Zack Polanski enjoyed a cosy conversation with Iain Dale at the Edinburgh festival yesterday. They sounded and acted like old friends. Dale began by inviting Polanski to enlarge on his experiences growing up gay in Salford. His parents divorced when he was 11 and his wayward
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- In this week's episode of Holy Smoke, Damian Thompson is joined by Madeline Grant to dive into the contentious topic of Project Spire, the Church of England's ambitious plan to allocate £100 million in reparations for its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. They will
- Nobody can deny that Pippa is a campaigner. Her friends say it, her children complain about it, even her opponents – she tries very hard not to call them her enemies (in public) – say it. The leaflets with Liberal Democrats on the front say it; the newspapers with Liberal
- There's nothing the ruling Labour political class likes more than propagating the Oxbridge class myth that the Conservative party is a cosy PPE graduate club, its cabinet full of over-privileged Bullingdon members, whilst Labour is the party of merit, 'social equality' and equal
- We haven't lived. Yes, we've enjoyed the finest entertainment that Liverpool has to offer in our lifetimes – the Beatles, Ken Dodd, two great football clubs – but none of them can hold a candle to Mickey the chimp. Or hold a Benson and Hedges, rather. As parents rack their

