I quit my job at 56 but don’t you dare say I’ve retired
Given the ever-accelerating demands of corporate culture in recent decades, it’s no surprise that coaching to help buffer and guide professionals through moments of crisis and loss…
Wooden shutters or high-class drapes – how posh are your curtains?
It’s curtain wars, and I’m not referring to Downing Street. There’s a marvellous case, chiefly about curtains, currently working its way through the High Court (if you…
How you can ditch your weekly shop, and still have all the veg you want
The average shopping bill has, like everything else, risen upwards: fruit costs five per cent more than it did pre-pandemic, while onions jumped in price by 5.1…
Sadiq Khan’s tax plans are highway robbery for London’s motorists
With household bills rising, the Mayor of London’s war on motorists threatens to push struggling families over the edge. His latest cash-grabbing wheeze is to impose draconian…
Stop depicting parenthood as the mother of all problems
Who would want to give birth slap bang in the middle of a motherhood culture war? A decreasing number of 20-somethings, for a start. This week we…
The BBC must confront its long-held prejudices towards Jews
When Corbyn’s Labour kept having trouble with anti-Semitism, the Left seemed incapable of grasping why. The party stood for anti-racism, after all! What they couldn’t see, of…
Tories can still reverse their ruinous National Insurance hike
The United Kingdom is once again speeding ahead of our Eurozone neighbours in job creation and economic growth. We have wisely removed Covid restrictions, rejected the worst…
Boris Johnson is morphing into John Major
It beggars belief that the Tories remain committed to raising National Insurance Contributions (NICs) in April. It would be a calamitous mistake which will become a lightning…
Paris is no longer a city of culture. It’s a city of despair
Things have come to a pretty pass when the chief Paris arts fair, FIAC, held in its present form for almost half a century, gets kicked out…
We must face down the clear and present threat posed by Russia
The United Kingdom is proud to be stepping up to take the lead in defence of freedom and democracy through credible deterrence and diplomacy. Even at the…
Why your ‘healthy’ diet is anything but – and the swaps to make now
We all want to eat better, but are we making the right choices? Anyone with an interest in health knows they shouldn’t consume junk food all day…
What do you mean you don’t have a therapist? How counselling went mainstream
Haydn Williams, executive chairman of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, has an expert’s view of the stages that have brought us here. “Cultural change doesn’t…
It can be tricky decorating a 17th-century cottage when you have Liberace’s taste
It’s dark when I leave Somerset, feeling my way through the garden to the car, setting off along dark lanes, to meet the removal van in London….
In pictures: the unlikely rise of wild synchronised swimming
Growing up on the Pembrokeshire coast, many of photographer Eva Watkins’ happiest moments were spent in the water – surfing and swimming. But for the final project…
How to get the most from your visit to the barber
In the summer of 2020, as men emerged with unkempt beards and locks, there were queues outside barber shops. Barber Stefan Avanzato advises that good haircare by…
The budget beauty products that are better than expensive ones
Skin Food, £8.25, (weleda.co.uk); Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré, £5.30, (feelunique.com); MIJ Masks Bio-Cellulose face mask 011 (2 pieces), £15.95, (beautybay.com); Q+A Vitamin C Brightening Serum, £9, (hollandandbarrett.com); CeraVe…
How shows like Succession and Killing Eve put British costume design on the map
From top left, clockwise, to bottom left: Lily Collins in Emily in Paris – très chic, in a green coat from Chanel’s Cruise 2020 collection; Jodie Comer…
The one style lesson from Emily in Paris? Invest in a silky Sylvie shirt
The washable silk relaxed shirt, £122, (everlane.com); Oversized silk shirt, £299, (winserlondon.com); Silk long-sleeve shirt, £130, (jigsaw-online.com); Silk pintuck oversized swing blouse, £250, (meandem.com); Equipment signature slim…
As Ukraine tensions grow, Sweden shows its military strength on strategic Baltic island
Rutger Bandholtz, who commanded a battery of three 120mm Bofors cannons guarding Slite, the island’s eastern harbour, remembers the last time the island saw tensions similar to…
South Korea’s presidential candidates try to woo ‘angry young men’
“It should be worrying for the region and the world too,” she said. “It will be emboldening and encouraging anti-feminism movements in other countries.” Feminists ‘are an…
Britain ramps up firepower to deter Russian invasion
Meanwhile, a Type 45 destroyer and an offshore patrol vessel would patrol the Black Sea and an additional RAF squadron would be deployed to Cyprus to patrol…
20 brilliant rail journeys for 2022
My parents were very keen on encouraging me to be independent and I was very proud that I went to school on my own from the age…
The world’s 20 best rail journeys: why train travel has never been more thrilling
20. A night on the Caledonian Sleeper By Shelley Rubenstein Short on time? Take the Caledonian Sleeper from London Euston to Glasgow Central, departing the former at…
Why you should visit this game-changing resort in the Maldives
There are 100 of these round entities in total; and if being indoors in a setting so spectacular feels a shame, fear not, for within them you…
The 15 best ski breaks for the ultimate comeback
Be prepared: Verbier It’s a situation that you’d never want to face but, if you venture off-piste, knowing what to do in an avalanche could make the…