 Britain is suffering from a crisis shortage of actors who can speak Received Pronunciation. Well, okay to be more precise there seems to be a shortage of ballet-dancing actresses with middle-class accents. As this morning's Leader suggests we need to record RP-accents before they die out. You can idle away hours at the British Library Sound Archive, listening to how British accents have changed.
Here's two: a young Elizabeth addressing the children of the nation during the War.
And this is also superb: a recording from 1953 of a Northumbrian shepherd called Simey Telfer.
Robbie Millen
Michael Portillo wonders if this is the start of a Tory collapse... India Knight deplores the fuss about Salman Rushdie's knighthood... Andrew Sullivan explains that sometimes it's good to be a poodle... and Matthew Taylor says that the Lib Dems' day will come
Rod Liddle says Gordon Brown may finally have realised he is not cut out for hobnobbing with airheads... India Knight feels sorry for Prince William following his split from Kate Middleton... Simon Jenkins asks if we really need another £5m Department of Education report telling us what is wrong with our schools... Minette Marrin argues ordinary women are finally realising that feminists, in their rejection of traditional marriage, may have thrown out the man with the bathwater... Michael Portillo believes it's unlikely but not impossible that David Milliband could be prime minister
India Knight doesn't understand the concept of sales... Michael Portillo warns that Britain is heading for a state of inequality unprecedented for decades... Andrew Sullivan contends that deal or no deal, Tehran has the West taped... and Andrew Roberts says that the hardliners in the Iranian regime will be strengthened by their success
 Tom Stoppard on today's op-ed pages has got it all wrong about Alexander Lukashenko, the man he calls the last dictator in Europe. I know that Tom Stoppard is wrong because I've read President Lukashenko's informative and objective website.
I learnt from it, for instance, that: A.G. Lukashenko is notable for his in-depth understanding of events, hard work, sense of duty, realism, fairness and fidelity to principle.
and that A.G. Lukashenko enjoys enormous prestige both in our country and abroad. Many are captivated by his honesty and openness, will and perseverance, energy, and constant willingness to learn from whomever his destiny brings him in touch.
I was impressed by this too: A.G. Lukashenko follows the sober way of life; he denounces idlers, traitors, drunkards, those who do not keep their word. He tries to find time for going in for sport (tennis, skating, skiing, hockey, football), for reading sociological and classical literature. A.G. Lukashenko's ill-wishers try to describe him as a conservative and an enemy to innovations, whilst he does not accept any arm-chair decisions incompatible with real life. He is the only politician in Europe who perceives the truth as, above all else, a category of conscience, and he always demands from politicians that they should comply with moral categories in their decision taking.
I'm sure under his wise helsmanship tractor productivity has jumped, crime has been abolished and everyone, from the fields to the factories, is happy and harmonious.
Does any world leader have a more gushing official hagiography (sorry, objective profiling free from the biases and lies of Western yellow press)? Well's let's go to the website of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea where you can enjoy A Brief History of the life of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong Il. Brief?!? It's 160 pages. If you don't want me to spoil the ending, look away now. The cause of the Korean revolution advancing vigorously along the road of Juche under the leadership of Comrade Kim Jong Il, General Secretary of the Workers' party of Korea, will achieve ultimate victory without fail in any storms and adversity and Korea will shine brilliantly as the motherland of Juche, where its 70 million fellowmen enjoy genuine freedom and prosperity on the reunified land
I do like happy endings.
So come on which other megalomaniac leader's website makes Lukashenko look like a shrinking violet?
Robbie Millen
Michael Portillo reckons that the sooner Brown and Cameron admit we need nuclear power stations, the faster we can get on with reversing climate change... Minette Marrin says the criminal justice system has failed to learn from the tragic lesson of Sally Clark... Simon Jenkins predicts that local income-related taxes will come to Britain one day... India Knight says there's nothing embarrassing about not throwing perfectly good food in the bin... and George Osborne advises that the next chancellor should get the Treasury focused on value for money
 The blogger Neil Clark has posted about what he calls "a serious matter". He is concerned that I allowed Stephen Pollard to call Slobodan Milosevic a genocidal butcher "in Britain's oldest newspaper".
He asks people to write to me to complain. Surprisingly, when I last checked my email I found that no one has yet done so.
Perhaps Harold Pinter doesn't write emails.
Today in Times Comment
Alice Miles: The tragedy of Fiona Jones - and the terrible pressure of being an MP
I write: The crucial years of the Blair premiership are yet to come.... ask Derren Brown. The important part of magic tricks comes when they're over
Magnus Linklater: Why the US were right to withhold intelligence in the friendly fire case
Alan Coren (Notebook): So all our schoolchildren will be speaking Mandarin by 2012. But even if they could find the teachers, Alan Johnson might notice that no one can speak French today either
Frances Gibb: The office of the Attorney-General is a farce. It can't straddle government and justice - and should be broken up
Peter Riddell: The Tories have a North-South problem: David Cameron's appeal fades the further you move from London
And in the rest of the papers…
Terence Blacker: (The Independent) - An oasis of calm in a poultry crisis
Deborah Orr: (The Independent) - It's not feminism, but the failure to engage with it, that has undermined marriage
Mark Steel: (The Independent) - No room for Byron in the Blair world curriculum
Geoffrey Wheatcroft: (The Guardian) - The Prime Minister believed in the war as a noble enterprise, but how many of his colleagues can say the same?
Simon Jenkins: (The Guardian) - The images of US 'friendly fire' show how good bombers are at hurting, but how bad they are at winning
Zoe Williams: (The Guardian) - In its lack of foundation and its grip on the moral consensus, our faith in the NHS is like a faith in God
Simon Heffer: (The Daily Telegraph) - Often in the past 10 years I've has found myself wondering what the state imagines the point of parents to be. We all know the correct answer, but does the Government?
Richard Dalton: (The Daily Telegraph) - A blend of bilateral dialogue, multilateral diplomacy, UN measures, and military deployments is now needed to blunt Iranian militancy and move the nuclear issue in the right direction without provoking a further war
Alan Cochrane: (The Daily Telegraph) - At a time of heightened security we have invested much more powers in the uniformed staff on planes and at airports. Flight attendants have a difficult job, but a very high-handed attitude developing among some of them
Leader: Africa's mysterious lord - The threat yesterday by the Lord's Resistance Army to abandon peace talks in south Sudan, and resume its offensive, could only have sent a shudder through the refugee camps of north Uganda - Guardian
And from around the world…
David Ignatius: (Washington Post) - Expect the worst in Iraq. With massive civilian casualties, more al Qaeda attacks and anarchy all in the forecasts, we need to face the likelihood that this story isn't going to have a happy ending
Martin Plissner: (New York Times) - There is a pretty good, if not quite conclusive, case that America has for some time been ready to elect a black president
Fyodor Lukyanov: (Moscow Times) - Interest in next year's presidential election is gradually eclipsing all other current events in Russia
John Pilger: (South Africa Mail & Guardian) - Australia: Cruelty and xenophobia shame the 'lucky country'
Editorial: The Bush administration finally shares information on its domestic spying program, but not to the public - LA Times
- Matthew Parris: Historians will boggle at our times; we are living in the mysterious era of the phantom PM
- Janice Turner: Commuting is heroic - and it's time to abolish it: our children will not put up with the strain
- Giles Whittell: Did you hear the one about the man with broken legs who was sent home by doctors and told to take a couple of aspirin and some exercise? Well, it tells you a lot about the perils of diagnosis and physical endurance
- George Walden: Blair, Segolene, Obama, Cameron… the rise and rise of the political smirkers
- Simon Barnes: It's birdwatch weekend - and I started at Minsmere in all its glory
- Graham Stewart: After Royal's royal gaffe, we must not forget the Kennedy cock-ups
- Matthew Parris: I have before me a Government pie chart and it tells you a lot about politics and the rise of management-speak and technical gobbledygook
- Janice Turner: The great privacy paradox: we share more and more of our life with strangers on the internet, yet are frightened to snap our kids at swimming galas; we worry about the invasion of Kate Middleton's privacy, yet are constantly watched by CCTV cameras
- Tom Bower: Lord Goldsmith and his shabby attempt to curtail liberties - next week sees Round Five of the Government's attempt to abolish jury trials for serious fraud cases
- Joe Joseph: Yep the country is suffering under inflation - like, razor cartridges that now have 42 blades; too many books published each year; clothes in XXXXL size; oversupply of celebrities; glut of TV channels
- Simon Barnes: What the weather is doing to the birds; the "distinguished jumper" spider is under threat
- Graham Stewart: Discussions about an English Parliament are not new - Asquith told Churchill to sort it out
- Matthew Parris: America’s attack on Iranian officials in Kurdistan makes me wonder whether the US really is our friend
- Ann Treneman: You know it is the last days of Blair, when he grasps the significance of Lembit Opik’s lovelife but doesn’t grasp the political significance of Saddam’s botched execution or his carbon footprint
- Damian Whitworth: The certainties of my world have been rocked this week - I’ve discovered that Skegness will no longer be bracing and chips are healthy: whatever next?
- Bob Stanley: Dreamgirls, Beyonce, Diana Ross and the stupid Hollywood twisting of the truth
- Simon Barnes: Wind is the perfect weather for crows and jackdaws; why do vultures have bald heads?
- Graham Stewart: Before Ruth Kelly, we had MacDonald and Attlee holding Labour's private-school banner
- David Aaronovitch: Kelly and son - is the former Education Secretary a hypocrite or not?
- Libby Purves: Arriving back in Britain, you realise we British have learnt to live in a state of private affluence, public squalor
- Amir Taheri: The strategists gave Bush three choices: Go big, go long, go home --- but what America needs to do is "go deep" into Iraq
- Chris Ayres: I'm here for the world's largest gadgetfest, so maybe I should also check out the Adult Entertainment Expo
- Mick Hume: How recycling created a boomtown for rats
- Matthew Parris: Stop acting surprised, David. You really will be Prime Minister Cameron
- Janice Turner: What Oprah could teach us all (and how I wish she would in a school in Britain)
- Hugo Rifkind: Revelling in austerity - singing the January blues
- Clive Aslet: Elephant grass in the meadows - what farmers face in Britain with climate change
- Simon Barnes: The amazing sight of a kestrel fighting off an owl out of a clear blue sky
- Graham Stewart: How to handle regicide - some lessons from the execution of Charles
- Gerard Baker - the lives of James Brown and Gerald Ford show that the in America redemption is always possible
- Ben Macintyre - Tintin’s journalism is of a very particular sort. In the course of 24 books he files only one story
- David Bolchover - City bonuses divert the attention of lively young minds away from risk and towards the dream of cosseted wealth
- Rosemary Behan - standing alone in Next, I felt as though I had entered Hell
- Mick Hume - we don't need any help from the the grease police and droppings inspectors of the Food Standards Agency
- Tim Hames – Gerald Ford’s greatest service to America was to win the Republican nomination in 1976 then lose to Jimmy Carter.
- Matthew Parris – Is cologne the worst of all Christmas presents? Or might it be useful in dealing with the mouse that expired under my floorboards?
- Mary Kenny – The Queen was right. Old people have seen it all before and they see much to be optimistic about in society today.
- Rose Heiney – My Christmas philosophy – three days of wild mead-slinging, then strip the house bare and get back on the treadmill.
- Tim Luckhurst – The BBC have won the ratings war but lost the battle of the licence fee
- Alice Miles - As many as six million Christmas trees will be burnt or dumped in landfill this year
- Clive Davis – On James Brown, the man who wrote the Kama Sutra of soul
- Dean Godson - Conventional wisdom holds that Blair and Bush made the world a more dangerous place by invading Iraq
- Alan Coren - Look at you, snuggled like a dormouse into a wobbling nest of Hodgson & Burnett wrapping paper
- Stephanie Marsh - A column dedicated to love's casualties - Mel B, Sian Lloyd and my friend Jonathan
- Libby Purves - And on Earth peace, goodwill to all parkers
India Knight says single women would like us to think they are empowered by each other, but aren't... Frederick Kagan believes we must send an extra 20,000 troops to Iraq to stand a fighting chance... Minette Marin asks why so many of us aren't happy this Christmas... Michael Portillo is appalled at the "viciousness" within the Labour party... Frank Field wants to see choir schools converted into musical academies to transform musical life
- Matthew Parris: I'm not a fan of the man, but Blair's Britain is now a better place to live
- Rowan Williams: Why Christians in the West should befriend their Christian brothers in the Arab word
- Janice Turner: Panto is for pretentious people. Oh no it isn't!
- Giles Coren: When Rocky Balboa met the Son of God
- Graham Stewart: A brief history of the traditional British Christmas
- Simon Barnes: Why the red squirrels of the Isle of Wight won't be having a happy Christmas
Today in Times Comment...
- David Aaronovitch: What nonsense everyone has been talking about the Suffolk murders. Changing government policy on prostitution would have made no difference at all
- Libby Purves: You can't improve government by cold logic. A bit of emotional fuzziness does wonders
- Jamie Whyte: Relief from poverty is being treated as if it were a human right. It isn't
- Chris Ayres: Give Brad Pitt's Babel film a miss
- Mick Hume: How the "Suffolk Ripper" became a ghoulish reality TV show
And in the rest of the papers…
- Philip Hensher: (The Independent) - Lembit, the Cheeky Girl and a Lib Dem conspiracy
- Joan Smith: (The Independent) - Don't legalise brothels, stop the trade entirely
- Steve Richards: (The Independent) - The BBC's coverage of Blair's police interview serves no-one
- John Sentamu: (The Daily Telegraph) - We're a nation in two minds over Christmas
- Andrew O' Hagan: (The Daily Telegraph) - Unlike America or France, Britain has a healthy respect for complete failure
- George Monbiot: (The Guardian) - Ministers know emissions trading is a red herring and won't work
- Jon Wiener: (The Guardian) - The FBI campaign against John Lennon shows how far the state can go to deal with stars who refuse to toe the line
- Polly Toynbee: (The Guardian) - The welfare state needs to be policed at the top as well
- Leaders: A wind of change blows from Tehran - Independent
And from the around the world…
- Peter D. Zimmerman: (New York Times) - The exotic murder-by-polonium of Alexander Litvinenko throws into question most of the previous analyses of "dirty bombs."
- Anne Applebaum: (Washington Post) - If the 'Old Europe' intelligentsia have better ideas about how to improve the catastrophic state of Iraq, they aren't speaking very loudly.
- B. Gautam: (Japan Times) - Nuclear deal details worries Indian public
- Andrei Piontkovsky: (Jordan Times) - The paranoid style in Russian politics
- Leaders: The AIDS-malaria link - International Herald Tribune
- Leaders: Rethinking the death penalty in the US - Boston Globe
- Matthew Parris: Because our politicians are incompetent and weak, prostitutes are not being protected
- Janice Turner: Remember the quiet and faithful life of Henry Paul, the chauffeur everyone else seems to have blamed
- Oliver Kamm: Blair's decision over BAE is unprincipled and stupid
- Frank Johnson: A typically dazzling column from the celebrated journalist, once Associate Editor at The Times, who died this week
- Simon Barnes: It's the darkest time of the year but the lapwing brings us joy
- Graham Stewart: A ghastly echo of the 1960s "West London Nude Murders"
- Ben Macintyre: At last, we've grown up about prostitutes and now see them as multi-dimensional people
- Michael Pinto-Duschinsky: The real problem with the political game is not the money-hunger of the players, but the referee – the Electoral Commission is not fit for purpose
- Gerard Baker: The fallout in Washington of the Baker report. Guess who's ignoring it?
- Mick Hume: The absurdity of the Stevens report into Diana's death
- Sarah Ebner: Why on Earth shouldn't parents choose the sex of their children?
- Anatole Kaletsky: Gordon Brown has lost the plot. He had better shape up.
- Camilla Cavendish: The Red Cross faces an uphill battle against politicisation - so far they are resisting but Amnesty International and others are muddying the humanitarian waters
- Matthew Parris: A miscellany, including why we should not use the word prostitute in newspaper headlines
- Giles Smith: The goose fat boom: what it means for you and for Britain. And can it solve the problem of excessively loud toys?
- Tom Whipple: "Murder rates rocket" - oh no they don't
- Alice Miles: Why we must consider legalising prostitutes
- My Article: It's funny that the chattering classes agree that you can't use carrots and sticks to strengthen marriage, but you can for fighting obesity
- Magnus Linklater: We must build wind farms in the Highlands and Islands if we care about the environment
- Natalie Haynes: What the Muppet Christmas Carol, the Great Escape and West Wing tell us about the Christmas message
- Chris Royston-Davis: What the police asked me when I had my car broken into
- David Aaronovitch: IDS is right, marriage breakdown is a disaster, but what does he want us to do about it?
- Thomas Catan: Pinochet gone, Castro going. What will Latin America look like in the future?
- Libby Purves: Celebrating one year of civil partnerships
- Mick Hume: In defence of Richard Doll and paid-for science
- Chris Ayres: The irrational hatred of K-Fed
- William Rees-Mogg - Why freedom of speech must always trump the right to privacy
- Tim Hames - Why the Yates of the Yard panto must come to an end
- Paul Simons - It's a myth that British weather is mild; it is always dangerous and it's getting worse
- Mary Kenny - All Christians should welcome Winterval and seasonal political correctness
- Anjana Ahuja - The American experience can teach us about fighting Avian flu
India Knight wonders why we can't let Diana rest in peace.... Simon Jenkins argues that America has learnt what Britain learnt at Suez.... Minette Marrin thinks the government couldn't have demoralised the army more if it had set out to do it.... Michael Portillo asks whether Boom-time Brown is about to turn into Crash Gordon.... and Iain Duncan Smith argues that Labour has spent vast sums on tax credits and benefits but appears to have forgotten about the most vulnerable
- Rosemary Righter on why the Baker Report can only imperil Iraq
- Matthew Parris explains why the phrase "ethnic minorities" must be ditched
- Camilla Cavendish fears that the British countryside is about to disappear under bricks and mortar
- Joe Joseph glimpses the future of rolling news, in all its French glory
- Jan Raath describes daily life in Zimbabwe: arrest, arrest, followed by police beating
David Aaronovitch asks, if we have to choose, what’s better? Tyranny but order, or freedom but insecurity?.... Libby Purves finds that interfaith dialogue works..... Andrew Wallis argues that France should be forced to accept its responsibility for the Rwandan genocide..... Chris Ayres tells the tale of a car prang, Google and dealing with the Mob..... and Mick Hume thunders on the poisonous so-called debate on the death of Litvinenko.
William Rees-Mogg gives his Cameron verdict: so far, so good..... Tim Hames thinks that the idea that we are on the brink of a new Cold War is absurd..... Helen Rumbelow welcomes the end to the Radio 4 monopoly..... Anjana Ahuja on the growing doubts about Iraq’s death toll..... Caitlin Moran wants Britain to go out to the world and show some love..... and Adam Sherwin thunders against the Royal Variety Performance.
Simon Jenkins explains why why transport policy is always dumb..... Michael Portillo maintains that we’re not top dog..... but we don’t have to be a poodle..... Minette Marrin suggests a way to cut crime..... Frank Field laments the scandal of Britain's 5m on benefits..... and India Knight says that blaming the fashion industry for a societal problem is demonstrably not working
Matthew Parris argues that we should either get a truly independent nuclear deterrent or plough our money into conventional weapons..... Janice Turner asks, is the race for the family vote getting out of control?.... Giles Coren on an embargo stopping Harley Davidsons, Rolexes and iPods being imported to North Korea - lucky them..... Clive Coleman believes the religious courts are taking hold by stealth..... Simon Barnes, watching the Ashes, says England represent the brave new future… and Graham Stewart discusses Scottish politicians (especially the Marquis of Bute) and how they are hated.
Gerard Baker asks has the world lost confidence in the dollar?.... Ben Macintyre finds that misfits who come in from the cold make the best spies..... David Cameron sets out his stall on Iraq..... Mick Hume thinks the EU’s hectoring of Turkey is creepy and unpleasant..... and Rosemary Behan thunders against soft-soaping apologists for crime
Anatole Kaletsky argues, from Bagdad to London, let's remember what the State's prime function is: law and order..... John ap Rhys Pryce says that his son's murder was a clash of two worlds, now he’s peering into the other world that glorifies violence and knife culture..... Natalie Haynes on why she'd like to burn most of the Christmas books that are advertised in book stores..... and Ross Clark is ripped off on the train - it's just like the monopoly of the old days.
Alice Miles believes Labour's obsession with madcap reform has destroyed its poll lead on the NHS..... I write that what matters in politics is not the answers, but the questions..... Stewart Purvis reveals what the departure of Michael Grade means for the BBC and ITV..... Joe Joseph on quizzes - don't you hate 'em? One point for the answer..... and James Cameron discusses the vital EU meeting to decide on climate change commitments.
David Aaronovitch believes Alex Salmond is a menace to Britain... Libby Purves thinks it’s shabby to write off the dons who are opposed to the Oxford reform plans as hopeless fuddy-duddies..... Martin Samuel marvels at how putting out your rubbish or flying while in the possession of toothpaste are now criminal acts..... Chris Ayres' finds that Kramer's real crime was to be unfunny as insulting humour is back in vogue..... and Mick Hume says, of course, we should build on green belt
Matthew Parris worries that David Cameron's good intentions will just lead to the nationalisation of British charities...Janice Turner says we are a "buy, buy, buy" generation which forgets we get old...Edward Lucas explains how the West can win the new Cold War against Putin's Russia...Giles Coren has no time for Christians with a persecution complex...Simon Barnes in his Ashes Notebook wonders whether last year's cricket victory was nothing but a dream and Graham Stewart recounts a tale of KGB assassins whose consciences got the better of them
Anatole Kaletsky believes nuclear power is the only answer..... Camilla Cavendish wonders who thinks killings by mentally ill people are rare? The ones we hear about are just the tip of the iceberg..... Matthew Parris asks why are straight men such poofs?..... Natalie Haynes finds that her youth theatre is threatened by red tape..... and Michael Young says that if we don't mind abandoning Lebanon, then certainly we should go and talk to Syria. But that would be mad.
Alice Miles thinks 2012 is seeing a new Olympic event – the shafting of the taxpayer..... I argue that the Government might have cured "blockbuster" poverty but the very poor are worse off than ever..... Magnus Linklater on Trescothick, the myths of depression and the creative spur that is mental illness..... Jonathan Rendall discusses the perils of adoption..... and Tim Luckhurst thinks Liberty has got its knickers in a twist by supporting the wrong people.
Libby Purves seeks clarity from officialdom, but all she gets are mixed messages..... David Aaronovitch on the mistaken attitudes in Britain towards the Israel-Palestinian conflict..... Ishbel Matheson believes that after every conflict, we need an international court to judge who was right and who was wrong – and then punish..... Chris Ayres confesses to failing his driving test on a Vespa..... and Mick Hume believes we've got to argue with extremists, not spy on them or throw money at the problem.
Tim Hames believes the Prime Minister should allow his cabinet to publicly back who they want as his successor..... William Rees-Mogg on Milton Friedman, the last great guru of economics..... Carol Sarler asks when is underage sex under age?.... Anjana Ahuja argues that murder ends the life not only of the victim, but also the murderer..... Robert Skidelsky thinks the case of the poisoned spy shows how dangerous it is to criticise the Kremlin..... and Caitlin Moran says that no sexual practice is more or less bizarre than any other, as long as pets and children aren’t involved.
Gerard Baker wonders whether the Oedipus complex explains the Bush Presidency.... |
