Jan 16, 2013

PM prepares to talk tough but say little

The UK prime minister is putting the finishing touches to that speech

Illustration of a family opting to keep child benefit, by Lucas Varela ©Lucas Varela From LIFE & ARTS Jan 11, 2013

Undeserving affluent, unite!

If I disguise myself as triplets and rent out two more addresses, I can keep the whole £33.70… Robert Shrimsley considers the loss of his child benefit

Jan 9, 2013

Comeback time for the Thin Grey Duke

Could John Major, inspired by David Bowie, be next to break his silence?

A man in a jumpsuit ©Lucas Varela From LIFE & ARTS Jan 4, 2013

Happy New Year, onesie and all…

It was a good break and a welcome week of atrophy, but it’s now time to go back to the real world and into work attire...

Illustration by Lucas Varela of Gilbert and Sullivan doing the gangnam dance ©Lucas Varela From LIFE & ARTS Dec 21, 2012

Why it’s curtains for Gilbert and Sullivan

Civility, understatement and gentle mockery of authority now seem hopelessly old-fashioned in a way they didn’t only a few decades ago

Dec 19, 2012

Turing case cracks the apology code

Instead of feel-good gestures, we should learn lessons from the scientist’s treatment

Dec 12, 2012

Taking a tax lead from Starbucks

Dear Sir, Flush with the Christmas spirit, I am writing to offer you more income tax ...

Illustration of Robert Shrimsley's fulfilment centre ©Lucas Varela From LIFE & ARTS Dec 7, 2012

Fulfil me up

A fulfilment centre is the must-have retail accessory. So long dreary warehouse and distribution depot, hello dreamweaving fulfilment centre

Dec 5, 2012

Twitter feeding the Pope’s new habit

The Pontiff is gathering followers faster than Lady Gaga

Illustration by Lucas Varela ©Lucas Varela From LIFE & ARTS Nov 30, 2012

Political parenting – a user’s guide

Only when we have a pool of the truly unengaged will we have a foster system we can trust

Nov 28, 2012

A curious incident of the cops in the night

Society was gripped by the Leveson inquiry. Yet Sherlock Holmes remained undiverted ...

From LIFE & ARTS Nov 23, 2012

Alas, poor Olek …

How do you comfort a grieving guinea pig?

Nov 21, 2012

The Church keeps banking on men

How the arguments against women bishops might work if applied to wider society

Nov 14, 2012

In Britain, our sex scandals Petraeus

We just can’t compete. We haven’t had a world-beating sex scandal since Profumo

From LIFE & ARTS Nov 9, 2012

The (Disney) empire strikes back

The scene: a desert landscape. A youth is herding alpacas when he sees two figures, one tall and gold, one small and a bit like a dustbin...

Nov 7, 2012

Republican right-thinking for 2016

The post-defeat postmortem begins ...

From LIFE & ARTS Nov 2, 2012

Bye, mate, nice knowing you

Expat friends are refreshing and different. Then suddenly they are off and a chunk of your social life just falls away

From LIFE & ARTS Oct 26, 2012

Join the club, George old mate…

Perhaps the chancellor just wants to know the thrill of defying the rope line

Oct 24, 2012

Beginning to tire of them Apples

Even for a fan like me, the hoopla surrounding product launches has become formulaic

From LIFE & ARTS Oct 19, 2012

Ahhhhh, yet another killer idea…

The 007 fragrance is the latest addition to the panoply of Bond tat that proves popular among those with masculinity issues

ABOUT ROBERT

Robert Shrimsley Robert Shrimsley is the Managing Editor of FT.com. Before this he has served as the FT’s chief political correspondent and news editor.

He writes weekly for the Notebook column, a satirical look at the week’s news and for the FT weekend Magazine.

E-mail Robert Shrimsley

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