Ed West

There’s no proof that it works, so why is the NHS spending £4 million a year on a placebo, asks Ed West (from the Daily Telegraph)
It was a small victory for science, and an even smaller one for taxpayers. But opponents of public-sector mission creep will be cheered by this week’s news from the British [...]

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The green activists might be posh, says Ed West, but even the leaders of the Peasants’ Revolt were “middle-class” by today’s standards
 
History records that in the year 2009, the peasants of England rose up in protest, marching on Blackheath to demand change in the kingdom. They came from up and down the land – from [...]

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Daily Telegraph blogs
 
Even though I’ve given up smoking, and it makes me feel as smug as a Liberal Democrat on Comic Relief night, I still feel a part of England died on July 1 2007, when they brought in the ban.
 
In the part of London where I work, 19 pubs have gone under since England went smoke free. [...]

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Daily Telegraph blogs
 
As a rule I never support any group that uses nudity as a form of protest, nor anyone who compares their opponent to the Nazis. Which is why I have always disliked the animal rights group Peta, up to their old tricks protesting outside Jamie Oliver’s restaurant.
I despise animal rights protesters, to be honest. I [...]

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From the Daily Telegraph
 
Imagine that you had fallen into a coma the night Tony Blair was elected, and now woke up during the last days of New Labour – what differences would you notice around you? The most striking would be the change in women’s fashion. Back in 1997 the country was coming out of recession [...]

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Daily Telegraph
February 19 2009
 

By Ed West
I knew train privatisation had gone wrong when they started referring to us as “customers” rather than passengers. One sign even used the term “guests”. What next? “Friends”? “Mates”? How about the announcers, in a new spirit of frankness, simply call us “mugs”?
“Would all mugs be aware this train will [...]

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Daily Telegraph 

As two ‘mis lit’ memoirs destined for the bestseller lists are revealed to be works of fiction, Ed West reports on the almighty backlash against a classic of the genre
It was a childhood tale of woe that touched the public’s heart. Kathy O’Beirne’s 2005 memoir, Kathy’s Story: A Childhood Hell Inside the Magdalene Laundries, [...]

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The Daily Telegraph
 
I’m in Ireland, where, believe it or not, drink is a bit of a problem. That might not seem like breaking news - but what is different is the way that Irish drinking patterns have gone through a weird process of Anglicisation.
The Irish used to drink in inter-generational groups, which has a civilising [...]

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By Ed West

 
Notebook
What’s on a man’s mind? Judging by the men’s interest section of most newsagents, it seems only one thing. The current issues of lad’s mags such as Nuts and Zoo offer such cover lines as “Britain’s Sexiest New Babes Stripped for your Pleasure”, “Fake Orgasm Challenge”, “First Timer Steph’s Hot 100″ and, er, [...]

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Daily Telegraph Comment
9 August 2007 
New Zealand couple Pat and Sheena Wheaton knew what to call their son the minute they saw the ultrasound scan and realised the baby was “for real”. Unfortunately, those squares at the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages decided that “4Real” is not, in fact, a real name, and the Wheatons, [...]

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