Professor, Provocateur, Professional Nuisance
The government said the 850 million pound measure would be funded by cancelling the digital ID scheme, and a former minister questioned that Notes on a Tax Cut: VAT Off Electricity From 1 October, 45 Pounds a Year, and the Question of Who Pays The government said the 850 million pound measure would be funded … Read more
A Holloway editor reads the week’s political satire from NewsThump and the Daily Mash and wonders who is left to laugh at in Westminster Friday, 23 October 2026. Holloway. The Lord Nelson pub on Holloway Road, a pint of bitter I am pretending is for research, 6.00pm. Reading The Competition With A Pint Every Friday … Read more
A Holloway professor marks his students’ essays on monarchy against Prince William’s three registrations and a couple of very public private citizens Monday, 19 October 2026. Holloway. A pile of student essays on the British constitution, red pen running dry, 9.30pm. Thirty Essays On The Constitution And Not One Mentions A Range Rover I set … Read more
A Holloway editor considers French public spending, school money in transit and the British habit of laughing at France while doing exactly the same thing Wednesday, 21 October 2026. Holloway. Rain on the window, a baguette from the Turkish bakery on the Holloway Road, 1.10pm. The Most Honest Sentence In European Public Finance Every so … Read more
A Holloway editor considers Piers Morgan’s war on courteous chatbots and wonders whether Parliament could survive a debating partner who lets people finish Sunday, 25 October 2026. Holloway. Clocks went back last night, so I am up an hour early with nothing to show for it, 5.45am. The Clocks Went Back And So Did The … Read more
An editor in Holloway tries to explain diesel diplomacy, drone speed limits and a war with terms and conditions to the man at the corner shop Saturday, 17 October 2026. Holloway, North London. Desk by the window, a mug of coffee strong enough to testify, 6.15am. An Old Professor Wakes Up To A War With … Read more
The North Pole Answers Its Post And That Is The Whole Job | An editor’s diary on constituent letters, honest values, and the real spirit of public service
The Welfare State Expansionist Has Founded A Department | Every Sadness Deserves A Form
Trestle tables, bundles of fifty, a man with a bin on his head and the purest hour in British democracy Three in the Morning in a Leisure Centre: Notes From a By-Election Count I am too old for this, and I say so every time, and every time I go. There was a by-election yesterday … Read more
A bad day at the editor’s desk, a lesson from Jonathan Swift and the hazards of being believed The Piece I Spiked Because the Government Got There First A trying day. I killed a good piece this morning, and I have been in a poor temper since. The writer took it well, which made it … Read more