Lobster Issue 52 (Winter 2006/7)
[…] after Suez is a good time for Britons to reflect on empire. Our military is again deployed in regions of the world more associated in the national mind with the 19th century than the 21st, while the children of the poorer regions of Britain are still losing their lives defending the overseas interests on […]
Lobster Issue 41 (Summer 2001)
[…] – and the rest of us – are all likely to be heading. Some years ago Armen Victorian and I discussed assembling all the documents on surveillance, mind control, non-lethal weapons and so on he had accumulated over his years of bombarding the U.S. FOIA system with thousands of requests. We made a few […]
Lobster Issue 35 (Summer 1998)
[…] with the dark side of American history will be missed by senior colleagues and younger protégés alike. Yes, ‘colorful’ and ‘unforgettable’ are words that come instantly to mind, but ‘committed’ is more important, and ‘permanent state of indignation’ is best of all. Ace Hayes was a whirlwind, and his moral outrage could suck you […]
Lobster Issue 30 (December 1995)
Since the storming of the Iranian Embassy in London on 5 May 1980, the Special Air Service (SAS) has become a cultural phenomenon as much as a military one; has become, in the words of its former Director, Peter de la Billiere, ‘a living embodiment of the individualism of the British’. Their heroic exploits have … Read more
Lobster Issue 39 (Summer 2000)
[…] the publication of Trevor Rees-Jones’ book; James Hewitt’s impromptu recreation of the fatal car journey; Mohamed Al Fayed accusing the Duke of Edinburgh of being the master mind behind a plot to murder Diana and Dodi; and the possibility of inquests on Diana and Dodi taking place. A correction A significant correction to the […]
Lobster Issue 41 (Summer 2001)
[…] the British intelligence and security services – far more interesting and surprising to me than the details of operations given here. The expression mind-boggling idiocy comes to mind. And this nonsense had the same consequences in SIS as it has elsewhere in the public sector: faced with career-breaking targets and quotas, people fake them […]
Lobster Issue 30 (December 1995)
[…] on the story and journalist Paul Brown drove to Glastonbury to listen to David Icke. After a three-week wait, an article, ‘Ex-nutter rails at New World Order mind benders’ (9 May), finally appeared; but only after author Paul Brown had had a ‘tremendous row’ over the continual delays. Despite the research done by the […]
Lobster Issue 39 (Summer 2000)
I met Paul Routledge, the biographer of Gordon Brown, a couple of years ago. ‘Does Brown understand economics?’ I asked him. ‘Well, he reads lots of big books,’ said Routledge. ‘This is not the same thing.’ Of course I asked the wrong question. What I should have asked was: does Gordon Brown understand British economic … Read more