Ann Widdecombe: the latest victim of the Sergeant effect?

When you hear the name John Sergeant, it’s likely you picture him in Strictly Come Dancing 2008, dragging dance partner Kristina Rihanoff across the floor in a triumphant Paso Doble. In two years’ time it is just as likely you’ll remember Anton du Beke lifting and spinning a rather limp Ann Widdecombe on top of [...]

By Ellie Edmunds | Arts | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 6:07 pm

Will Barack Obama stand for re-election?

Ian Leslie, author of the magnificent Marbury blog, asks: Do you do Questions to Which the Answer is Yes? Once again, this is a question that answers itself.
As is the above, from Daniel Hannan, the Conservative MEP.

By John Rentoul | Eagle Eye | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 4:08 pm

Must watch: Perhaps the worst corner kick ever seen

Just when Northern Ireland thought they had done enough to be taken seriously on the international stage…

Steven Davis’ corner kick aside, an excellent draw for Nigel Worthington’s team against the mighty Italians.

By Simon Rice | Sport | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 4:02 pm

Culture Club: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Money never sleeps, so the title goes, but you might just find yourself nodding off during Gordon Gekko’s second outing, at least if Anthony Quinn’s review from Friday’s paper is to be believed.
“The film dithers over how his destiny should play out, offering us the regretful father, the post-crash moralist, and the lizard king with [...]

By Jack Riley | Arts | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 2:53 pm

Must Watch: Banksy takes over The Simpsons title sequence

Street artist Banksy has turned director for the controversial opening sequence of a new episode of The Simpsons episode, MoneyBart, which features in an Asian sweatshop.

By Ellie Edmunds | Arts | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 1:02 pm

Jonathan Miller’s Pub-lic opera

Where is the audience? It’s a question that eats at every art institution in this age of austerity.

By Angus Kennedy | Battle of Ideas, Eagle Eye | Monday, 11 October 2010 at 12:01 am

RSVP, Regrets Only

A friend draws my attention to an evening on 8 November to celebrate Michael Foot’s “rich, long and varied life with stories, music and readings”.
Special guests include
Jo Brand, Prunella Scales, Francis Wheen, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Goodman, Rodney Bickerstaffe, David Steel, Roy Hattersley, Neil Kinnock, Gordon Brown and Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband.
Michael Foot [...]

By John Rentoul | Eagle Eye | Sunday, 10 October 2010 at 8:07 pm

Happy World Mental Health Day

Today is 10/10/10 (or Shuāng Shí Jié), the birthday of Sir Matthew Pinsent and DJ Skribble, the first anniversary of the death of Stephen Gateley, Fiji Day, the Day of Finnish Literature and, last but not least, World Mental Health Day.

1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course [...]

By Ilona Burton | Notebook | Sunday, 10 October 2010 at 7:25 pm

“That wasn’t what we meant at all”

Matthew d’Ancona on fabulous form in The Sunday Telegraph today, doing what he does best, namely saying what I think, and on this occasion said, but 10 times better than I ever could. Top paragraph, on the reaction to the child benefit cut for higher-rate taxpayers:
The backlash in Birmingham was quite something to behold. It [...]

By John Rentoul | Eagle Eye | Sunday, 10 October 2010 at 4:31 pm

The New Machiavelli

I remember a chemistry lesson where we had to add salt or sugar to water to see how much could be added before the solution became saturated. It was more than we expected. So it is with the market in Blair Government memoirs. Jonathan Powell’s The New Machiavelli: How to Wield Power in the Modern [...]

By John Rentoul | Eagle Eye | Sunday, 10 October 2010 at 4:16 pm