Tomorrow’s the day when loved-up couples exchange roses and chocolates and rejoice in their good fortune, while singletons lament their lot, hope for Valentine’s cards — and, perhaps, desperately swipe right on their iPhone dating apps. Right means you like the look of them, swipe left and it’s thanks but no thanks. Around half of … Read more
Boris Johnson needs a fool. Indeed, all prime ministers need one — and let’s have no cheap cracks from those who suspect his problem is not an absence of fools but a surplus of them. Nor, God forbid, should we heed the sharp-tongued friend of mine who observed: ‘All Johnson has to do if he’s … Read more
My heart rather sank when a letter arrived at our home this week, addressed in capital letters to ‘MINNIE THE DOG’. It’s an occupational hazard of my trade as a columnist that, from time to time, I receive anonymous abuse and even the occasional death threat through the post at the Mail’s head office in Kensington. … Read more
Freedom to travel where you want is a fundamental democratic right. But in recent days it feels as though anyone who wants to book a holiday abroad ever again is either a weird Covid denier, a sociopath or a vaccine sceptic. The country is desperate for some hope and optimism. Nothing symbolises that better than … Read more
Anyone who picked up a newspaper yesterday — particularly anyone who has a serious weight problem and is trapped in a cycle of self-loathing and endless failed diets — will have rejoiced at a particular story. A ‘miracle’ drug had been found, we were told — one that’s extremely effective at helping obese people lose … Read more
The rapid rollout of the vaccination programme across the UK means a decisive corner has been turned in the battle against Covid. A decisive corner is about to be turned for the economy too, with enormous amounts of pent-up financial energy waiting to be released, like a coiled spring. With 13 million of the most … Read more
Ex-BBC producer John Mair Shortly before Christmas, I came across my 30-year-old son Josh engrossed in a boxing match on TV. It was a mighty contest with British boxer Anthony Joshua taking on Kubrat Pulev. Available via one of the big streaming platforms, Josh had paid £25 to watch. No small sum, but an amount … Read more
Ex-BBC producer John Mair Shortly before Christmas, I came across my 30-year-old son Josh engrossed in a boxing match on TV. It was a mighty contest with British boxer Anthony Joshua taking on Kubrat Pulev. Available via one of the big streaming platforms, Josh had paid £25 to watch. No small sum, but an amount … Read more
The Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson is the only person in the world who has been in Meghan’s shoes having married the future king’s younger brother, Andrew, in 1986 Once you have married the younger brother of the future king, what do you do next? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have secured deals with … Read more
As the financial hardship of many leaseholders continues, building firms are cashing in on a property market boom. The five biggest developers have made around £10billion in profits since the Grenfell Tower inferno, allowing them to shower more than £4.5billion on shareholders in dividends. The Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which offers loans to first-time … Read more