I remember the day I fell in love with Syria. We had got up early to watch dawn rise over the ruins of Palmyra in the desert, and as I sat on a piece of ancient wall, feeling the warm of the sun on my face, I saw a figure approaching out of the desert. It was a little like that scene in Lawrence of Arabia where Omar Sharif shimmers out of the mirage on a camel, except this was a small boy and he was on foot, but he was dressed in full Arab robes, headscarf and all. There was no sound except the … [Read more...]
It wasn’t the economy, stupid
November 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment
In the end, it was easy. Despite the breathless insistence of Wolf Blitzer and the television pundits that it was "too close to call", Mitt Romney never came near preventing the re-election of President Barack Obama. Nate Silver predicted it. So, weirdly, did Bob Dylan. So in future, it seems, when you want to know who's going to win an American election, you should either ask a scientific statistician, or a wizened troubadour in a cowboy hat. Perhaps next time America votes, they should be … [Read more...]
A Tale of two MPs; or why Nadine Dorries is a Buffoon
November 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment
So, Nadine Dorries has abandoned her responsibilities as an MP and gone off to take part in I'm a Celebrity, get me a Brain Transplant. She's got a lousy sense of timing. Just as the entire world is transfixed by politics, with Barack Obama's re-election in the US, Ms Dorries has flounced off muttering that politics is boring and what people are really interested in is has-been celebrities being ritually humiliated by having maggots poured over their heads. At a time when Britain is facing a … [Read more...]
The Election that affects us all
November 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
So, Barack or Mitt? Today Americans vote in an election whose effects will be felt in almost every corner of the globe. I'm not an American, and I don't have a vote, so I'm not going to say who I think should win between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. In a sense, as Stephen Fry said recently, it's none of my business. I know how offended I get when outsiders start telling me how we should run our country -- most recently when Mitt Romney said this summer that London wasn't properly prepared … [Read more...]
Jimmy Savile and the Death of Innocence UPDATED
November 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Update -- 9 November 2012 Since this was originally posted Lord McAlpine has issued a strongly worded statement that reports linking him to the North Wales child abuse allegations are "wholly false and seriously defamatory", and independent reports have emerged that he is a victim of mistaken identity. This blog never named Lord McAlpine, but referred only to reports about an unnamed "senior Conservative politician". However, I have decided to delete all references to the case to avoid any … [Read more...]
Sandy and the Death of Television News
November 3, 2012 by 4 Comments
There was a moment, as Superstorm Sandy hit the east coast of America this week, when you could tell that it was going to be serious. When even those of us watching from thousands of miles away knew this time it wasn't going to be media hype. It was when the television reporters starting going indoors. For hours they had been standing against the most dramatic backdrops they could find, the sea raging behind them, water swirling around their feet, ramping up the tension. "This is a pretty … [Read more...]
Burden of the Desert…from a Baghdad Hotel Room to a Novel
October 5, 2012 by 9 Comments
The proofs for the cover of my first novel, Burden of the Desert, arrived this week. It was a strange experience to see them -- exciting, certainly, but humbling too, to think that this story I have carried in my head for so long will soon be a book. Looking at them, I thought of that night long ago when the idea for the novel first came to me in a hotel room in occupied Baghdad. It was 2004 and I could hear the sounds of the city outside my window, the traffic, the constant gunfire, the … [Read more...]
The Summer of the Mobot
August 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment
For me, the 2012 Olympics will always be a thousand people crammed into a tiny pub to watch Mo Farah in the 5,ooo metres final. People jammed in so tight no one can move, even if you wanted to. People spilling out onto the streets, people watching through the windows. They’ve been coming all afternoon, all evening, from all over London, and all anyone wants to know as they come through the door is “What’s the latest from the Olympics?” People are greeting complete strangers like long-lost … [Read more...]
KP and how the Old Farts killed English Cricket
August 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment
I've been an England cricket fan all my adult life. Starting Thursday, England play South Africa at Lord's in a match that will effectively decide the world championship. But I won't be watching. Frankly, I'm not sure I ever want to watch cricket again. The reason, of course, is Kevin Pietersen -- more specifically, the England Cricket Board's decision not to play him in the match. It's another triumph for the sort of men former England rugby captain Will Carling once described as "old … [Read more...]
