They're Called Virgin Trains Because They Don't

There Are Few Tribes More Loathsome Than The American Right, And Their Vicious Use Of The Shortcomings In The Nhs To Attack Barack Obama's Attempts At Health Reform Are A Useful Reminder.

Watching The Commons Tribute To Margaret Thatcher Was Like Being Suffocated Inside A Gigantic Sticky Toffee Pudding, But One With Nasty Bogeys Planted Inside. There Was Much Of The 'margaret Thatcher Who Was Lucky Enough To Know Me,' Especially From Her Own Side Of The House.

When You Visit A Foreign City You Are In It, But Not Of It, Separated By A Glass Wall. Once, While A Student, I Was Getting Dressed In My Ground-floor Room When A Family Of Italians Crossed The Grass To Watch, As If I Were Laid On For Their Amusement And Instruction.

Life Was So Much Simpler In Pre-video Days When Everyone Refused Invitations Because The 'forsyte Saga' Was On. Now We All Just Have A Long List Of Unwatched Shows, All Of Which, It Seems, Our Friends Are Raving About. I Feel As Outdated As If I Wore A Fair Isle Sweater, Ate Pot Noodle And Had A Two-bar Electric Fire In The Sitting Room.

The Formal Washington Dinner Party Has All The Spontaneity Of A Japanese Imperial Funeral.