Plovdiv, Bulgaria: a city I have had the good fortune to visit no less than seven times (at the time of writing). Having a beautiful female friend there to host me obviously helps. Plovdiv itself is Bulgaria’s second city and cultural capital, a juxtaposition of modernity with all the amenities […]

For the life of me I cannot understand the irrational and emotive controversy surrounding the issue of immigration. It seems perfectly logical to me that a nation whose size and available resources deem it fit for an ideal population of 30 million, but instead has one of 67 million and […]

“Children? Daddy’s going to the worst place in America,” said the man in the movie before leaving for Florida. But that’s just a little harsh. It’s not just a swamp where Mickey Mouse pops his head out whenever the hurricanes have recessed; it’s not simply an extended retirement complex with […]

There may just be hope for the rest of us. If the co-founders of the English Defence League can take the brave leap of working with Quilliam, an Islamic think tank set up to combat radical Islamism, then there cannot be any excuse for every community, faith-based or otherwise, not […]

‘We now have the moral authority of the world.’ When Aneurin Bevan made this declaration at the inauguration of the NHS in 1948, he clearly believed that a system of universal healthcare was testament to the evolution of a civilised nation. He must also have believed that such a system […]

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Said Sir Winston Churchill. And he was right. If an enemy of the state wanted to bring a nation to […]

Just before your visit to the Moon, there is one landscape on Earth where you can familiarise yourself with the lunar terrain. The Apollo crews used it before their expeditions, or if you’re Ridley Scott and need an alien world for your next film, replete with angry volcanoes and spectacular […]

There are two things in Downing Street that are unbalanced: the budget and the Liberals. A tragic confluence of both has been the catalyst for a spate of student protests about tuition fees. More money. Everyone wants more money. But what many seem to forget amidst the throes of their […]