Should you ever find yourself in conversation with a British person and they’re saying things which seem polite on the surface, with perhaps a little undercurrent of scorn, you might want to have this infographic ready to consult. It claims to be a translation of British for people in the European Union, but these themes…
Feeling fatter and rather less fit than I should be, I have allowed myself to be persuaded to take part in the Blenheim Triathlon in June. I’ll be competing as a member of the LeaderBoard – a team of Chief Executives from around the UK who have committed to support Sport Relief 2012. I have…
Yesterday’s royal wedding brought back some memories, though not, perhaps, as many as it should have done. When we were both 17, my schoolfriend Richard Morris and I camped overnight on the Mall, in order to watch Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer make their wedding journey. I remember the fireworks party in Hyde Park and the…
I arrived in Kenya this morning, fairly bleary eyed from a long but not uncomfortable journey. Immigration, for once, was a cinch. A big smile from the immigration officer (something I’ve never received before), electronic fingerprinting (also new) and a complete inability to find any records of previous visits in the system (some things never…
This morning, just after rush hour, I was on the tube, heading for a meeting in central London. As luck would have it, I was heading south from Kings Cross to Holborn. As we passed through Russell Square station, I glanced at a small group of people on the platform. They were standing still,…
Rather surprised this morning to wake and find myself being likened to Kingsley Amis and being described as an educational reformer. Stuart Rose and I have penned an article for a forthcoming book on education, which also include contributions by AC Grayling and Niall Ferguson. Andrew Roberts predicts that the book will “set the education…
Sometimes it’s fascinating to spend the day immersed in someone else’s world. Joe was performing in Covent Garden, so I went along to provide child care for my nephew, whilst Trish was videoing the act. He’s really rather talented, my brother.
Thank you for the extraordinary number of emails I’ve received following my recent blogs concerning my eye surgery – many from people I’ve never met who seem to have found my via Google and Yahoo. So, an update on progress. I went for my one month check up this week and was delighted to find…
Went back to the clinic for a one week check-up today. The good news is that the vision is improving all the time. I was able to read the bottom line of the sight chart after blinking. However, at the moment I have developed long sightedness. This is likely to settle over the coming weeks…