Matthew Parris

Years ago Lord Patten of Barnes – Chris – was our guest for my Great Lives programme on BBC Radio 4. He championed the life of Pope John XXIII, a mid-20th-century pope from humble origins who (his admirers would say) did much to bring the Roman Catholic Church into the 20th century. He had his

[Getty Images] Years ago Lord Patten of Barnes – Chris – was our guest for my Great Lives programme on BBC Radio 4.

And so to the budget. Breathless at the news, The Sunday Times tells us that “a striking 56 per cent [of the public] said they believe Reeves can avoid both tax rises and spending cuts this week

I listened with admiration to Rupert Soames, Churchill’s grandson, interviewed by the BBC’s Nick Robinson on his Political Thinking podcast. Soames has this year become chairman of the Confederation

You can hear it already. Rising from the tents of the dejected Democrat camp comes the whimper of self-reproach. It’s all our fault. Liberalism created this monster. There’s a distinct whiff of mea culpa in the air. Nostra culpa, nostra maxima culpa for the alienation of half the American people. Donald Trump and his mob?

(Getty) You can hear it already. Rising from the tents of the dejected Democrat camp comes the whimper of self-reproach. It's all our fault.

Gap is growing wider between what our political leaders must promise to get elected and what they are able to deliver

With the weather recently, I’ve felt as if I were living under an enormous grey plastic bin-lid. The urge to get out has been strong, so it’s been a week of excursions and exhibitions — first, last

Booting the boss out for his subordinates’ misjudgments is unfair

‘Et remarquant que cette vérité, je pense, donc je suis, était si ferme et si assurée, que toutes les plus extravagantes suppositions des Sceptiques n’étaient pas capables de l’ébranler, je jugeai que je pouvais la recevoir sans scrupule pour le premier principe de la Philosophie que je cherchais.’ Pardon my French – and I translate