Blog
Would you buy this Ronnie Kray painting?
I'm not an art expert. But I know I wouldn't want this amateurish looking stuff hanging in my lounge. It's being sold at auction next week. Not because it is a great work of art. But because it was painted by notorious gangland killer Ronnie Kray while serving...
The day I joined a pirate watch
As pirates are in the news at the moment, it reminded me of the time I joined a pirate watch when the ship I was sailing on passed near the Moroccan coast. While my cruise mates were busy topping up their tans or playing deck quoits, I joined the guard pictured here...
Migration figures take a dive
I remember collecting James from school one Friday afternoon when he was 11 and telling him I was taking him a mystery tour, that we were going somewhere really special. We stopped off at the chippie en route and James was bursting to know where we were heading,...
Should Baby P’s mother be allowed to have more kids?
I was totally shaken to see how gorgeous Baby P looked before he became a punch bag. Don't you just want to squeeze those chubby cheeks and bounce him on your lap, sing a nursery rhyme, clap hands and laugh together. That's what most mums would have done with this...
League tables and life
We are in the process of looking at secondary schools with James who takes his GCSEs next summer and then starts at sixth form college in Cambridge in September. There are two schools in particular we are visiting. One is regarded as the creme-de-la-creme, and many...
Seeking hot ideas on climate change
It's not just scientists and world leaders who are trying to tackle the threat of climate change. Financial Times readers - surely some of the brainiest on the planet - are being asked for their creative ideas too. I mentioned before how I am really impressed by...
Welcome the return of bendy cucumbers
My MEP Robert Sturdy has welcomed the return of mis-shapen fruit and veg to our stores. Rules which dictate the size and shape of fruit and veg sold in the shops have today been scrapped by the EU's management committee. It means that bendy cucumbers and nobbly...
My King’s Cross assignation and Toastmasters
I am meeting a strange woman at King's Cross Station, London today - strange in the sense that she is unknown to me - to research another hopefully gripping instalment of a book I am writing. All will be revealed in due course. I'm hoping we can find somewhere quiet...
Go John, go
The Beeb's latest upset is the huge popularity of genial journalist John Sargeant as he clumsily trots his way around the dance floor on Strictly Come Dancing. Who can blame him for his huge grin as his stunning dance partner Kristina Rihanoff snuggles against his...