The Critical Commentator

  People in Wales are generally immensely proud of their roots, be it village, town or valley. Yet while they maintain their sense of home, I have never been left in any doubt that I am welcome. Growing up in England, I have moved around the Midlands. West Bromwich, Leicester, Northampton and Coventry are all places I had considered my home. Don't get me wrong, I had a wonderful childhood, but I had never found the place that spoke to my heart. But from the moment I came to Wales, I felt that I had met a friend I never knew I needed. Everything about this country struck a chord with me. The Welsh are independent of mindset and nonconformist, and I love that. Wales is a land of geographical beauty and diverse wildness, but it is not the magnificent landscape of Wales that makes this home. It has always been the people... Arenig James Dickson Innes (1887-1914) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]   The Welsh are perpetually the underdog. Like my beloved Baggies, [West Bromwich ...

  The tax burden is at its highest sustained level in more than seventy years. An ageing population and consequent need for more spending on health, social care and pensions, means that, whatever the politicians may tell you, there will be more tax rises, if not soon then certainly within the decade. In the UK we are around average in the developed world in terms of the size of our state. We tax and spend rather less than most of our Western European neighbours but rather more than the US, Canada and other non-European members of the OECD... There is nothing in economics which says we can't have a bigger state. France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands are all successful economies which raise a lot more in tax than we do, and spend a lot more as well. What we can't have are American levels of tax and European levels of public spending... We have to make choices. If we want better public services we will have to raise more in tax. If we want to cut tax we have to be honest abo...

  What will perhaps confound future historians most is how loudly the alarm bells have been ringing.  The Bells of St Mark's, Venice Edward John Poynter (1836-1919) Photo Credit: Birmingham Museums Trust [Public Domain] France, the UK and Germany - the great pillars of the old European order - are crumbling... but what astounds this commentator observing from inside the edifice, as it were, is how incapable the peoples of old Europe are at even diagnosing the rot, let alone addressing it. France is a chastening case in point... This has nothing to do with left or right, Macron or Le Pen , the Fifth Republic or popular divisions. The problem is the French people ; the demos , if you will... It is the settled and immoveable will of the French people to live beyond their means; to enjoy ever rising welfare, social spending and subsidies while balking at the higher taxes, longer working hours and delayed pensions required to pay for them. The sovereign debt now stands at 12...

  Well, sometimes a shrunken jumper is not just a shrunken jumper. At times, we all find ourselves reaching for a protective outer layer that feels comfortable and comforting because it is impenetrable. We unconsciously believe that this psycho-emotional thermal will shield us from the cold, darkness and rejection that threaten to come from other people and, perhaps more frighteningly, from within us. It feels safe and warm inside this protective force field - but the reality is that, in a fundamental way that has nothing to do with oxygen, we cannot breathe. We might feel relieved to be at a distance from others who could reject us, but we might also find ourselves unable to make contact with others who could offer us love, care and attention. And we might find ourselves unable to love them back... The Yellow Jumper William Mouat Loudan (1868-1925) Photo Credit: Atkinson Art Gallery Collection [CC BY-NC-SA] I often wonder about the psychological and emotional meaning of wearin...

 You are reading this, most of you, knowing at least something of the result of the presidential election. I am writing before the votes have been counted. This allows me to avoid the error of the campaign books. My reflections are not biased by any knowledge, however incomplete, of the outcome. Hearts are Trumps John Everett Millais (1829-1896) Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]  So I am able to write about Donald Trump without knowing whether the swing states are falling his way. And without that knowledge, it is already obvious that he has changed our understanding of politics profoundly. That his political career has been, however grim it may be to acknowledge it, a stunning success. And that, as a result, we have seen things about democracy we can never unsee. This will be the case whether he is heading for the White House or not. At a campaign stop in Iowa in 2016, Trump remarked: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose any voter...

  The private property empires that fund the King and Prince William are making millions of pounds a year from charges paid by the armed forces, the NHS, schools, mining companies and big businesses. An investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches has revealed full details of the vast ancient estates owned by the King and the prince and the business deals struck to fund their lifestyles. The Coming Storm John Miller Nicholson (1840-1913) Photo Credit: Manx National Heritage [CC BY-NC]   Over five months we identified 5,410 landholdings, mineral rights and properties held by the Duchy of Lancaster, on behalf of the king, and the Duchy of Cornwall, for the prince, and then examined business agreements and leases linked to these plots. These contracts show the duchies generate profits by charging the army, the navy, hospitals, the prison service, schools and councils for the right to use lands, rivers and seashores seized for the duchies in medieval times. Last...

  Settling Scores "So boring you fell asleep halfway through her name." (Alan Bennett on writer Arianna Stassinopoulos) A Boor Asleep Adriaen Brouwer (1605/1606- 1638) Photo Credit: The Wallace Collection [CC BY-NC-ND] "Hang on, I'll just check my diary... Oh dear, I find I'm watching television that night." (Peter Cook when asked by David Frost to attend a dinner party with Prince Andrew.) Professionals "The only difference between doctors and lawyers is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you too." (Anton Chekov) Cricketers "Would you like  me to bowl you a piano and see if you can play that?" (Merv Hughes to Graham Gooch) Shane Warne: "I've been waiting two years for another chance to bowl at you." Daryll Cullinan: "Looks like you spent it eating." Actors "Dear Ingrid - speaks five languages and can't act in any of them." (Sir John Gielgud on Ingrid Bergman) "You can ...