Sarah Sands



Profile:
Full name: Sarah Sands

Area of interest: Society, Culture, Media

Journals/Organisation: The Independent on Sunday | Financial Times | Daily Mail

Email: [mailto:s.sands@independent.co.uk s.sands@independent.co.uk]

Personal website:

Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/sarah-sands

Blog:

Representation:

Networks: https://twitter.com/#!/sandsstandard



Biography:
About:

Education: Goldsmiths College: English and Drama

Career: Kent and Sussex Courier: trainee news reporter; Evening Standard: 'Londoner's Diary' reporter, (then) editor, features editor, associate editor; joined The Daily Telegraph (1996): deputy editor, Saturday editor; The Sunday Telegraph: editor, 2005/2006; Daily Mail: consultant editor 2006/2007; The Independent on Sunday: columnist, 2006- Reader’s Digest: editor-in-chief of the UK edition, 2008-
 * see journalistic career (Wikipedia) and career profiles and reactions to departure from Telegraph:
 * 'Something very lovely will happen at the Telegraph': Sarah Sands, new editor of 'The Sunday Telegraph', speaks to Sholto Byrnes about 'lightening up', Tunbridge Wells, and why she loves a dashing colonel - Sholto Byrnes, The Independent, 28th August 2005
 * Sinking Sands: Sands' departure has passed without a line of thanks from her former employers - Julia Day, The Guardian, 7th March 2006
 * Why editors who are fired should not be gagged Roy Greenslade, The Guardian, 28th July 2006
 * My Sunday Telegraph plans 'strangled at birth', says Sands - The Guardian, 28th July 2006
 * Sands admits Telegraph mistakes - The Guardian, 30th November 2007

Current position/role: Commentator; deputy editor of the London Evening Standard


 * also writes/written for: Daily Mail, Financial Times

Other roles/Main role: Editor in Chief of 'Reader's Digest' magazine

Other activities: Author

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media:

Video: regular appearances
 * IMDb

Controversy/Criticism: see controversy (Wikipedia)

Awards/Honours:

Scoops:

Other: Married to journalist and media analyst Kim Fletcher; Sister of Kit Hesketh-Harvey, the comic performer, translator and scriptwriter



Books & Debate:

 * Playing the game (2003) OCLC 51068810

Latest work: Hothouse (2005) OCLC 57749811

Speaking/Appearances:

Debate: 

All Journals:

 * No regular column



Articles: 2012

 * The Diary: Sarah Sands - Lady Thatcher’s funeral, Sheryl Sandberg’s book, William Hague’s and Angelina Jolie’s courage - 20th April
 * Life's a breeze... as long as the washing machine doesn't pack up - A City high-flyer says domestic appliances provide life's most trying moments - 26th February
 * Loudmouths and braggarts have had their day - For years I have noted how alpha self-confidence gets the benefit of the doubt - 19th February
 * A friend is not the one you turn to, but the person who turns to you - David Beckham's admission that he has only three good friends rings true - 12th February
 * We must love developers as much as our own homes - Home ownership is the optimistic basis for a civil society. The answer is not to condemn unaffordable housing, but to build more low-cost homes - 5th February
 * The rich are more visible, so there's more to dislike - How far could Stephen Hester's bonus stretch? It might pay for soldiers in Afghanistan, nurses, home helps, care workers. But it might not cover a Nat Rothschild birthday party. Wealth is relative, as well as exotic - 29th January
 * Sorry, Joan, the lack of an accent is not a bar to a BBC job - The thinking man's neglected crumpet Joan Bakewell believes that her ruling-class voice makes her unemployable by the BBC - 22nd January
 * "Did we turn the oven off?" trumps "I love you" - A piquant gag in The Artist is when the neglected wife of the silent movie star begs him: "We need to talk." Her husband ignores her, demonstrating his modernity in marital relations, if not in movie technology - 15th January
 * The Tudors are the seasoned beams of British history - The historian Niall Ferguson once complained that schoolchildren are taught only about Henry VIII and the world wars. Yes, but let's face it, these are the blockbusters of British history - 8th January



Articles: 2011

 * YouTube justice is a kangaroo court online - What should you do if someone is foul mannered on public transport? It is spirit-crushing for everyone who witnesses it, yet intervention feels thankless or dangerous - 18th December
 * Charity is about more than money, but giving is a start - The BBC can be bashful about the place of Christianity in our national life: it recently sanctioned the substitution of the lovely terms Before Christ and Anno Domini by the thumpingly prosaic and Welsh examination boardesque Before Common Era and Common Era - 11th December
 * We are all hardwired to happiness - Even gloomy news cannot bring us down - 4th December
 * Is any woman man enough to play Miss Trunchbull? - The inspired casting of Bertie Carvel as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda, one of the year's greatest performances, owes something to the RSC's employment policies - 27th November
 * Solving unemployment begins at home - At a hotel in Mozambique, a waiter poured my tea. He held the pot slightly too high so that it cascaded over the cup, the saucer and my hand. He stared at me helplessly, murmured, "Oh shit," but continued pouring until I dropped the crockery in agony - 21st November
 * Rick Perry's wordsearch spells game over - Perry's avuncular laughter and panic stricken eyes reminded me of Alan Johnson being asked as Shadow Chancellor about employers' contribution to national insurance - 13th November
 * Force, not laughter, brings a tyrant down - As Joseph Stalin, played by Simon Russell Beale, strides about the National Theatre stage, with his thyroid eyes and a soft Bristol accent, there is a guilty gurgle of appreciation from the audience - 6th November
 * 'Frozen Planet' is reason enough for licence fee - It creates wonder, and thus its audience is universal - 30th October
 * Carla closes the clinic door and keeps her mystery - The case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the New York chambermaid was cited as an illustration of the divide between French principles of pleasure and privacy and America's right-based culture. Surely, Carla Bruni's childbirth is a better one - 23rd October
 * My BlackBerry lights up the whole world - It has been years since I have had to shout up the stairs to children that their friends are on the phone - 16th October
 * It pays to live this day as if it were your last - Within a few days of Steve Jobs's death, a book of his inspirational sayings is being rushed into print. It is to be called I, Steve, rather than the "Book of Jobs" - 9th October
 * Captain Scott – romantic, wrong, but a winner in the end - Sitting by a fire with a view of the Andes last week, I leafed through a sepia book of exploration photographs. The most arresting, of course, was the picture of an unsmiling Captain Scott and his team with the Union Jack at the South Pole, a month too late, in January 1912. The pity of it - 2nd October
 * Rise with the lark, taste the breath of morning – time's then on your side - Greeting the dawn is the only effective recipe for success and moral strength - 18th September
 * Let's leave Europe and snuggle up with the rugby players - Naturally, we all agree with the IMF's fabulous Christine Lagarde - 11th September
 * Changing-room rage averted by shoppers' serenity - There are a few things from which celebrity cannot protect you. They include parking tickets and taking a restricted number of garments into shop changing rooms - 4th September
 * to detail is the basis for terror'' - For masters of the universe, as for tyrants, ridicule is a far worse punishment than hostility - 28th August
 * future is fearful. Ask Robert Harris...'' - Philosophers and politicians may agree that you should face down your fears in order to obtain wisdom and courage, but they are not the ones investing in the stock market at the moment - 21st August
 * the household broom restored our pride'' - When Norway wanted to show social healing of its deep wound, its citizens held up roses. Young Iranians tried and poignantly failed to bring freedom by showing hands painted green. America reaches instinctively for the Stars and Stripes in times of national trauma. And Britain? Oh, we have the broom - 14th August
 * and found in translation'' - Knowledge is power – especially when it comes to languages - 7th August
 * need star-gazers like Hilton to think the unthinkable'' - The PM's policy adviser Steve Hilton has his head in the clouds - 30th July
 * trailing in the worldwide reaction race'' - Sarah Sands admits to falling for the speed and grace of Twitter - 24th July
 * like any commander, is the master of surprise'' - With one bound, he and his lieutenant were free – for now. Sarah Sands on a tactic that never fails - 10th July
 * showed us the way – and then we moved on'' - The rise and fall of famous shops is social history. Why did we fall out of love with Habitat? Was it them or was it us? - 26th June
 * we thank you for your many thankless tasks'' - The Father's Day cards available in my local newsagent had an air of mild embarrassment - 19th June
 * a kiss is just a kiss'' - Germaine Greer's comments about fathers and their daughters show she has little to offer modern feminism - 12th June
 * Simon Cowell do his amazing ratings trick'' - He had a trying week, but it was melodramatic of Simon Cowell to call in Scotland Yard over his internet accuser - 5th June
 * prodigal son returns. Welcome back!'' - The vagaries of celebrity that have blown Cheryl Cole back across the Atlantic will strike terror in many British performers, but James Corden need worry no longer - 29th May
 * the boardroom, not the bedroom, that matters'' - The distinction between who is and isn't fair game for the press is complicated. So it is a relief that we can all agree on Sir Fred Goodwin - 22nd May
 * selling is down to a fine art – but how fine is the art?'' - The Tiger Mother Amy Chua relentlessly harnessed her daughters to the piano and the violin and willed them into top-rank concert halls, but she may have been a little soft with them - 15th May
 * eases a mother's grief – least of all, more death'' - The laying of a wreath by President Obama at Ground Zero, New York, last week, after American marines had despatched the diabolical visionary behind the 11 September bombings, was described by commentators as "seeking closure" - 8th May
 * fortnight of sun has turned us all into Italians'' - British military chiefs are delighted with the Italians, who have been among the most willing of the coalition in Libya. It is a funny old world when we are shoulder to shoulder with the Italians and at arm's length from the Americans - 24th April
 * cheers for Paula, my rhino, and chickens everywhere'' - By the time you read this, the professional London Marathon runners will have probably finished, the boundaries of physical excellence extended. The huddled masses could finish any time before sunset - 17th April
 * Mariella's pillow talk is front-page news'' - Whatever Mariella Frostrup's strong views on Liberia or the Orange Prize, they cannot compete with the engulfing tide of interest in her bra-wearing habits - 10th April
 * call it high society because they only fly first class'' - A new novel by Kay Burley promises to illuminate the corridors of power - 3rd April
 * first wonder of my universe is Brian Cox'' - He is a wonder of the television universe: for years, the medium has been run by highly educated people infatuated by popular culture. Cox is the reverse, a pop star who reveres education - 27th March
 * swoons again, but who can blame her?'' - The response to Cherie Blair's unprompted declaration that her husband "still excites me in every possible way" has ranged from sceptical to squeamish - 20th March
 * Lord Patten at the BBC is a Reithian dream'' - He is not just a chairman; he stands for the forces of civilisation - 13th March
 * Helen is right – if all the world's a stage, why teach Shakespeare in the classroom?'' - The theatre is the right place for memorable learning - 6th March
 * not whining, relieves the blues, Ruby'' - People suffering from depression require infinite patience and kindness, but only drugs seem to be a proven solution, and those are not without side effects - 27th February
 * not losing a son, but gaining two friends'' - Unlike Tolstoy, Joanna Trollope believes that every unhappy family is unhappy for a common reason - 20th February
 * are right or left wing to the core, even at bathtime'' - Non-fiction right wing, fiction left wing. Blondes tend to be right wing... - 12th February
 * bailed out my car – and a final farewell to it'' - If you want to understand what an autocracy feels like, try your local car pound - 6th February
 * Andy Gray and Richard Keys. Enter the Men's Defence League?'' - Studio supremos are exposed as a pair of plonkers, but will there be male reaction? - 30th January
 * can make the sun shine in half an hour'' - It is not easy flogging books to the public during a recession, and the excellent figures for Penguin last week were cheering. What lifted the fortunes of the publisher was the record-breaking success of Jamie Oliver's 30-Minute Meals. Why this book rather than learning to cook in 24 hours, or like an Italian? - 23rd January
 * hating of Bercow – let me count the ways'' - While America is reflecting on the consequences of ideological polarity, this is the English version of a bust-up - 16th January
 * has been vanquished by duty and modesty'' - Dark, handsome, modest, talented, quintessentially English, the whole country mad about him. On the day that The King's Speech went on general release, Colin Firth was in danger of being eclipsed by the hero of the Ashes, Alastair Cook - 9th January



Articles: 2010

 * tidings of discomfort and compromise'' - When Nigella Lawson said, slightly biblically, that the best type of Christmas lunch allowed for strangers at the table, she was being seasonally prophetic - 26th December
 * we really want friends and family to be our ballet critics?'' - It was not chivalrous of Alastair Macaulay, the British dance critic of The New York Times, to write that Jenifer Ringer, principal dancer of the New York City Ballet, looked overweight in The Nutcracker - 19th December
 * killed my favourite tree. But a new one is growing'' - Compared with the desecration of the Cenotaph, the chopping down of an old hawthorn tree in Glastonbury is low on the emotional Richter scale - 12th December
 * drives a man to be a cyber martyr?'' - Julian Assange took advantage of a loner - 5th December
 * is a science, and I know the perfect formula'' - If you should find yourself in the chilly, unspoilt, Cameronesque parts of Oxfordshire this weekend you may be puzzled by the colossal volume of cars and coaches veering off at junction 9 of the A40. Trust me, they are not looking for Blenheim - 28th November
 * are at our best when we think of others'' - It was tricky for the Children in Need telethon on Friday to find the right tone - 21st November
 * or not, the BBC is behind the times'' - I was not aware of Miriam O'Reilly, the former presenter of Countryfile, until she became a martyr for women over 50 - 14th November
 * Abbey' is sloppy tosh. That's why we love it'' - 7th November
 * are being wrongfooted by the new feminists'' - The Time columnist Nancy Gibbs noted last week the taunting, muscular rhetoric coming from female Republican candidates. Christine O'Donnell told her opponent to "get your man pants on" after he raised a constitutional point - 31st October
 * is the master of a universe he has invented'' - For Mark Zuckerberg, the most irritating aspect of The Social Network was the way in which it cast him as a social reject and misogynist; a student who created his own online club, Facebook, because he was a failure with girls - 24th October
 * Chile, nobility. From Venezuela, a lesson in culture'' - A delegation of fine-featured, slightly melancholy men from Chile met me for coffee at the end of the summer. They wanted to encourage tourism but didn't know how to generate publicity - 17th October
 * play's the thing, and the coalition should cherish it'' - It is unusual for a new production of Hamlet to be a front-page news story. It is remarkable when the actor playing him is not a film or television star, but a jobbing actor in his early thirties. The critical recognition of Rory Kinnear's Hamlet is about the most cheering thing to happen to the arts since rumours of the scale of the projected cuts took hold - 10th October
 * is the classiest look of all'' - The PM's shabby socks signal his fine lineage - 3rd October
 * love is best left in the past, unmourned'' - Fame creates an aura of association. The name Steve Blacknell means nothing to me and Kate Bush will leave most people under 40 blank but, if we say the first boyfriend of the musical predecessor of Florence Welch, we are in business - 26th September
 * my hand and give yourself away'' - The factors that decide health and longevity are mostly genetically determined. So the medical research last week that recommended a strong handshake got an enthusiastic airing. But are handshakes an expression of physiology or of character? - 12th September
 * have physics licked, but they can't grasp the divine'' - The revelation that God did not, after all, create the universe went largely unnoticed last week - 5th September
 * BBC is slightly highbrow'' - What most people want is trustworthy news, the Proms, University Challenge - 29th August
 * is not a qualification, it's for love'' - Even where jobs are directly related to children - I still cannot understand discrimination against the childless - 22nd August
 * new cool is a ram-rod back and a canal holiday'' - The striking radicalism of David Cameron's coalition government should not blind us to the Prime Minister's temperamental traditionalism - 15th August
 * at 80, a novel at 90... We can take our time'' - The generations of Windsors who emerged stiffly in wintry clothes at the end of their austerity cruise in the Western Isles last week were regarded as quaint, but the Royal Family is evidently a model for the future - 8th August
 * up for the short ride to communism'' - There are a few potential downsides to the Boris Bikes that arrived in London on Friday, and critics spotted them all - 1st August
 * street art knocks spots off a bust of Churchill'' - One of David Cameron's natural advantages is a wife who understands non-essential shopping - 25th July
 * chaos, not bias, is thwarting bright teens'' - After a leavers' day service at a leading academic London school recently, parents approached each other cautiously. Even a decade ago, it would have been a given that their children would have places at top universities. Now there are no such assumptions - 18th July
 * nights, parched lawns... but where's summer?'' - It was late evening in Piccadilly, the night Spain beat Germany. The air was sultry and fans wrapped in Spanish flags sang under Eros. It was impossible not to smile as we promenaded among them in the heat. It was lovely but it wasn't right. It felt – well, like Madrid, not London. This is not our weather - 11th July
 * you hear that squeaking? It must be a woman'' - There is an obvious difference between Men's Hour, the new programme devised by Radio 5, and its Radio 4 earlier counterpart, Woman's Hour - 4th July
 * think it's all over for pubs. It isn't now ...'' - It was the interval of the distinguished As You Like It at the Old Vic last Wednesday afternoon and the audience was frantic to know the score. I legged it past the cafés and shops to the one place I knew wouldn't let me down - 27th June
 * you're fat or dowdy, please just stay at home'' - The England football team may be disappointing but their supporters can do no wrong - 20th June
 * Clegg minds his languages - all six of them'' - As Nick Clegg fell fluently into German during his visit to Berlin last week, his senior Cabinet colleague William Hague held fast to his translation earphones so he could understand what the Deputy Prime Minister was saying. I bet he did. Anything could have been going on. Clegg could have signed Britain up to the euro - 13th June
 * viewing is back in style'' - If one divides a house into male and female parts, there is no doubt about the gender of the television - 6th June
 * to No 10 is the ultimate in social mobility'' - Lives can be measured in births, marriages and deaths but it is much more interesting to trace destiny and social history through house moves - 30th May
 * Bush's better half is his best advert'' - Laura's old-world style will win us over - 23rd May
 * depart with dignity is all you can want in life - or death'' - Nothing in Gordon Brown's time at No 10 became him like the leaving of it - 16th May
 * camera does lie, but not the radio'' - If you really want to know what's what, tune in - 9th May
 * wants an untidy slob as a husband? And who's got one?'' - Sarah Sands gathers up the leaders’ dropped hints at manly disorder - 2nd May
 * founder on trivia but are immune to the Pope'' - The initial reluctance of Miriam Clegg to campaign with her husband was cited as evidence of her down-to-earth modesty - 25th April
 * enduring, and very British, appeal of Jackie O'' - New film, plus hours of 1964 interviews, will shed more light on Camelot - 18th April
 * the voting age should be changed – to 25'' - Gordon Brown has got it wrong about youth - 11th April
 * thyself - it's the only way to avoid being a figure of fun'' - We try to see ourselves as others do, but celebrities have no such hang-up - 4th April
 * reactions in the sexual chemistry lab'' - The black comedy of Zoë Heller's Notes on a Scandal delighted critics - 28th March
 * Bloomsbury morphed into Boden'' - So far as letters go, I have heard more interesting. "I have been looking after (son) Hugo while his nurse had a holiday. I've really enjoyed it although it makes one a little blank in the head." - 21st March
 * French shrug at affairs. But they're learning...'' - When Baroness Ashton said she could speak for Europe with one voice, she had not reckoned on the fall-out of the Sarkozy affair - 14th March
 * love romantics. We just don't expect them to win'' - Foot's death was stirring because it recalled an age of political romanticism. His allegiance was to radical thinkers and poets, not to the fees office. The professionalising of politics passed him by - 7th March
 * die for – the etiquette of funeral fashion'' - Black is always in style, above all in the cemetery - 28th February
 * are safe, again. My husband's speed-aware'' - The middle classes would love to be best friends with the police, and are wounded that the small matter of driving offences comes so often between them - 21st February
 * 'Eye' has it – the rest of us wish we had'' - Saluting an anarchic title that bucks the media trend - 14th February
 * can have the smooth man or the crumpled man'' - How the world divides is a popular old parlour game, but in the hands of novelists it assumes a grander design - 7th February
 * is nothing like a kestrel on the wing'' - As the RSPB's annual Garden Watch monitors the state of British birdlife, our writer explains the attraction of simply observing - 31st January
 * great British blockbuster – big, bold and brilliant'' - As I skipped to the Van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy last week, I experienced that first-day-of-the-sales feeling, excitement hardened by determination - 24th January
 * menace that stalks the frozen foods'' - The distinction between those who are snapped by press photographers and those who are not is not necessarily related to degrees of fame - 17th January
 * has a secret door to happiness'' - Are feminism and marriage compatible? Traditionalists on both sides argue that they are not - 10th January
 * last splurge before our frugal new lifestyle'' - As I peered down the Harrods escalator at the makings of a crush on the floor below, my daughter rang from - 3rd January



Articles: 2009

 * dig my kitten heels in, whatever the weather'' - As the snow and ice hit the South-east midweek, I turned the pages of the Daily Mail, shaking my head over the stories of abandoned cars, grounded planes and commuters struggling to navigate Siberian-style streets - 27th December
 * are the sacked, for they shall change the world'' - Time magazine names Ben Bernanke, head of the US Federal Reserve, as person of the year. After the storm, the old sage acknowledges the first puny signs of growth - 20th December
 * goes on, and even Radio 4 listeners catch up in the end'' - After the death of Humphrey Lyttelton in 2008, the panel show that he had chaired for nearly 40 years, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, temporarily ceased because no one could imagine it without him - 13th December
 * diversity works – switch on your set'' - The BBC ends the year with two dramas of towering intent and execution - 6th December
 * love him. Men love him. Whishaw has it all'' - The reason Kate Moss timelessly endures as a model is that you never tire of her face, although you see it everywhere, every day. I have the same response to Ben Whishaw, who won an Emmy last week for his role in the BBC's Criminal Justice series. He is acting incarnate, not so much a performer as a lightning conductor for drama - 29th November
 * of the shadows and into obscurity'' - Belle de Jour made a big mistake revealing her identity. Among the ranks of anonymous authors, she above all should know that the thrill is in the chase. Once the mystery is gone, the fun is over - 22nd November
 * sky's the limit for our daughters'' - At a party last week for London's 1,000 most influential people, Rachel Whetstone, of Google, noted there was something unusual about the gathering. "Where are all the women?" she murmured to me - 15th November
 * it takes a mother to make the male of the species blush'' - No matter how powerful the man, he can always be embarrassed by his mum - 8th November
 * I check the stationery cupboard for lovers'' - A photograph in the Times business section of a tense and purposeful chief executive of an insurance company, framed by his office view of the City, suggests a motivational piece about coming through the recession leaner but more competitive, etc. But it turns out to be a report of an affair - 25th October
 * can't be true – it was in the newspaper'' - If stars live on publicity, some of it will be made up - 18th October
 * email kisses would oil the wheels at work x x x'' - A friend of mine, a clever, civilised man, once worked as a private banker to Fred Goodwin, during his reign of madness at Royal Bank of Scotland. My friend's field was not actually customer relationships, but Goodwin insisted that he would deal only with the most senior person in the bank where my friend worked - 11th October
 * have turned Richmond into Rio'' - During a birdwatching lull, after each of us had borrowed the best-looking tripod for a closer look at some marsh herons, the subject turned to the explosive issue of the ruddy duck - 4th October
 * a chap wants in bed – TV and a sarnie'' - Stereotypically, the female areas of a house are the kitchen and the bedroom. Mail order brides are advised that they will need to perform in both. The male areas of the home are the downstairs lavatory and the garden shed - 27th September
 * us hope the Baroness pays her housekeeper well'' - The most enjoyable sin to unmask in public figures is hypocrisy and the Daily Mail's discovery that the Attorney General had broken the very immigration law that she introduced has revived an 18th-century spirit of revelry in the media - 20th September
 * the hanky-panky and you just might score'' - George Best used to tell the story of the night porter who brought a bottle of champagne to his hotel room shortly after he had walked out on Manchester United. The football star lay sprawled on a bed with casino winnings and a Miss World. "Would you mind if I asked you a question, George? Where did it all go wrong?" - 13th September
 * in Hollywood: Cleopatra hunched in a wheelchair'' - It is both shocking and poignantly apt that Dame Elizabeth Taylor was kept waiting for nearly two hours among empty chairs for Michael Jackson's funeral to begin. It is shocking because she is one of the last links with old Hollywood. - 6th September
 * better to be a young mum – and cheaper, too'' - In future, it will be the young women in offices who are confident enough to demand it all - 30th August
 * to be cheerful – we're stoical, inventive and we cope in the rain'' - Wars rage and poverty persists, but for most of us life is unremarkable, which is something for which we should all be very grateful - 23rd August
 * is the darling of Fleet Street. When he goes, it goes'' - The clue to a person's age is not hands so much as precious cultural references. The outstanding age indicator of these past days has been the media coverage of Ronnie Biggs. The name means little if you are under 40. Yet the front pages of most newspapers carried heartfelt coverage of the villain's final release from prison on the 46th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery - 9th August
 * must learn the first Law of affairs'' - The appeal to Jude Law of playing Hamlet must have been the absence of vulgarity - 2nd August
 * war poets 'de nos jours', look to the City'' - Many writers have avoided the City as a canvas because they don't approve of it - 26th July
 * showbiz, not a human rights crusade'' - Let's not turn the caprices of light entertainment into a human rights issue - 19th July
 * world without men? Easy. But if there were no women, what then?'' - The prospect of a single-sex society raised by a scientific breakthrough leads our writer to consider a world of pizza boxes and clothes on the carpet - 12th July
 * drama, agony: a British institution in the making'' - On Friday evening, even as Scotland's latest most famous son saw his dreams dissolve at Wimbledon, the country's adopted daughter played out hers at Leicester Square - 5th July
 * old goat be on the menu at Berlusconi's summit?'' - A petition by Italian women academics that calls on wives of G8 leaders to boycott the forthcoming summit in Italy as a protest against the behaviour of President Berlusconi is gaining signatures - 28th June
 * powerful, serious - so thrillingly ripe for ridicule'' - A criticism made of Sacha Baron Cohen is that he picks easy targets. It is not hard to portray American rednecks or Austrians in an unflattering light, although it is fiendishly difficult to create characters of comic genius, such as Ali G and Bruno - 21st June
 * run a store, it helps to break the bank first'' - Why the man who sank HBOS is walking tall again - 14th June
 * two-minute video is all the truth I need'' - The publisher Caroline Michel explained the new business model to me over lunch last week - 7th June
 * the going gets tough, the cheap get going'' - Grim employment survey suggests that openings for graduates are drying up - 31st May
 * front-page power is all in her warmth'' - earlier this year Anna Wintour, editor of American Vogue, confidently slapped Michelle Obama on the front of her magazine. Since then, I have noticed that photographs of the First Lady have the same premium value as those of Angelina Jolie - 24th May
 * Fawcett excels in her role of a lifetime'' - The actress who was the embodiment of West Coast good looks, long tanned limbs, big white smile, meaner featured than Christine Brinkley, but sexier, has allowed herself to be filmed vomiting and, worse, losing her hair - 17th May
 * for president? I'd keep the Queen'' - She is magnificent, but too risky to wield power - 10th May
 * Thatcher years: a giant leap for women or a big step back?'' - The IoS columnists go head to head on the legacy of Britain's first female prime minister, who walked into Downing Street 30 years ago tomorrow - 3rd May
 * has shrivelled, and lost its big man'' - Our columnist laments the departure from ITV of Michael Grade - 26th April
 * knock nepotism...'' - ... It's relatively harmless - 19th April 2009
 * – a very good advertisement for sleep'' - When truths are revealed by Martin Amis, they should be heeded - 12th April
 * Wire' leads television into a golden age'' - The Wire is more culturally influential than its audience size suggests - 5th April
 * can follow Fern Britton out of the comfort zone'' - Who do you think is the most popular woman on television? I was asked the question about five years ago and guessed it must be Natasha Kaplinsky (remember her?) or Davina McCall. The answer turned out to be Fern Britton. Still is. Viewers, like children, prefer women with a gigantic maternal bosom and a friendly, patient manner - 29th March
 * is the price we pay for love. Every mother dreads that cost'' - This Mothering Sunday we can identify with the Redgraves and Richardsons - 22nd March
 * has sociopathic composure'' - Madoff has borne the waves of hysterical loathing calmly - 15th March
 * me your fabulous holiday. Tell me about the dud'' - Many Europeans who go to America have their heads turned by the sense of the possible. Gordon Brown, like Kate Winslet, looks transcendent with joy in the land of dreams - 8th March
 * Walliams needs is a real, grown-up woman'' - Self-revelation is dangerous, but David Walliams won over his critics with his sorrowful vulnerability on last week's Desert Island Discs - 1st March
 * flesh sells – but don’t choose just any body'' - When I joined the Daily Telegraph many years ago, some guardians of journalism complained that I would infect the grand old institution with a strain of perky anarchy. Yet it was the old masters of the Telegraph who egged me on - 22nd February
 * teenage parents might have the last laugh'' - Before we all start wailing about irresponsible teenage pregnancies and guest fathers, we might inspect the state of grown-up parental relationships - 15th February
 * help us if Bale ever has to land a plane'' - Was his tantrum a form of hyper-professionalism? - 8th February
 * hopped off, and I'll miss the furious old booby'' - New presidents, new editors, old Conservative politicians may fascinate the press, but the seismic change as far as I am concerned is the departure of Bill Oddie from Springwatch - 1st February
 * is alive, and Obama is not President'' - The reason that President Obama stumbled over the word "faithfully" in his oath of office is obvious - 25th January
 * Mortimer's creed – humour and kindness fix anything'' - 18th January
 * with so much to say are too timid'' - The British press has long prided itself on being far beastlier than the respectful Americans - 11th January
 * funeral – more final reckoning than reconciliation'' - For a master of conflict and violence, Harold Pinter had a benign death - 4th January



Articles: 2008

 * by the ghost of pandemics past'' - Flu stories are a good source of fireside conversation during this bleak period before the new year - 28th December 2008
 * knew it. I know it. The human default is virtue'' - Shakespeare wrote as sublimely about evil as he did of nobility but he knew how a play must end. The forces of good reassert themselves - 21st December 2008
 * hoard of glam rock outfits tells a happy tale'' - 7th December 2008
 * are for the family. The couple can wait'' - The Richard Curtis wedding – village church, silly hats, Hugh Grant pulling faces – is going out of fashion. One in six couples now prefer to get married abroad - 30th November 2008
 * packet of seeds sows hope and roots families'' - There is a Victorian tone to these frostbitten days, with the resurgence of the Salvation Army - 23rd November 2008
 * the common good feels bad to me'' - 16th November 2008
 * X Factor writ large'' - Last week, I took part in a debate about notions of leadership, as part of the Festival of Ideas - 9th November 2008
 * fame, Sienna, and the paps will pursue you'' - 2nd November 2008
 * not class, is the root of all evil. Ask Russia'' - 26th October 2008
 * no herd madness in the Masai Mara'' - 12th October 2008
 * Thompson is the true lady of Brideshead'' - 5th October 2008
 * is our rock – and I knew that'' - Hails to the City's voice of reason - 28th September 2008 Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor
 * Cole is very, very hot. Official'' - 21st September 2008
 * America, Russell, but please make sure it's funny'' - 14th September 2008
 * force Handel on a headbanger'' - a university study shows that lovers of classical music had "virtually identical personality traits" to fans of heavy metal - 7th September 2008
 * the wide-eyed shrew drives the Pumas to McCain'' - 31st August 2008
 * of flying? Don't sit next to a pilot at dinner'' - 24th August 2008
 * the voice of the ordinary, sceptical Brit'' - GM will stop starvation, say scientists. 'No,' wails the Prince, 'it'll destroy everything.' Please, let's just find a sensible middle way - 17th August 2008
 * everyone is sporty, who is left to watch?'' - What interests me about the Chinese Olympics, funnily enough, is the sport - 10th August 2008
 * The assassin who feigns innocence rises to the top - 3rd August 2008
 * Take it from an usherette: kissing's what the back row is for - 27th July 2008
 * It is admirable to show an economic Blitz spirit by having a holiday in England ...but the moment I read that Gordon Brown was heading for Suffolk, I jumped on a plane to the Med - Financial Times, Saturday, 26th July 2008
 * We have blemishes. The famous have signature moles - 20th July 2008
 * Heathcliff is at his best when the wind is howling - 13th July 2008
 * Another Wimbledon, another year of ill-suppressed sexism - 6th July 2008
 * Only one man can reduce film stars to babbling schoolgirls - 29th June 2008
 * Naked cycling is a pain, and not just in the backside - 22nd June 2008
 * Liars are thrilling on the stage, but there's no room for them in real life - There are many kinds of lies – and Kant rejected them all, even if done to protect others or to bring about a worthy end. A background of deception creates a world without trust - 15th June 2008
 * Perhaps because they are feeling left out of the charisma and razzmatazz of American politics ...the metropolitan left on this side of the Atlantic are talking up David Miliband - Financial Times, Saturday, 14th June 2008
 * Reality television makes Marxists of us all - 8th June 2008
 * It's a great plot: two novelists under one roof - When writers live together there's a race to plunder the family archive for ideas - 1st June 2008
 * Say 'I do' to 'Hello!' and the real VIPs will walk - 25th May 2008
 * There's more to man boobs than meets the eye - 18th May 2008
 * An imperfect memory fends off a lifetime of shame - 11th May 2008
 * Tears that betrayed the unbearable grief of a little boy lost - Frank Lampard's crucial goal for Chelsea last Wednesday was a poignant tribute to his mother, who died six days before the game - 4th May 2008
 * Ideological, vindictive and effective, Ken Livingstone has made the lives of motorists in London almost impossible - Financial Times, Saturday, April 26th 2008
 * Three cheers for the happy-mongers - Mike Leigh has risked ridicule and censure with his upbeat new film, but a positive outlook is not escapist or banal -it is truly brave - 20th April 2008
 * One bounced cheque and my bank goes to red alert - In these troubled times, the mattress is probably the best place for your money - 13th April 2008
 * What's sarong with a capsule wardrobe? - Daily Mail, 9th April 2008
 * A terminal lack of mobility - Financial Times, Saturday, 5th April 2008
 * That's not 'spillover', Sir Alan. It's my home life - 30th March 2008
 * Hamster hunt II: What happened when I tried to replace our family pet - Daily Mail, 25th March 2008
 * If we won't fight for the Gurkhas, what is worth fighting for? - 23rd March 2008
 * Scarlett Keeling died at the roll of a dice. It's a perilous game - 16th March 2008
 * The brave wear a uniform, the coward wears a suit - Troops come under attack on an unexpected frontline, home soil, while their paymasters shrink from their duty of care - 9th March 2008
 * Masculinity, sexuality and dependency - This has not been a fabulous week for metrosexuality. The photographs of Prince Harry riding a motorbike in the Afghanistan desert, displaying his six-pack, sun shades and a baseball cap that read, “We do bad things to bad people” - Financial Times, 8th March 2008
 * As a young nurse, Nadine witnessed the horror of late abortions. Now an MP, she says the law MUST be changed - Daily Mail, 6th March 2008
 * Feminism is no match for a giddy pair of shoes - 2nd March 2008
 * Why I've finally reached the stage in life where I've got a ‘toilet face’ - Daily Mail, 28th February 2008
 * We could learn some lessons from ‘The Choir’ - 24th February 2008
 * To tan or not to tan - the question that has been vexing women - Daily Mail, 20th February 2008
 * Capturing a fugitive hamster: How a search for a lost pet became a hot internet topic - Daily Mail, 17th February 2008
 * Knickers to those who say Simon Mann deserves it - 17th February 2008
 * Why I'm investing in a water jug - even though I LOVE bottled water - Daily Mail, 14th February 2008
 * Love thy neighbour, preaches Obama. So they do - 10th February 2008
 * Hair, Hillary and hell - It has been a good week to be in New York. As the playwright John Guare put it to me: “Everyone has been in a state of electile dysfunction, torn between Obama and Clinton.” - Financial Times, Saturday, February 9th 2008
 * After the Duchess of York nearly burnt her house down with one, are scented candles really worth it? - Daily Mail, 6th February 2008
 * Smart and sexy with a hint of steel: The wife who could clinch it for Obama - Daily Mail, 6th February 2008
 * Paxman: Prince Charles, but with the angst in his pants - 27th January 2008
 * Sorry but my female plumber drove me around the U-bend - but was it because she was a woman? - Daily Mail, 23rd January 2008
 * Realism, not romance, keeps you in a marriage - 20th January 2008
 * We all have mountains to climb; few have modesty too - 13th January 2008
 * To win, Hillary needs to kill Bill - Obama was the 'change' candidate in Iowa, and won. As the 'experience' candidate, the former First Lady needs to distance herself from the very thing that has helped create her - 6th January 2008



News & updates:

 * 'I've been allowed a second act.' London Evening Standard editor on the freesheet's business model and talking Chekhov with owner Evgeny Lebedev. Interviewed by Dan Sabbagh in The Guardian, 14th January 2013



References:


Links:

 * Spectator.co articles
 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Sands
 * Magnificent, but preposterous Conrad Black: the end of an era - Nobody believed that Conrad Black would get off but, looking at his enemies, some had a slight hope that he might. The former deputy editor of one of his papers says he's not the monster he's painted - Sarah Sands, The Independent, 15th July 2007