It's that time of year when the icy roads and gentle snowfalls remind every comic of the summers they often spend in Edinburgh. March is when forms need to be filled, and comics have to work hard to come up with a title for their new show. Worrying about writing...

Ever tried to understand what's going on in the Israel-Palestine conflict?

Yeah me too. This weekend I listened to the roar of the shells, and the din of the two sides repeating their angry mantras, and for the first time in 30 odd years I no longer knew what I...

So, what will you do on 29 February? Radio 4 are asking listeners to come up with something a little special to do on the day that happens only once every four years.

The first thing I definitely won't be doing is having a baby. My great Uncle Jack...

I do enjoy writing these pieces and am truly grateful for your feedback. And I'm overwhelmed by the millions of you who choose, week in week out, to ignore my incisive, some may say unique combination of political analysis and knob gags.

I like to think that you won't have...

There was only one story this week, about the biggest challenge to the coalition, and it threatens to tear them apart. While all the newspapers and TV news prattled on about RBS and bonuses and knighthoods, and yes we all had lots of fun, me included - "Stephen Hester? Too...

I realise I have probably lost most of you at the headline there, but hear me out.

Last week David Cameron talked about the need for responsible capitalism. A lot of people are saying he's nicked the idea off Ed Miliband. But to be fair to Cameron (did I really...

I really want to like Ed Miliband. You have to admire anyone who applies for a job knowing that one of the perks is to be lambasted and attacked very personally day in, day out by five national newspapers for being the spawn of Satan, and that's just when things...

When Alex Salmond criticises David Cameron for interfering in Scottish affairs, he fails to understand the English nation and our legislative procedures. We English have a long, proud history of interfering in the affairs of countries over whom we have no mandate. That's how we've always done things.

Salmond...

Greetings earthlings. Well I must say 2012 has got off to a splendid start. Not so long ago I had to introduce myself to everybody thus: "No, not him, the other Miliband. Ed. No, not him, the other Ed."

Not any more though eh? Now, finally, everybody knows who I...

I'm using Christmas downtime,
Hope it's not perverse
To look back at the last year,
Entirely in rhyme.
Occasionally blank.
Thank

You.

Eurozone Hacked phone
Little Mix Cricket Fix
Ed Balls St Pauls
Vaclav Havel Prince Phil...

Happy New Year everyone. Part 2 will follow soon.

Ohh... Sama,

You were Bin, and now you're gone,

And I don't know if I can go on.

Ohh... Sama,

Already missing your folksy style

Of Islamofascism delivered with a smile.

Well Obama looked calmer than the Dalai Lama

As he...

I bet Meryl Streep and the makers of The Mag In The Iron Mask or whatever it's called can't believe their luck. As people remember how Thatcher used to dominate European summits, comparisons with Friday's Cameron debacle will offer them acres of free publicity for January's Streep party (although my...

With the Eurozone collapsing, our economy in freefall, and the Department of Apocalypse moaning that four horseman is simply not enough to cope with our accelerated progress towards armageddon, you may have missed the latest fun news about immigration.

I'd really like to talk about immigration, if only I...

Every prime minister wants to be described as Churchillian. The very word itself conjures up a spirit of what we imagine to be the best in ourselves, "our finest hour" to quote Norman Shelley, our finest Churchill impersonator.

Thatcher had her mini-war on penguins, Blair glimpsed the great man's...