Telegraph Blogs

It is not only great-great-nephews who live in the shadow of our most eminent economist In the long run, we are all dead, said John Maynard Keynes. It was his most famous phrase, but is often misinterpreted, quoted out of the subtle context in which it was placed: some have taken it to mean that he… Read more

At the press launch for the 2013 Proms season a couple of weeks ago, the Proms Director Roger Wright was asked why this year’s Wagner bicentenary was being marked with nine complete opera performances while the Verdi bicentenary had none. And his answer was that he’d been offered several possibilities but wasn’t happy with the… Read more

He may be getting on a bit, but Tory bigwig Nigel Lawson still knows how to fling a well-timed cat amongst the euro-pigeons. The reactions to his thoughtful, precise article on a possible Brexit – British exit from the EU – have ranged from the shrill to the panicked to the incontinently psychotic. Denunciations have… Read more

I like Nigel Farage. I like his tireless grassroots campaigning. I like his penchant for a pint, his smoking and the jovial manner in which he annoys the old parties. And as a friend of mine remarked the other day, it is good, no matter what one makes of his views, to see a leading… Read more

This summer Britain has its best chance in years of leading a drive to reduce world hunger, which has been increasing even as the proportion of people living in absolute poverty has fallen. Last week, as I reported in my Daily Telegraph column this weekend, thousands of Britons had a brief taste of what is… Read more

Is David Cameron the world’s worst diplomat? His massive falling-out with the Chinese suggests he may well be. Britain does big business with China, and is keen to do more, and is politically friendly with China, which is sensible given that vast nation’s expanding global clout. Yet Cameron seems happy to jeopardise all that for… Read more

The European issue brings out the worst in some of our Westminster journalists. Here is a question with vast economic, constitutional, diplomatic and legal implications. Yet it is almost always covered in the most trivial way imaginable as a story about ‘Tory splits’. Nigel Lawson’s declaration that Britain should leave the EU has barely been… Read more

Lots of Conservative MPs are weighing in to support the idea of a pre-referendum referendum to “mandate” David Cameron – and, presumably, any subsequent PM – to renegotiate the UK’s position in Europe. It is, of course, deeply ironic that no mandate was ever sought to dispense with the sovereignty that we now wish to… Read more

The Guardian’s David Conn has an extraordinary, potentially shameful story in today’s paper, about Liverpool FC, and Anfield. I lived in Liverpool for three years when I was at uni, and went up to Anfield a few times. I haven’t been since 2004 or so, but back then the area was a terribly deprived place,… Read more

For almost a week, Westminster and the commentariat has tied itself into knots attempting to answer the question of what it is that Ukip voters want. It is an open question with many answers, from Europe to grammar schools to the fact that it is led by a lovable rogue rather than a plump social… Read more

If you ever want to make yourself look absurd – if you want to avoid the draft, say, on grounds of insanity – buy an e-cigarette. The tip glows green when you inhale and a sinister dry smoke is emitted. They’re about as glamorous as a whisky glass filled with aloe vera, and make you look like… Read more

A few weeks ago, as Labour’s local election campaign began in earnest, a clock appeared on the wall of the Party’s headquarters in Brewers Green. It showed the days, hours and minutes until the 2015 general election. A little while after it had been installed a member of staff glanced up at it. Where previously… Read more

Lord Lawson is to be congratulated for articulating publicly what many senior Conservatives believe – that the European Union is lost to Britain and that the sooner we leave it, the better. The fact that Lawson was once quite closely identified with the Europhile wing of the party – having backed entry into the European… Read more

There are two stories on front pages today that really catch the eye. One will worry David Cameron more than the other, and it’s not the one you might expect. First, the Lord Lawson of Blaby. Apparently he’s not so keen on the European Union. Who knew? All these years we’ve been thinking he was… Read more

Last week’s local election disaster, when Tories lost 335 council seats, is down to David Cameron’s “redefinition” of marriage. The Conservative Grassroots group has warned the Government that its failure to give married couples a tax break, despite the measure being on the Tory Party manifesto, and its insistence on pushing through gay marriage, which was… Read more

The Queen’s decision not to attend the Commonwealth summit in Sri Lanka is a wise move, killing three birds with one stone. She doesn’t have to take a long-haul flight, nor does she have to deal with the questionable human rights record of Sri Lanka president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. And, by sending Prince Charles in her… Read more

Lord Lawson has become the most senior Tory yet to argue that we should quit the EU. What does that tell us about the state of politics that this is a newsworthy event? “Not only do our interests increasingly differ from those of the eurozone members but, while never ‘at the heart of Europe’, we… Read more

I have every sympathy for the four British tourists ripped off in Rome, where they were charged £13.50 each for an ice cream at the Antica Roma gelateria. But the sad truth for them is that they were near the Spanish Steps – right at the heart of the sprawling area in Rome that has… Read more

When someone says something horrible about your tribe, it’s easy to over-react. That’s particularly the case, speaking personally, at the smear about gay people not giving a damn about the future because we’re all childless pleasure-bent aesthetes, a cross between Oscar Wilde and the orgy scene in Up Pompeii, munching on grapes and giggling about… Read more

Two weeks ago, a fertiliser plant exploded in the town of West, Texas. The blast killed 14 people and destroyed more than 50 houses, damaged three schools and an old folks home. Among the dead was William “Buck” Uptmor Jnr, a local fencing contractor who went to help a friend rescue some horses from a… Read more

Despite the Ukip threat, the signs are growing that the PM can copy John Major’s upset As of today, there are two years to go to the general election in 2015. From now on, the contest will shape all decisions taken by the political parties. For the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, resources that were concentrated… Read more

We have a winner! Among some really very very good entries, ‘scottishman’ came out top with this. I love that it has multiple meanings. (Please email cartoonist@telegraph.co.uk with your address and I’ll post you the original cartooon!) Next one will be up on Wednesday.