Since 2009, I have been writing a series of comment pieces for this website. Topics include:

I have certain rules. One of them is that, when a friend asks you to watch their daughter do a stand-up comedy routine at an upstairs theatre in an Islington pub, you say “No, thank you”.  So when an email came in from a friend I hadn’t seen for over 20 years – and not likely to bump into any time soon, because he lives more than 3,000 miles away – it should have been a no-brainer. Except … Read more »

I keep reading expressions of anger that the Metropolitan Police sought a court order under the Official Secrets Act to uncover the Guardian’s source behind the phone hacking story (here, here, here, here, and here, to name but a few). I’m not convinced. Read more »

Financial accounts are supposed to enable readers to understand the financial position of the entity under review. But, yesterday, the National Association of Pension Funds published a report attacking the notion that accounts provide neutral and reliable information about an employer’s pension scheme liabilities. Read more »

Fabio Capello, manager of the England football team, says he realised before Tuesday night’s game against Wales that his team were about to put in a poor performance. Read more »

The European courts have been causing controversy (again). Judgements handed down in Brussels and Strasbourg have left conservatives (small “c”) aghast and Liberals (big and small “L”) defending the rights-based approach. But scratch beneath the surface and, often, it’s not the rights that objectors object to. Read more »

Lovers of Life on Mars may have thought that DCI Gene Hunt was giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee yesterday. In fact, it was a real (ex-)cop, former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman. Read more »

Much has been written about the harrowing cross-examination of Milly Dowler’s family during the trial of Levi Bellfield. One of the strangest remarks was written by Peter Lodder QC, Chairman of the Bar, in his desire to defend the colleague who had conducted the cross-examination. Read more »

The separation of retail and investment banks is back in the news following the Chancellor’s recent Mansion House speech. Ever since the Government bail-out of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds in 2008, there has been a pressing desire to ensure that tax-payers are never again called upon to rescue the financial system. The Independent Commission on Banking, chaired by Sir John Vickers, is looking at alternatives. The Chancellor has endorsed their interim report and awaits the final report in September.

Compulsory separation of business entities is not new. It has been used as a solution to behavioural business problems in many contexts, usually after a period of fierce debate during which the business(es) argue that separation is unnecessary and unworkable, or a combination of both. Read more »

When Queen’s Park Rangers appointed Neil Warnock as manager, a little over a year ago, I was aghast: “Fourteen years since QPR last played in the Premier League, but if the chairman thinks Warnock is the answer, he must be asking the wrong question.” How wrong was I? Read more »

I think the three words at the end of the following sentence must be the most chilling – and the most heart-warming – I have ever read from an accounting standard-setter: Read more »