Author Archives: bernardporter2013

This was the paper I delivered in Genoa last week, lightly edited, and without the powerpoint pics – which added to the fun. Hence its longer-than-average length. (It ran for fifty minutes.) The conference, or ‘Festival’, had ‘Empires’ as its … Continue reading →

No-one does towns and cities like the Italians. It must be an instinct embedded in them over the centuries: fine palaces, churches, habitations, all designed with perfect proportions – which is in my view the main quality defining great architecture … Continue reading →

We were in Genoa when we first heard of Friday’s Stockholm killings. Reports from Kajsa’s friends and relatives talked of smoke coming from the store the truck crashed into, public transport closed down, people rushing around on foot, and the inevitable rumours … Continue reading →

will be resumed once I’ve got over my Italian trip. And if I can get wi-fi where we’re going now. I should really be reporting on the Stockholm ‘terrorist’ incident; but I was away at the time.

I find mildly interesting the number of times that, having posted a blog here, I find the same arguments repeated shortly afterwards in a national press article. Here’s the latest example: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/apr/04/my-generation-free-brexit-voting-betraying-young; with which compare https://bernardjporter.com/2017/03/29/brexit-unfair-to-the-young/. Polly Toynbee’s article is far … Continue reading →

Writing as a feminist (am I allowed to?), we shouldn’t do the Victorians down. They had plenty of female role models, and not all of them nurses, mothers or the Queen – see Grace Darling. Researching children’s and young adults’ literature … Continue reading →

This might be thought to undermine the claim I made earlier, that London is totally unfazed by the so-called ‘terrorist’ attack on Westminster last week. Passing through Gatwick Airport security yesterday, I was stopped on suspicion of carrying a dangerous weapon. … Continue reading →

OK, we’ve cast the die. We’re Brexiting. There’s no way back. Learn to live with it, you Remainers; or ‘Remoaners’, as the tabloid press is dubbing us. Ever since they won the referendum, in fact, the Brexiters and their tabloid … Continue reading →

A recurring theme in British history over at least the past 200 years – if not quite a constant one – has been the idea of ‘progress’. Not merely the idea, but people’s belief in it, as one of the defining … Continue reading →

Perhaps votes should be weighted. Intelligent people’s votes should count more than idiots’. That would make my vote worth fifty times more than, say, Nigel Farage’s. Of course I can’t say anything so élitist; nor do I really believe it. … Continue reading →