Author Archives: bernardporter2013

(I’ve finished the copy-editing phase of ‘the book’. But yesterday, just an hour or two later, being asked by a Swedish friend of Kajsa’s what the book was about, I couldn’t for the life of me remember. Dementia? Or simply … Continue reading →

What do you think? Bloomsbury obviously didn’t take to my recommendation of Boris in a hard hat and holding Union Jacks suspended helplessly over the Olympic stadium (you must have seen it); and have have come out with these suggestions. … Continue reading →

Tomorrow I have to get my Identitetskort renewed at the Central Police Station in Stockholm. You need an Identity card, and a ‘Personnummer’, to do almost anything in Sweden. Years ago I used to object strongly to the very idea … Continue reading →

Last night on SVT there was a fantastic performance, from a restored 18th-century theatre near Stockholm, of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas. ‘Dido’s Lament’ has always been one of the pieces of music that has moved me the most. I got … Continue reading →

(Personal) 2022 will probably be the year when I change my domestic arrangements, selling my house in Hull, moving into a small flat there, and living most of the time in Sweden, away from what England has become. That is, … Continue reading →

I know it’s unfair to judge a whole organisation by the conduct of one of its members; but how on earth does the Catholic Church let Jacob Rees-Mogg get away with it? I was brought up a Christian: a faith … Continue reading →

All the people I am currently dealing with at Bloomsbury are women; as from my experience they almost all seem to be in the publishing world. (It wasn’t like that in my earlier authorial days.) I have no problem with … Continue reading →

Is it a symptom of a real depression when England are swept away by Australia in the first Test, and West Ham are beaten 2-0 by Arsenal, both within a couple of days – and I really don’t care?

Anyone who thinks I’m a bit hard on Britain’s ‘Public’ schools – and the damage they are still doing to our politics and our country – should read the following, from today’s Guardian. It reveals a lot about Boris Johnson, … Continue reading →

When Boris goes – which surely must be soon – will he take the gold wallpaper with him? Among all the other scandals which have accompanied the refurbishing of his Downing Street flat – who paid for it? Did he … Continue reading →