Author Archives: bernardporter2013

‘…your Mum and Dad. They may not mean to, but they do.’ (That’s Philip Larkin, of course.) Well, not necessarily; and I wouldn’t like to blame my parents for my own fuck-uppedness (everyone’s fucked up to a degree). But obviously … Continue reading →

Is it normal for an 83 year-old to wake up every morning feeling that the world – or at least decent liberal society – is coming to an end? (I mean ‘liberal’ in the original broad sense of the term; … Continue reading →

Pleased as I am about the outcome of the recent UK general election, I’m still not happy about how it was secured, and – in particular – about the way it has given such a massive majority to Labour on … Continue reading →

Keir Starmer presents as the antithesis of Boris Johnson, and is all the more welcome for that. In 1945 Clement Attlee was a bit of a dullard too. Each offered serious ‘change’ in Britain’s domestic politics, after a turbulent period … Continue reading →

The suburb next to ours is called Sandsborg. It has a swimming pool for the elderly and disabled, water 30 degrees C, lots of equipment for crocks like me, staffed by people who can get you in and out of … Continue reading →

A correspondent asks me what I have against golf. (See https://bernardjporter.com/2024/09/19/zeitgeists/, btl.) Well, it’s not only Trump. (Who apparently cheats at it.) Firstly, there’s the fact that it has gobbled up so much of our beautiful English countryside, with its … Continue reading →

In 19th-century Britain – and probably around the world – ‘democracy’ was opposed and resisted mainly on the grounds that it would enfranchise the unlettered and stupid, who were unfitted to make the sorts of intelligent decisions on which stable … Continue reading →

Context is important. All serious historians know this. It’s what makes us chary of making judgments of people’s actions in the past; actions which could in fact be largely attributable to the Zeitgeists within which they acted. That won’t entirely … Continue reading →

Don’t you miss Gordon? I do. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/sep/17/europe-far-right-appeasement-france-populist-progressive

I don’t remember ever subscribing to The Daily Telegraph web version, but its front-page headlines come up on my computer every day. What strikes me is how many of these have to do with money: how to make more of … Continue reading →