Essays

Tony Herbert

11 hours ago7 min read

HERETICS TODAY- just like earlier times

Tim Stanley, writing in The Daily Telegraph, says that Trump’s America reminds him of the decline of the Roman Empire. I find that some...

Tony Herbert

Nov 153 min read

Why did Trump win?

I feel what may seem to some to be the curious need to give to our American friends my explanation, from this side of the pond, of why...

Tony Herbert

Nov 24 min read

Words turned upside down

We seem to be being manipulated by words that are being turned upside down. Gender-critical Are you “gender-critical”? Come to that,...

Tony Herbert

Oct 281 min read

Bertrand Russell - what would he say now?

A friend has posted a comment by Bertrand Russell, a hero of my early days, that he made when asked about how Fascism started: “First,...

Tony Herbert

Sep 265 min read

Pride in Britain - why is it declining?

I read recently that young people have less and less pride in our country. The main thrust of their concern seems to be about Race. We,...

Tony Herbert

Jul 213 min read

TRUMP - Heresy revisited

I am feeling brave enough to revisit something I wrote for private consumption some years ago, headed “Heresy” and listing some of the...

Tony Herbert

Jun 295 min read

How to Vote

I hesitate to dip my toe into this murky water. We seem to be faced with the prospect of a foregone conclusion. Everyone predicts such a...

Tony Herbert

May 288 min read

English for foreigners

I have lessons in German from a teacher who speaks very good English, but is sometimes surprised - and amused - by expressions that seem...

Tony Herbert

Apr 296 min read

Manias - why now?

I’m a big fan of the novelist and journalist Lionel Shriver, who has been writing recently about what she refers to as the “manias” we...

Tony Herbert

Mar 316 min read

Where are we going?

I don’t think I’m alone in being alarmed about all the things that seem to be going the wrong way. And here we are, just about to elect a...

Tony Herbert

Jan 218 min read

The Night Sky from Beaumes de Venise: 3 Winter

In the last piece I wrote on this subject, it was about the night sky in Autumn, actually November. Now we are in Winter, early January....

Tony Herbert

Nov 8, 20235 min read

The Night Sky from Beaumes de Venise: 2 Autumn

I have already written about the night sky in Summer and promised that I would do it later for the sky in Autumn and Winter - even though...

Tony Herbert

Nov 8, 202311 min read

Should we be "fighting climate change"?

This is a response to statements I’ve been referred to that support the so-called “scientific consensus” on climate change. Please relax!...

Tony Herbert

Oct 30, 20235 min read

How did we get our calendar? And where would we be without Julius Caesar?

When was the year divided up into the months we know? And where do their names come from? And what about the weeks? And the names of the...

Sep 22, 20238 min read

The Night Sky from Beaumes de Venise: 1 Summer

These are some amateur thoughts about what can be seen in the night sky in summer from Beaumes de Venise in the south of France. I have...

Jan 25, 20238 min read

Why are facts ignored?

I have been mulling over this question for months and wondering whether I can write anything coherent about it. The question is why, on...

Nov 24, 20225 min read

CLIMATE CHANGE - With Net Zero are we sleepwalking to disaster?

There are terrifying parallels between the mistakes we made with COVID and the plans discussed at COP27 in Egypt. We will be struggling...

Nov 10, 20224 min read

Journey from Leftism to Sanity

I am delighted to have found a distinguished ally, Melanie Phillips, concurring with my view that Right-Wing is a meaningless expression...

Sep 25, 20224 min read

CENSORSHIP - Why are there things we aren't allowed to know?

I am mystified. Why are things being suppressed? Why are we being denied information? We seem to be subject to hidden censorship. Who are...

Jul 1, 20223 min read

MASKS MANDATES - Are they history?

When I got back from France last autumn, I noted that the French had to wear masks a lot, whereas we in England did not. I thought we...

Jun 18, 20222 min read

COVID jabs - Why have a booster?

I am told by the NHS that they will offer me a booster for the Covid vaccinations that I’ve already had. I can think of many reasons for...

Apr 29, 20223 min read

CLIMATE CHANGE - Can we slow it down?

Last year, I took part in a survey asking whether I supported the government’s policies on climate change. I replied to the survey and...

Mar 2, 20223 min read

COVID VACCINATION – WHY CHILDREN?

The pressure continues to vaccinate children. WHY? I ask. The reasons given can’t be the real ones. We have known for nearly two years...

Dec 31, 20215 min read

COVID - Why are we still where we are?

I am writing this, bizarrely you may think, on the advice, even the request, certainly the encouragement, of a Professor Mattias Desmet,...

Dec 20, 20213 min read

COVID - Who are being caring and who are being callous?

Many mothers despair at what we are doing to children by constant testing, closing schools, sending children home, cancelling events...

Dec 16, 20213 min read

CLIMATE CHANGE - Who are on the side of the Angels?

This is an edited version of a letter I wrote to Dr Benny Peiser, Director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation on 14 December 2021....

Oct 25, 20213 min read

Priests and Lawyers

A review of Philip Wood's book The Fall of the Priests and the Rise of the Lawyers I must declare an interest. For almost all my time as...

May 8, 20215 min read

EUDAIMONIA (and St George in Retirement)

You asked me if I had written anything about Eudaimonia, which I must have mentioned recently in some context that I now forget. No, I’m...

May 4, 20213 min read

AVIGNON POPES

Most of us are reasonably ignorant about the time the Papacy was located in Avignon, but many people visiting Avignon wish they knew more....

May 4, 20213 min read

BREXIT

Like most people, I have no idea what will happen at the end of the Brexit process – if indeed it will ever end. What makes it worse for...

May 4, 20216 min read

CLIMATE CHANGE – Further thoughts

This was written to a friend who, after reading some of my views, still said that he was sufficiently alarmed by the possible adverse...

May 4, 20217 min read

CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE CHANGE POLICIES

I feel the urge to put down on paper my views on what we now call “climate change” and used to call “global warming”. Why this urge? It...

May 4, 20212 min read

COVID - Is Lord Sumption immoral?

19 May 2020 [This is a letter about an article by Melanie Phillips suggesting the Jonathan Sumption was being, not just wrong, but...

May 4, 20217 min read

COVID – DO LOCKDOWNS WORK?

To Friends and relations I have always been a sceptic about lockdowns. Am I still – in the face of rising rates of infection and news of...

May 4, 20216 min read

REFLECTIONS ON THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTION

When I first saw some of the reactions to the result of the general election, I wanted to – and started to - record some of my thoughts....

May 4, 20212 min read

SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE

We all agree that slavery was appalling (and that we in Britain were heavily involved). But here are some FACTS about slavery and the...

May 4, 20219 min read

WHY HAS THE LEFT LOST THE PLOT?

We have to amuse ourselves during these troubled times. One of my methods must seem bizarre to all right-thinking people: to pursue some...

May 4, 20213 min read

WILL HUTTON ON MARGARET THATCHER GETS IT WRONG

The following paragraph is from an article by Will Hutton in the Observer of 14 April 2013. The article as a whole is critical of her...

Jan 6, 20213 min read

WHY THE BREXIT VOTE WENT THE WAY IT DID

Specifically, your question about why the vote went the way it did and why people were surprised, despite what the learned Prof Thompson...

Jan 4, 20214 min read

Reflections on Brexit and Wokery

This essay was prompted by a discussion about two articles in the Spectator of 19 December 2020. Professor Robert Tombs wrote about...

Jun 15, 20164 min read

LEFT WING, RIGHT WING? What do the terms now mean?

The terms Left Wing and Right Wing don’t seem any longer to have any sensible meaning. What do the terms mean? In my vocabulary – and...

Essays

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