Even the most spontaneous of us both require – and I think, enjoy – some semblance of routine. Even if you’re someone who enjoys making decisions on a whim, which I’m very much not, that can become disconcerting after a…

The generation of energy is something most of us only appreciate when it isn’t working. Having grown up in the digital age, where technology has become a necessity for daily living, access to resources which require electricity is the norm,…

We all have our feelings and emotions. The way we regard ourselves, other people and the world will, to some extent, invariably be shaped by those abstract, intangible moods that are near-universal. To deny feeling and emotion would be to…

There’s nothing like a bit of BBC-bashing to unite the country in these emotionally charged times. From ardent Corbynistas to avowed Brexiteers, lockdown sceptics to despairing Remainers, aiming fire at Auntie — the previous term of endearment for our national broadcaster — is something…

What is the perfect Sunday? Naturally, this varies depending on your age. As a young child, it might be relaxing, playing games, trying to complete as little homework as possible and going to the cinema. It is far more likely…

The workplace is back like never before. With 831,000 people entering the Tube network on the first Monday of September – the highest level since March 2020 – many employers have no doubt used the end of summer and decline…

Jane Austen once wrote that “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in  possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” Well, a more recent universal truth is that  a bank holiday without…

The power of education should be obvious. In developing countries, getting all children, especially girls, into primary and secondary education is a key category for a country’s social progress. Yet, where education has long been universally available, it is too easily…

The 2021 local elections already seem like so long ago. Even though they were less than two months ago, their influence and significance appear to have receded into the past. While there is a lot of commentary in the immediate…

Ensuring energy sustainability in the long term is one issue among many that has been utterly  obscured by the combination of COVID and Brexit. Time that could have gone into a debate over how Britain should be powered has instead…