'Glyndebourne - which can feel like travelling a very long way just for a picnic - is often filled for the second act by people taking themost expensive nap it is possible to take'

‘I wonder whether people would take Pastor Martin Niemöller's poem seriously in a version beginning "First they came for the tombola . . ."?'

"First Peres, then Netanyahu, and other Israeli leaders sing. They all have passably good voices-a nation in the strangest surroundings enjoying itself"

‘Why can’t we alter the conversation on art from “But is it art?” to “Is it any good?”’

‘I have always held that everything to do with “interfaith dialogue” should be regarded with intense suspicion’

'To go without beer for a day is a small inconvenience which adds a suitable solemnity to the business of democracy'

‘At the TV debate it was burkas and niqabs all round. It wasn’t easy when someone made a point because no one knew where to look’

'Rather than being "tired of war", more likely the American public is tired of not actually winning one for some time'

‘Why is John Kerry’s plane shuttling to Tel Aviv? The US is not even attempting to stop the killing in Syria or Egypt’