough with this Government, a new battle is commencing. After gay marriage, wind turbines and the London-Birmingham rail link through the Chilterns, comes the concreting of the English countryside. Ministers insist that the country needs hundreds of thousands more houses, and that many of these must be built on rural greenfield sites. The Government has changed planning law, supposedly in the interests of economic growth, to impose ‘a presumption in favour of development’. All over Britain, communities find themselves confronted with draconian demands from central Government to accept new housing — far in excess of anything local plans recognise as acceptable — which threatens to change their areas beyond recognition. This Government is bent on a massive housing programme, which it believes will generate economic growth Nicholas Boles, the ruthless, fiercely ambitious Tory under-secretary in c

0 shares 478 View comments Ten years ago today, American and British tanks stormed across the border of Kuwait into Iraq, precipitating a torrent of violence which has since cost more than 100,000 Iraqi and Allied lives. We, the British people, were told by our leader Tony Blair that the invasion was indispensable to Britain’s national security because Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction which could be used against us. Soon after Western forces reached Baghdad, it became plain that no such weapons existed. Blair said the invasion was vital to Britain's security because Saddam Hussein was developing weapons of mass destruction. Soon after Western forces reached Baghdad, it was clear that no such weapons existed Moreover, it also emerged that the Prime Minister had assured President George Bush of Britain’s armed support in deposing Saddam Hussein, well ahead of the WMD claims, because he wished to assist the Americans in doing what he con

0 shares 712 View comments People who rob old ladies in the street, or hold up security vans, are branded as thieves. Yet when Germany presides over a heist of billions of pounds from private savers’ Cyprus bank accounts, to ‘save the euro’ for the hundredth time, this is claimed as high statesmanship. It is nothing of the sort. The deal to secure a €10 billion German bailout of the bankrupt Mediterranean island is one of the nastiest and most immoral political acts of modern times.  It has struck fear into the hearts of hundreds of millions of European citizens, because it establishes a dire precedent. Scroll down for video Hands off! Banking sector workers have been protesting outside of Cyprus's parliament in Nicosia A Europe-wide precedent? The deal to secure a German bailout of the bankrupt Mediterranean island has struck fear into the hearts of hundreds of millions of European citizens If democratically elected governments are willing to impose out