Matthew Parris

As the elderly peer prepared to ask his question he leaned back in his chair and came a cropper, but soon regained his composure

From train companies to wannabe prime ministers mateyness is often a step too far

Every twist in the winding road of our politics brings a latest thing to say. These wisdoms usually survive a season or two before succumbing to the new thing to say, which often asserts the opposite. This summer we have ‘Britain is moving into an...

Every twist in the winding road of our politics brings a latest thing to say. These wisdoms usually survive a season or two before succumbing to the new thing to say, which often asserts the opposite.

The late Lord Hattersley left Hay literature festival in style, but the rest of us were covered in mud

Andy Burnham’s devolution plans may have caught the imagination but pointless reorganisation won’t bring growth

News that a couple in Wales want to farm them for the table reminded me of an unfortunate boyhood massacre

A stray thought of my own while watching Iranian drones tracing fiery paths over the Gulf, a stray quote from Ukraine and the background rumble of

A stray thought of my own while watching Iranian drones tracing fiery paths over the Gulf, a stray quote from Ukraine and the background rumble of uncertainty about Britain’s Defence Investment Plan, have set my mind racing. My conclusion is at the...

The late MP had a pantomime-dame quality, similar to that of Margaret Thatcher, that appealed to gay Tories