Will Guidara's Unreasonable Hospitality reads like a 288-page LinkedIn post. He is the hero of every chapter. And I rather liked it.

I have made some *truly* terrible decisions in my life (so far!). Which I guess makes me well-placed to write about why they so often go wrong? ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/why-other-...

Carr is somehow doing the Tony Blair favourite meal dependent on audience* in the 21st century. *fish and chips or fettuccine with olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and capers

I wrote about Mo Salah's contract and Mark Ramprakash's Ashes as a way of talking about the war without quite talking about the war.

I have made some *truly* terrible decisions in my life (so far!). Which I guess makes me well-placed to write about why they so often go wrong? ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/why-other-...

Americans may enjoy splendid isolation and cheap fuel, but they still can’t fly as far as us godless, decadent, on-the-brink-of-civilisational-collapse Europeans. My newsletter, out now.

Americans are fat and so their planes can’t fly as far.

Americans may enjoy splendid isolation and cheap fuel, but they still can’t fly as far as us godless, decadent, on-the-brink-of-civilisational-collapse Europeans. My newsletter, out now.

Forget fuel or CO₂ — Britain's real shortage? Famous people. And it's why we can't sustain a US-style late-night ecosystem. My newsletter, out now.

We're 36 minutes into an hour-long debate, following a general election fought on public services, and they've discussed nothing but the single currency.

Forget fuel or CO₂ — Britain's real shortage? Famous people. And it's why we can't sustain a US-style late-night ecosystem. My newsletter, out now.

Lol anything to avoid giving the Mayor of London proper tax-raising powers.

Interesting piece on the work of the anthropologists, psychologists and criminologists in MI5 which increasingly involves radicalised young people. A core focus is on looking for and boosting the ‘protective factors’ which might stop someone turning to violence www.ft.com/content/cce7...

"The enemy gets a vote." From Earl Grey to Ed Miliband, political reform rarely works quite as intended. My newsletter, out now.

One of those things that *sounds* eminently sensible until you give it any sort of thought.

Electoral reform, gerrymandering and voter-ID laws rarely go to plan. Because unless you’re prepared to effectively outlaw elections (and plenty are!) the other side gets a vote too.

I think of supermarket use-by dates as a sort of pitch-rolling exercise to prepare me for the shock of what the actual date will be soon.

Make foreigners pay in Morecambe and Wise Christmas Special musical numbers.

"The enemy gets a vote." From Earl Grey to Ed Miliband, political reform rarely works quite as intended. My newsletter, out now.

Just completed the Sydney–London hop and discovered one weird trick for avoiding jet lag. You're not going to like it. It's not discipline or melatonin — it’s business class.

Just completed the Sydney–London hop and discovered one weird trick for avoiding jet lag. You're not going to like it. It's not discipline or melatonin — it’s business class.

"Actually the FT endorsed Labour in 1992."

The man who charmed the world. My Dad turned 70 over the weekend. There was a party and, being a Kessler event, speeches. This one was mine. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/the-man-wh...

The man who charmed the world. My Dad turned 70 over the weekend. There was a party and, being a Kessler event, speeches. This one was mine. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/the-man-wh...

Has anyone, in the history of restaurant bathrooms, used the hand cream dispenser and thought, “Yes! I definitely didn’t want the soap this is good.”

Antisemitic violence is like a trip to the ice cream parlour — the only question is: what flavour? My newsletter, out now.

Went for a walk. Listened to a podcast about Spurs going down, skipped the bit about Arsenal losing the cup final. Can swap according to taste but strong recommend.

Zack Polanski has liked this tweet, which is the top reply to his tweet shown above. In my opinion this tweet is a ludicrous exercise in excuse-making for violent antisemites, who obviously don’t think they’re targeting Israel by attacking a Jewish ambulance charity.

I grew up in this community and I have a few thoughts I want to share. A short thread. www.jewishnews.co.uk/breaking-hat...

Antisemitic violence is like a trip to the ice cream parlour — the only question is: what flavour? My newsletter, out now.

Hello from Wembley where I was today years old when I learned that Carabao is an energy drink. Marketing!

My manifesto, out now.

Why do gay men love transport? An exposé into the queer-infrastructure complex. My newsletter, out now.

Gay tropes: iced coffee, walking fast and "I was listening to a podcast about London's new super sewer".

Why do gay men love transport? An exposé into the queer-infrastructure complex. My newsletter, out now.

Yes, that's me at HM Treasury in 2018 after The Sun (and the prime minister) scuppered my valiant attempt to uprate fuel duty by inflation. Now, with oil climbing above $100, the planned 5p per litre rise later in the year seems... unlikely. My newsletter, out now.

This time is different.

*weary, sympathetic sigh*

Email etiquette, a timeline 2015: Scrupulously edit all emails, FULL punctuation 2017: Don't use too many exclamation marks! People will think you are a small girl! 2021: Occasionally leave out full-stops as a power move 2026: One typo per email to show an AI didn't write it

Yes, that's me at HM Treasury in 2018 after The Sun (and the prime minister) scuppered my valiant attempt to uprate fuel duty by inflation. Now, with oil climbing above $100, the planned 5p per litre rise later in the year seems... unlikely. My newsletter, out now.

Is it still rational to plan for the future? Selecting salads and counting pennies in an unstable world. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/is-it-stil... My newsletter, out now.

Is it still rational to plan for the future? Selecting salads and counting pennies in an unstable world. ✍️ www.linestotake.com/p/is-it-stil... My newsletter, out now.

Been watching a lot of points of order from the early 2010s. Chances are, it's not a matter for the chair.

cc Brexiteers circa 2017: we're leaving an institution, not a continent. I mean yes, that would have been terrifying.

Me, reading: Haha the House of Habsburg is running out of marriageable first cousins. Me, scrolling: Oh.

So, I've been thinking about the time my Dad and I went over to watch a Tottenham match at the home of a Spurs supporting friend whose elderly mother had died *that morning*. And we obviously cheered for the other side because football.

Not quite as bad but reminds me of the passenger calling up the British Airways helpline to get a flight out of Oman and the operator replying, "Can you spell that?"

They couldn't, could they? Tottenham may not go down — but watching them try is objectively hilarious. My newsletter, out now.

Weight-loss drugs are supposed to make you eat less — and hit the junk food industry. But Lindt says GLP-1 users are actually eating *more* chocolate. My newsletter, out now.

80 years ago, Churchill spoke at Fulton of an "iron curtain" falling across Europe. He called for a "special relationship" with the US, a "settlement" with Stalin & an army under the UN. I joined @ppfideas.bsky.social to discuss one of Churchill's most important, contested & misunderstood speeches