"Terrible things started happening to boys who wandered on to bombsites in British films..." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/21/f...

From the archive, ten years ago: What was going to happen to 3 million jobs if we voted to leave the EU? thelionandunicorn.com/2016/02/23/c...

"Things got so bad that not even an adult Richard Attenborough was safe; he is seen on a bombsite by a nosy neighbour and as a result later accused of murdering a child." @lordbonkers.bsky.social on the dangers of bombsites in post-war British cinema. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/21/f...

On the centenary of Kenneth Williams's birth, let's celebrate his encounter with Glaswegian socialist Jimmy Reid, "a reminder that intelligence and civility once shared the same studio space and that we were all the richer for it". thelionandunicorn.com/2025/10/23/l...

"So dangerous did bombsites become for boy actors that Jon Whiteley ventured on to them twice and got caught up with a murderer both times." I've written another piece for Lion & Unicorn blog: @lionunicorn.bsky.social

"You’re late." "I had things to do. With the boys." "But you’re always with the boys..." @lordbonkers.bsky.social on the excellent 1958 movie Innocent Sinners. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/21/f...

"The claim that ‘no one voted for mass immigration’ has been heard for decades. Is it true?" @alwynturner.bsky.social on 60 years of promises on immigration.👇

"People who have come to the UK to work make a substantial contribution to our economy, our public services, and our communities." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...

"Our larder isn’t sticking in you, is it?" Happy birthday to Mike Leigh, who's 83 today. Here's @benfinlay74.bsky.social on his classic play "Nuts in May". thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/10/n...

#AShellshockedNation by @alwynturner.bsky.social is out today! A fresh and inventive social history of interwar Britain, from Armistice and the Spanish flu to the announcement of war. 'Alwyn Turner is the master of funny, engaging social history' Sunday Times profilebooks.com/work/a-shell...

"Our philosophy is simple: if you are ready to work hard and there is work for you to do, then you are welcome here…" A guide to what every incoming government since 1964 said about immigration in their manifestos. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...

Look out for new articles from me on Central Bylines and Lion & Unicorn very shortly.

"Our philosophy is simple: if you are ready to work hard and there is work for you to do, then you are welcome here…" A guide to what every incoming government since 1964 said about immigration in their manifestos. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...

"There will be no further large scale permanent immigration..." A quick guide to the manifesto promises made on immigration by each government elected in 1964-2024. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/18/i...

A happy 65th birthday to Food Security Minister, Angela Eagle. Her career hasn't always run smoothly: "Blair forgot Home Office minister Angela Eagle existed, gave someone else her job and effectively sacked her from the government by mistake." thelionandunicorn.com/2016/07/03/v...

Dandruff, Gluggo, Ass... These and many more are to be found among my 70 favourite album titles of the 1970s. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/14/a...

"For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" @alwynturner.bsky.social selects his 70 favourite album titles from the 1970s. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/14/a...

"For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" @alwynturner.bsky.social selects his 70 favourite album titles from the 1970s. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/14/a...

"Never trust a man who owns a sex guide. There are some things you should know how to do without reading a manual." thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/07/h...

Happy 76th birthday to Peter Gabriel. Some of us still think of him as the singer with Genesis, back in their Trespass days... thelionandunicorn.com/2025/06/07/g...

Today we shall be remembering Leslie Sarony, who died 12 February 1985. Ain't it grand to be bloomin' well dead? thelionandunicorn.com/2015/10/31/p...

Happy birthday to Steve Hackett, former Genesis guitarist, who turns 76 today. 'Wind & Wuthering', his final album with the band, is featured in my personal top ten of progressive rock: #musicsky #progrock @lionunicorn.bsky.social

Comedian Charlie Naughton of the Crazy Gang died 50 years ago today. thelionandunicorn.com/2024/08/29/f...

"All fur coat and no knickers..." A happy 50th birthday to Keeley Hawes, star of "Ashes to Ashes". thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/07/h...

Labour hasn't held a leadership election whilst in power since 1976 (pace Gordon). The spectacle of the rivals to succeed Starmer vying for the votes of MPs & members so unrepresentative of the country — with the full attention of the media — could be very dangerous (and a hoot). wp.me/p6lzJb-2Fs

"I want every anarchist, commie, trotskyist, pinko, leftie, greasy-bastard student rounded up and brought in..." What we learn from "Ashes to Ashes". thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/07/h...

"I’ve seen a bloke from Billericay balance a budgerigar on his Hampton Wick..." NEW: On the anniversary of the first broadcast of Ashes to Ashes on 7 Feb 2008, here's my episode guide. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/07/h...

"And this is for children?" @benfinlay74.bsky.social on some highlights from the days of weird kids' TV. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/04/3...

"She was sick of living in a borough where everyone you met was looking after number two." The great Keith Waterhouse was born 6 February 1929. thelionandunicorn.com/2017/09/22/a...

The British ‘wyrd’ stretched from Powell & Pressburger’s ‘A Canterbury Tale’ to ‘Penda's Fen’ (1974) & many kids’ TV dramas of the ‘70s like ‘Children of the Stones’. Broadly a phenomenon of the post-war era of which is no longer a trace in 21st century over-lit, Americanised UK screen products.

"As Stewart Lee said, ‘there was something really comforting for nerds and weirdos about programmes like Children of the Stones and The Changes'." @benfinlay74.bsky.social on these and other curios of kids' TV. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/04/3...

"The songs are rebellious and haunting, auditory messages from the past..." My new article celebrating weird drama from the golden age of kids' TV. @lionunicorn.bsky.social

Saxophonist Don Rendell was born 100 years ago today. His 1966 album "Dusk Fire" with the Ian Carr Quintet makes @benfinlay74.bsky.social's Top 10 of British jazz. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/c...

"The songs are rebellious and haunting, auditory messages from the past..." @benfinlay74.bsky.social celebrates weird drama from the golden age of kids' TV. thelionandunicorn.com/2026/02/04/3...

A very happy 75th birthday to Phil Collins. Obviously, there's the solo stuff and there's Genesis, but let's also celebrate his jazz-rock work with Brand X. Their album "Moroccan Roll" is in @benfinlay74.bsky.social's guide to the best of British jazz. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/c...

British jazz legend Ronnie Scott was born 99 years ago today. He's in @benfinlay74.bsky.social's top ten. thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/c...

"These ’ere pacifists never done nobody no good." The Four Just Men (Walter Forde, 1939) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/15/s...

"The Holocaust did not start with a concentration camp. It started with a brick through the shop window of a Jewish business, the desecration of a synagogue, the shout of racist abuse on the street." - Tony Blair, Holocaust Memorial Day 2005 thelionandunicorn.com/2020/01/25/a...

‘British justice is deservedly respected all the world over.’ Mavis Doriel Hay, Murder Underground (1934) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

"We recognize that the choice that lies ahead will be deeply painful. But we believe that the need for a realignment of British politics must now be faced." It's 45 years since the Limehouse Declaration. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/18/a...

‘The times are theatrical. The whole world has lived in the atmosphere of the theatre for the last fifteen years.’ Francis Beeding, The Eight Crooked Trenches (1938) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

‘The times are theatrical. The whole world has lived in the atmosphere of the theatre for the last fifteen years.’ Francis Beeding, The Eight Crooked Trenches (1938) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

"We recognize that the choice that lies ahead will be deeply painful. But we believe that the need for a realignment of British politics must now be faced." It's 45 years since the Limehouse Declaration. thelionandunicorn.com/2019/02/18/a...

‘Those who set out to lead the mob are apt to end by following.’ John Buchan, Castle Gay (1930) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

"While those like Nigel Farage & Rupert Lowe can dissemble, valorising the free market in everything except labour, Goldsmith told us what he, and they, really think" A fantastic piece by John Merrick on the founder of the Referendum Party👇

"Most historical facts are unpleasant." Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1932) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

‘Are we not facing a rising tide of ideological intolerance, and are not terrorism and violence more and more in men’s thoughts?’ Michael Innes, Hamlet, Revenge! (1937) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

Hooray! Hooray! It's publication day...

"If another world war is loosed then all, all will be destroyed. Socrates and Copernicus and Newton and Galileo and Velazquez will have lived in vain, and the four Gospels might just as well have not been written." A. G. Macdonell, Lords and Masters (1936) thelionandunicorn.com/2026/01/21/s...

'A Song for Me', the third album by the much underrated Family was released OTD in 1970. It features on my personal top ten prog rock favourite albums here: #musicsky #prog #topten @lionunicorn.bsky.social