It would appear that Dame-Principal Sally Mapstone has decided to renovate the entire town of St Andrews this year on a whim. She seems to have greenlighted the cleaning of about half of all University buildings — and, not to be conspiratorial, but I have a sinking feeling she isn’t a stranger to the removal of the fountain on Market Street either.   Did the University suddenly discover coffers of cash, stashed away in the attic of the Bute building? Was the need for cleaning Reg’s façade...

We need to treat them better The Louvre jewellery heist was some sensational stuff. You might have thought that France was heartbroken, grieving the loss of some of the most precious artefacts of its great history. Perhaps that should have been the case.   The fact is, people in France have never really cared all that much about the jewels. It’s not really like the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, or of other European countries. In 1887, France organised a huge sale of all the jewels —...

Our dear leaders may just need a pay raise Politicians have a bad reputation these days. Most of the politicians of today can be categorised as either bland, incompetent, heartless, power-hungry, or corrupt. Gone are the days of inspirational or even good leadership. I believe that part of the solution to this morose political class lies in one simple change: paying politicians more. In the UK, the Prime Minister is paid around £190,000 per annum, which, granted, places him in the 99th...