Christina Patterson



Profile:
Full name: Christina Patterson

Area of interest: Cultural issues, Books, Politics and the Arts

Journals: The Independent

Email: [mailto:c.patterson@independent.co.uk c.patterson@independent.co.uk]

Website: Independent.co / Christina Patterson

Blog: Open House

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Biography:
Education:

Career: Royal Festival Hall: Literature Co-ordinator, 1990/1998; Poetry Society: Poetry Places Scheme Organiser (and freelance writer and consultant); Poetry Society: Director (overseeing activities ranging from the publication of Poetry Review and Poetry News to the Poetry Café in Covent Garden), 2000/2003; Freelance literary journalist (regularly reviews of fiction and poetry for The Independent, The Sunday Times, Times Literary Suppliment, Literary Critic for The Observer); The Independent: Comment desk Associate Editor and contributor, Deputy Literary Editor, 2007- Current position/role: Commentator


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Viewpoints/Insight:

TV/Radio:

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours:

Other: Favourite books of all time are Middlemarch, Anna Karenina and Emma



Books & Debate:

 * Cambridge Guide to Women's Writing in English (1999) OCLC 40298523 (contributor)

Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances:

Current debate: 

The Independent:
Column remit: Cultural issues, Books, Politics and the Arts

Section:

Role: Commentator

Pen-name:

Email: [mailto:c.patterson@independent.co.uk c.patterson@independent.co.uk]

Website: Independent.co / Christina Patterson

Commissioning editor:

Day published: Saturday and Wednesday

Regularity: Weekly

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2011

 * Lloyd Webber's lesson: there's more to life than sex'' - 2nd April
 * still don't see Labour's alternative'' - If I was losing my job I'd be very angry. But I'd also feel very angry that nobody had presented an answer - 30th March
 * I still love Barack Obama'' - This thoughtful and pragmatic politician is probably as good as it gets - 26th March
 * we really all middle class now?'' - We may all sip our Colombia roast but more than a million of our young are not in any kind of training - 23rd March
 * only want you if you're rich'' - The Government wants lots of rich people to come in - 19th March
 * do we do with tragedy like the one in Japan?'' - Sometimes you can do everything right, and everything can still go wrong - 16th March
 * lesson for IDS in my sister's story'' - 'I say to those watching today,' said IDS, 'who are genuinely sick, disabled or are retired. You have nothing to fear.' - 12th March
 * curse of the cult of the amateur'' - David Cameron is extremely keen on rolling up his sleeves - 9th March
 * drama that shows the ugly side of our globalised world'' - Sometimes, it takes art to bring an issue alive. Sometimes, what it takes, in fact, is a play - 5th March
 * chicken soup for the soul'' - There are many symbols of a cold, cruel streak running through Britain today – but for me, the most galling is the ascent of Paul McKenna - 2nd March
 * needs friends more than ever'' - Everyone in the West knows suicide bombs are a bad idea, but a lot of them think that stealing land isn't - 23rd February
 * our very big society is a sign that something's gone wrong'' - 19th February
 * nurses..?'' - ... tell me something new... - 16th February
 * some crimes seem to be very, very hard to solve'' - It's sometimes hard to solve a crime. When, for example, I got my handbag grabbed from under my feet in a restaurant, it was very hard - 12th February
 * of the pantomime politics, please'' - It perhaps isn't surprising that we have leaders who think the most important thing is how you look on a stage - 9th February
 * a battle beyond the touchline'' - Football can keep its offside rules, it can keep its Andies. It can keep its Dicks. Football doesn't wreck lives - 26th January
 * sex and religion meet'' - You can't allow some people to invoke 'beliefs' and not others - 22nd January
 * paternity leave, I agree with Nick Clegg'' - An actual father is a concept as alien as a world without an Xbox - 19th January
 * we should be grateful to a young offender's mother'' - For some 18-year-olds, being photographed holding hands with your mother would be quite punishment enough. So would the suit. And the tie. Even if it was loosely knotted and worn with a not-fully-buttoned-up shirt - 15th January
 * one little problem with the royals'' - It is a shame that the Queen's eldest son seems a terrible fuss-pot - 12th January



Articles: 2010

 * I was smeared as an anti-Semite'' - The Nazi-hunter Simon Wiesenthal died five years ago, at 96. Just, perhaps, before he could hunt me down, too - 23rd December
 * a prophet of protest lost the moral plot'' - The heartless vanity of Assange has been exposed - 22nd December
 * cause needs a celeb'' - Celebrity endorsements are a two-way transaction. Just match brand and cause - 18th December
 * we can learn from (calm) Swedes'' - They give us Wallander and shocking, but fictional, deaths in Swedish towns. We give them the real thing - 15th December
 * might have found his calling'' - Gordon Brown will be a hell of a lot happier as a community organiser - 11th December
 * from a Russian blonde'' - It's possible, I suppose, that, a leggy blonde, was the best qualified candidate - 8th December
 * quite enough of a man who messes with your head'' - The Saturday Column - 4th December
 * always thought football was boring...'' - ... Now I know it's rotten - 1st December
 * teenagers can learn from a few hours of standing still'' - The Saturday Column - 27th November
 * my prescription for the NHS'' - What patients need is nurses and doctors who do their job and people to train these people to do these jobs well - 24th November
 * on reality TV are a good reason to get out your gun'' - 20th November
 * what is the Army for, exactly?'' - We know we can fight wars to protect sheep farmers 8,000 miles away, though it's not clear why we'd want to - 17th November
 * handbag - symbol of Britain?'' - The handbag has been selected as a symbol of the pre-eminence that Britain would like to have in the world - 13th November
 * got talent, but a lot is wasted'' - Susan Boyle said she was relieved not to be 'sitting at home being unemployed' with a talent she couldn't use - 10th November
 * all families are created equal.'' - Our politicians, as we know from their Tourette's-like assertions on the subject, are extremely keen on families - 6th November
 * needs a rally for sanity too'' - Hyperbole and hysteria make for great headlines and TV ads, but they don't make for such a great national culture - 3rd November
 * of telling the truth as you see it'' - Katharine Birbalsingh, who was hailed as a messiah at the Tory party conference, has returned to liberal London as Judas.
 * social network that made me sick'' - It's possible that a girl who was particularly skilled at, say, fellatio, might be elevated to the position of hysterical girlfriend - 27th October
 * nice to animals (and people too)'' - You probably shouldn't scoop a cat up and stick it in a wheelie bin, just as you probably shouldn't with a human - 23rd October
 * I learnt from Prince Charles'' - One subject bores me to tears. I know it shouldn't, but it does. The environment - 20th October
 * kids should reach for the stars'' - I didn't know that a bunch of South Americans could make me cry so much - 16th October
 * who has it in them to be a hero?'' - What kept the Chilean miners going, was, presumably, the most primal of human instincts: hunger to survive - 13th October
 * in modern womanhood'' - So, now we know what you need to be the most powerful woman in the world. What you need to be is a wife - 9th October
 * realism's going down a treat'' - What people want is a roll-your-sleeves-up kind of government that knows what it's doing - 6th October
 * utter idiocies of equality and the law'' - God knows what it’s called nowadays, but it used to be called common sense - 2nd October
 * new brand of 'human' politician'' - When did these media-savvy, metropolitan, middle-class middle-youthers start emanating the air of a super-race, charged with the task of tidying the rest of us up? - 29th September
 * better idea in films than life'' - We'll need a much more sophisticated approach to industrial relations than the knee-jerk threat of universal strikes - 25th September
 * sinners and cloud cuckoo land'' - On Sunday, the son of a banker was set on the path to sainthood - 22nd September
 * bigger breasts are the answer, what's the question?'' - I'm a big fan of plastic surgery. Without it, I think I might feel like a freak - 18th September
 * can't argue with religious zeal'' - Let's, by all means, do what we can to keep the institutions of our state as secular as possible - 15th September
 * Energy. Passion. How much more of this can I take?'' - 28th August
 * time to stand up to the Treasury'' - IDS apparently told Mr Osborne he 'wasn't going to tolerate' the way the Chancellor treated his department - 25th August
 * best cure for boredom we'll get'' - 21st August
 * from gimmickry to gravitas'' - A prime minister should, if he is a man, be pleasant but not sexy, youthful, but not 12 - 18th August
 * shape of politics to come'' - 14th August
 * is social housing such a mess?'' - What started as a much-needed escape route from the slums, has become a racket - 11th August
 * need to talk about integration'' - Never mind the deficit, multiculturalism is the biggest challenge we face - 4th August
 * can't live without the past'' - For some Cambodians it's something, and something is better than nothing, though nothing can take the pain - 31st July
 * limits of multi-culturalism'' - I didn't realise that goyim were about as welcome in Hasidic Jewish shops as Martin Luther King at a Klan convention - 28th July
 * on immigrant life'' - There are glimpses into the lives of people who leave their own country - 24th July
 * there room for art in Big Society?'' - There isn't much philanthropy in Britain - 21st July
 * I felt sorry for a violent thug'' - This is a man with more than a screw loose, a man who, it seems, knew he had a screw loose - 17th July
 * up, roll up, for the carnival of cuts'' - David Cameron is an optimist. He thinks that the economic equivalent of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an excellent way to let the sunshine in - 14th July
 * Norfolk to Iran today'' - Some might be surprised to hear Norfolk was once cradle of British civilisation - 10th July
 * the latest endangered species'' - Boys are being vomited out of an inadequate school system at sixteen - 7th July
 * sweet taste of freedom and trans fats'' - I adore carbohydrate and fat. Especially with added salt or sugar - 3rd July
 * society? It's only a fantasy...'' - We've clung to the view that the rich should be rewarded - 30th June
 * set and match to the posh PR boys'' - This is the calm before a very, very big storm. And that's even without the Battle of Bloemfontein tomorrow - 26th June
 * Islam must find its voice'' - Religion is here to stay. Dawkins can rant till the sacred cows come home, but people have always yearned for the transcendent, and always will - 24th June
 * is not what some parents need'' - You can see why social services will try pretty much anything to keep children with their parents - 19th June
 * knows we're miserable now'' - Where we used to get a prescription for cold showers or a tonic, now we get one for drugs that kick-start the synapses - 16th June
 * than a rhino: a woman with true self-confidence'' - The Saturday Column - 12th June
 * one saving right in Downing St'' - Andy Coulson's salary on recruitment was widely reported to be 'in the region of' £475,000 - 9th June
 * we are shamed by Robert Boyle's pursuit of knowledge'' - If you want to get anything done, you need to set some goals - 5th June
 * us back our private lives'' - How brave David Laws was to attempt to impose an idea of propriety on our compulsively confessional culture - 2nd June
 * time what you hear is what you get'' - This government, as the Queen could have said, will be good for diction - 29th May
 * more stressed than ever'' - Nearly a fifth of all workers have called in sick because of workplace stress - 22nd May
 * better off relieved of power'' - That thing has come to pass that nobody ever thought would come to pass. Gordon Brown is happy - 15th May
 * & Clegg - consensual, civilised... depressing'' - So here we have it. The New Politics. Young, smart, male, white, rich and nearly all privately educated. What more could they have in common? - 13th May
 * all 'hard-working' now'' - Cameron even spent a knackering night deferring to the proletariat - 8th May
 * lesson in education priorities'' - If the Tories scrape through on Thursday, they're planning to open the first "free schools" in September - 4th May
 * everyone plays happy families'' - Almost a third of people live alone and about a fifth don't have any children - 1st May



Articles: 2009

 * was the genuine article'' - Unlike our Prime Minister, I don't know much about the Arctic Monkeys, but I do know that the title of their first album is a quote from a novel by Alan Sillitoe - 27th April
 * life affirming brave new world'' - Londoners actually smiled at each other because spring had, at long last, sprung - 24th April
 * the kindness of strangers'' - They are a kind of liberation – they can set you free to be anything you want - 12th December
 * this what they mean by NHS care?'' - How complicated can it be for a breast-care nurse to master the procedures of a clinic? - 5th December
 * nice - but forgiveness is overrated'' - Sometimes, as Lydon sang, in his post Sex Pistols band, 'anger is an energy.' - 28th November
 * the men eat cake (and have a chat)'' - One of the exhausting things about being a woman is that there's no brief answer to that social stalwart: "How are you?" - 26th November
 * we learn from the Sikh in the BNP'' - For ethnic harmony, you can go the route of a Tito or a Saddam Hussein - 21st November
 * we have a lovely time the day we went to Basra'' - What do you do when you've bombed the living daylights out of a country? - 14th November
 * it's hard to be a blonde in the City'' - A big, fat, dark, ugly man who complained about their intelligence - 12th November
 * thinking for a better world'' - The man who started the Iraq war chose a rug to reflect his 'optimism' - 7th November
 * boss is discriminating against me'' - Vegetarian offended by your colleague's bacon sarnie? Bring on the lawyers! - 5th November
 * we can't resist a dice with death'' - They need a ‘gap year’ because they’ve barely been past their front door - 31st October
 * isn't just a game for the boys'' - We’ve seen what happens when a gung-ho male culture prevails - 24th October
 * you want to be adored, just shut up'' - So, poor old Hollywood's got its knickers in a twist about Twitter - 22nd October
 * drive, decisiveness – and knowledge of libel laws'' - "The culture of our company has been built around the qualities of the markets in which we work. We encourage our people to be energetic; driven and decisive and pursuing opportunity; respectful both of the significance of what we do and of the individual needs and qualities of our customers and suppliers." - 15th October
 * thief stole more than just a handbag'' - I’ve pressed more numbers, in more ‘menus’, than a Bletchley code breaker - 10th October
 * preserve the dotty, dying don'' - If I were rewriting Dante's Inferno, I'd ensure that the catalogue of punishments included a PhD - 8th October
 * reached a tipping point with tipping'' - It starts the minute you arrive at your hotel - 1st October
 * ditch this gold-diggers' free-for-all'' - I've always felt a bit sorry for Mrs Bennet - 17th September
 * isn't broken, it's just become self-centred'' - Was it inevitable, after 18 years of me, me, me, that we’d all bow to the new god, Choice? - 12th September
 * on drink and la dolce vita'' - In my first week at university I discovered that I came from something called a "gin and jag belt" - 10th September
 * don't need happy endings'' - Sure, children want to know What Katie Did. Did she have another boob job? - 29th August
 * least sport keeps men busy'' - There is no single thing that will unite women the way it unites men - 26th August
 * is dirty. And a noble calling...'' - I’m very glad I don’t have to have my cleavage subjected to national scrutiny - 22nd August
 * in fashion and the female brain'' - When I was 13, I was obsessed with fashion - 20th August
 * big problem with the NHS isn't funding'' - I won’t bore you with the mammogram that turned out to be an X-ray of an ankle - 15th August
 * perils of predictive text'' - I like my texts non-predictive, nicely punctuated and correctly spelled - 13th August
 * price of this war keeps going up'' - Fighting on the frontline is tricky, of course, but if you want real stress, try working for the MoD. Actually, if you want real stress, just try speaking to them. When I last phoned them up, about casualty figures in Iraq, I thought I was going to explode - 6th August
 * hangover women can't shake'' - Yes, we need cheaper childcare, but the real question for women is ‘Are you hot?’ - 1st August
 * the delights – and dangers – of charm'' - In Search of Byron - "the first modern sex symbol" - 30th July
 * God for the Church of England'' - I like the fact that it’s mature enough to recognise doubt – and that it is calm - 25th July
 * Americans want is not what they need'' - It had to happen. Barack Obama has been ousted by Susan Boyle - 23rd July
 * I love self-help books'' - Don’t you love the exclamation marks? I love the perkiness and the confidence - 18th July
 * on parenting from the dad of a 'stupid kid''' - Just occasionally, in the litany of bad news about the economy, and bad news about the government, and bad news about the environment, and bad news about the general collapse of everything all the time, you hear something that makes you want to cheer - 16th July
 * nice work pays much better'' - Recruiting bankers is, apparently, as tricky as getting pandas to mate - 11th July
 * how we know feelings are real'' - I was in a monastery in Syria when I heard that Michael Jackson had died - 9th July
 * for democracy – and that World Wide Web'' - There are certain moments in a job that you'll always remember. One of mine was the day I logged on to the website of the organisation I was running, to find it had disappeared - 2nd July
 * giving up hope for our postal service'' - Yesterday's post brought a lovely surprise. There, among the bills and the Somerfield fliers was a parcel. Not a slim volume from a poetry publisher I've never heard of, not a pile of books from Amazon to plough through for my next interview, but a proper, squashy brown paper parcel. And in the middle of it, the handwriting of a friend - 25th June
 * and middle-class musical chairs'' - 20th June
 * you don't like food, you don't like life'' - While I wouldn't go quite as far as Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in wanting "men about me that are fat", I share his suspicion of anyone with a "lean and hungry look" - 18th June
 * and civil war in the House of Lords'' - Politics is, boringly, necessarily, but at times gloriously, the art of the possible - 13th June
 * old age is the time of your life'' - The other day, in a house in Prague, I met an extraordinary woman - 11th June
 * to sin, confess and sin again'' - Being a Protestant, sin was serious. God was watching, all the time - 6th June
 * therapies just don't work'' - Liquid herbs, powdered herbs, herbs in capsules and herbs in tinctures... - 28th May
 * course women can't have it all'' - Helen Fielding lives in the land of gleaming gnashers and plastic breasts - 23rd May
 * you're reading it, you should be paying for it'' - On Tuesday night, I sought salvation, but found only counsels of despair - 21st May
 * true religion of Iran is not Islam'' - How free did we feel before this hot, itchy carapace swaddled our heads? - 16th May
 * stop telling me you're sorry'' - Sorry. I was baffled when the word screamed out at me from a giant billboard on the tube a couple of weeks ago. Who was apologising to who? - 14th May
 * the code of the Da Vinci nuts'' - In my experience, a key category of men to avoid, if you earn your living as a writer, is, in fact, the aspiring writer - 23rd April
 * us what to do about getting old'' - I look at the pension supplements piling up next to my sofa and I feel sick - 18th April
 * we all please just calm down?'' - So, at long last there are "glimmers of hope". God has spoken. Or at least the nearest thing we have to God on this earth has spoken - 16th April
 * day I applauded Alastair Campbell'' - Politics is flawed, but it’s our only process for changing our society - 11th April
 * stop stuffing your face'' - No one expects nurses to look like supermodels, or lap dancers - 9th April
 * obsession with the bedroom'' - You don’t need to tell me that sleep gets rid of the day’s mental rubbish - 4th April
 * tragedy has nothing to do with poetry, nothing to do with art'' - In his letters to the critic Keith Sagar, Ted Hughes described blissful fishing trips with his son, Nicholas, in Africa, Iceland and Alaska. Alaska, he said, was a "dreamland" where they "fished alongside bears" and "lay awake listening to wolves". It was a rare glimpse of the poet's relationship with his son, and of their shared passion for nature and silence. It is, therefore, beyond any kind of irony that it was in this "dreamland" that, a week ago, Nicholas Hughes hanged himself - 24th March (see:Lonely life and premature death of Nicholas Hughes)
 * won't give us moral guidance'' - Communist countries may do capitalism these days but they don’t do spirituality - 21st March
 * is the last role model we need'' - Bad artists are rarely good guides to economics, politics or anything else - 14th March (Ayn Rand)
 * said writing, or life, would be easy?'' - Where did this myth come from, that life and art should be easy - 7th March
 * going gets tough, the tough wise up'' - There's not much space for chic sofas when worrying about losing your home - 14th February
 * a man? Not if you're over 40...'' - We're mating according to the rules of misogynistic Manhattanites - 7th February
 * is not such a great life'' - You can go bananas and be sidekick to one of the leaders of the Western world - 31st January
 * help the white working class'' - We all sneer at the brainless blobs of lard chewing the cud over ‘Jeremy Kyle’ - 24th January
 * - for those that can escape'' - It is hard to celebrate a society that remains as cruel as that of Mumbai - 17th January
 * a male crisis, blame the women'' - Which is better: to keep society ticking along, or the planet? - 10th January
 * mind wealth, think index-linked pensions'' - That world of mediocrity and inefficiency is suddenly attractive - 3rd January



Articles: 2008

 * raise a glass (but not at a party)'' - New Year's Eve on your own? You're the saddest person in the world - 31st December 2008
 * and be damned – and go to prison'' - Lucky I was in Syria on holiday and not a Syrian writer - 13th December 2008
 * is certain except uncertainty'' - Many of the pillars of our lives may well be taken from us - 6th December 2008
 * be vague, just go to The Hague'' - There is nothing like some music and art and good writing to lift the spirit - 29th November 2008
 * can tell a lot about people by their friends'' - Lets return to a time when friends weren't just names to be dropped? - 15th November 2008
 * war of terror, not security'' - In Britain and America we treat people we expect to die for us appallingly - 8th November 2008
 * thing Britain does well is religion'' - Our state religion has been unobtrusive to the point of anaemic - 1st November 2008
 * call a ceasefire in the battle of the sexes'' - A revolutionary assumption has lain dormant: men and women are the same - 25th October 2008
 * for us, canapés for the fat cats'' - Was this the moment we all stopped being relaxed about the filthy rich? - 18th October 2008
 * for when the bubble bursts'' - In the week the economy collapsed, I had a lovely time looking at art - 11th October 2008
 * we please stop talking about sex?'' - Sex doesn't involve words. For the verbal among us, it's a lovely respite - 4th October 2008
 * Hall must be preserved – at any cost'' - Like so many writers’ homes, the house has survived on a wing and a prayer - 27th September 2008
 * for God... Sarah Palin, the devil and me'' - 13th September 2008
 * one problem with this lovely Swedish utopia'' - With marvellous egalitarianism comes near-universal conformism... - 10th September 2008
 * tale of bleeding hearts and bleeding backs'' - If parents have the right to believe what they like, children have the right to be taught that certain things are wrong - 30th August 2008
 * battle of the bulge – and brain'' - The sobering reality is that Nation GB is set to win one medal that wasn't even on the list. Yup, we're on course to be gold medallists in obesity.
 * as we might, we can't control randomness'' - 23rd August 2008
 * Our enduring love affair with Mills & Boon'' - 20th August 2008
 * There is a lot to be said for marrying young'' - 16th August 2008
 * poetry still has power'' - Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian poet who died at the weekend - 13th August 2008
 * us drugs and babies – with no strings attached'' - You've waited for ever for little Chloe to burst forth, and some professor is pontificating about costs - Saturday, 9th August 2008
 * It's not isolation in old age that worries me - We may be lonely, miserable and scavenging in skips, but we won't be bored – because we'll be working - Saturday, 2nd August 2008
 * I'm depressed by all this happy talk - Wednesday, 30th July 2008
 * A crash-course in the seven basic plots - More rip-roaring adventure than a league-topping billionaire could dream of - Monday 28th July 2008
 * The challenge of poetry – and football - Wednesday, 23rd July 2008
 * A joyous display to help heal broken lives - Saturday, 19th July 2008
 * Poor patient care is a bitter pill to swallow - Wednesday, 16th July 2008
 * The more sex we get, the more we want - Bedroom farce, on stage, page or double-page spread, is, for the most part,numbingly banal - Saturday, 12th July 2008
 * We should be celebrating this literary triumph - Friday, 11th July 2008
 * Stop making excuses, it's time to get tough - Wednesday, 9th July 2008
 * There's more to life than irony... - A generation brought up on Chaucer made sure the next would be brought up on Coleen - Saturday, 5th July 2008
 * A sorry tale of sex and the single songbird - Wednesday, 2nd July 2008
 * Equal opportunities? That's so public sector - As always, the Government has caved in. We didn't mean you. This is just for the kids - Saturday, 28th June 2008
 * Ancient words clash with living cultures - Wednesday, 25th June 2008
 * Ah, Italy - sunshine, olive oil, blatant racism - Headlines in the local and national papers screamed about the crime wave unleashed by the 'immigranti' - Saturday, 21st June 2008
 * We are all following the gospel of recyling - Wednesday, 18th June 2008
 * Fashion's denial of the skeleton in its closet - Wednesday, 11th June 2008
 * Laureate kings and queens of the jungle - If Tony Blair thinks that the media are feral beasts, he should meet some poets. It's amazing what they will do - Saturday, 24th May 2008
 * 'Broken societies' and political nightmares - Wednesday, 21st May 2008
 * Patterns in the marble, and a lesson in history - In Syria's secular, highly educated society, it is possible for religious faith to be a force for good - Saturday, 17th May 2008
 * It's such hard work pursuing sex and power - With money you can buy your cure, but you can also feed your addiction - Saturday, 10th May 2008
 * The discreet charm of the new politicos - Wednesday, 7th May 2008
 * Why the Chinese have reason to feel pride - Watching people in Tiananmen Square, I saw something I'd rarely seen in my life - Saturday, 3rd May 2008
 * All hail the Messiah – and the politicians - Wednesday, 30th April 2008
 * Jane Austen and the sexual smorgasbord: What did they want, for God's sake? Their balls, deep-fried, on a bed of wilted spinach? - Saturday, 19th April 2008
 * The dark heart of British democracy - Wednesday, 16th April 200
 * Beauty... a commodity ripe for taxation: If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the beholder seems remarkably unimaginative - Saturday, 12th April 2008
 * Making the most of motherhood - Wednesday 9th April 2008
 * Poetry lessons from the masters of the universe: Thabo Mbeki missed the chance to come up with a Xhosa ditty about garlic and lemon - Saturday, 5th April 2008
 * The price of freedom is the right - Wednesday, 2nd April 2008
 * The dignity of work in a supermarket - Friday, 28th March 2008
 * Just what's so great about self-confidence? - Friday, 21st March 2008
 * Reality intrudes in the search for paradise - Wednesday, 14th March 2008
 * Britons long for sunshine (but know it will rain): This is a country whose national treat – national panacea, in fact – is a nice cup of tea - Tuesday 11th March 2008
 * The bigger issue beyond Lee Jasper - Friday, 7th March 2008
 * A royal action hero shoots for the stars: Who could blame him for thinking that he too could dip in and out of life's smorgasbord - Saturday, 1st March 2008
 * Britain's gulag of neglect and despair - 29th February 2008
 * So why do we ignore all these murders? - Friday, 22nd February 2008
 * The class that dares not speak its name - Friday, 8th February 2008
 * Keep it in the family (if you're lucky enough) - Friday, 1st February 2008
 * A land of milk and caramel macchiatos - Friday, 25th January 2008
 * Cry freedom – but only if you are rich - Friday, 18th January 2008
 * There are times when I am glad to be British - Friday, 4th January 2008



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