The War Room
Voting intention and six council contests on one side, rare breeds and memsahib romances on the other, with a ramble between Monday, Six By-Elections Six council by-elections took place, and voting intention polls bobbed up and down like ducks on a canal. I wrote a diary of the day, with a walk along the water, … Read more
Every party won something this week, which is the sort of result that leaves a strategist with a lot of spare adjectives. LONDON, England (The London Prat) – At ten past nine a woman called Ffion rang me on behalf of a research company to ask how likely I was to vote on a scale … Read more
I have been issued a green highlighter and a sense of duty, and only one of them is working. WESTMINSTER, England (The London Prat) – There are two kinds of people in a political war room on the day after a Budget. There are those who want to know what was said, and those who … Read more
Britain wants fewer civil servants and a fairer Budget, and I want a seat facing the direction of travel. MANCHESTER, England (The London Prat) – The 07.04 from Euston has a quiet coach, and the quiet coach has a man who is on a call. I have decided this is the most accurate picture of … Read more
The government wants me self-sufficient for three days, which is two more than the milk in our fridge has managed. WESTMINSTER, England (The London Prat) – The first thing I did when the government told me to be self-sufficient for three days was look around the war room and ask what we had. The answer … Read more
Nobody in the war room has ever been invited onto a sofa by anyone, and we are processing it as a professional slight. LONDON, England (The London Prat) – Gethin has ruled that the war room may watch television as long as we call it research, and then put a tick against the word research … Read more
A reference-work profile of the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize, and a diarist’s refusal to settle the argument on one entry Kipling from Bombay to Stockholm: Plain Tales, Kim, the White Man’s Burden and a Reputation That Fell After the First World War A reference-work profile of the first English writer to … Read more
A novel that gave the world Vande Mataram, praised as a landmark and criticised for pro-British and anti-Muslim bias, read through a Wikipedia summary Anandamath, 1882: Bankim Chandra’s Novel of the 1770 Famine, the Sannyasi Rebellion and the Song That Became India’s National Song A novel that gave the world Vande Mataram, praised as a … Read more
A literature diarist reads a trade circular and notices what it leaves out, which is nearly everything with a number in it The UK-India Trade Deal Took Effect on 15 July 2026: A Freight Forwarder’s Note, a Government Forecast and No Tariff Numbers A literature diarist reads a trade circular and notices what it leaves … Read more
From The Captive Ladie in English to Meghnad Badh Kavya in Bengali, as Wikipedia summarises a career of two languages Michael Madhusudan Dutt, 1824 to 1873: A Bengali Epic in Blank Verse, a Gray’s Inn Training and a Man Ignored for 15 Years After His Death From The Captive Ladie in English to Meghnad Badh … Read more