Six of the Best 552

Cicero's Songs explains what nationalism is doing to Scotland: "The centralisation of the police force and emergency services was done, not to deliver better or safer services, but to reinforce the power of nationalist politicians in Edinburgh against the perceived threat of London."

Councils are powerless to stop housing development yet everyone says we need more houses built. Shaun Spiers offers an explanation of this paradox.

"When Andrew was 15, the medications caught up with him and he suffered a rare complication from one of them, Seroquel. One Friday he was well enough to go to school; on Sunday he was brain-dead." Nicholas Kristof on drugs, greed and a dead boy.

Norbert Schürer surveys the state of Tolkien criticism today.

There was a lot more to Warren Mitchell than Alf Garnett, says Terence Towles Canote.

Peter Ashley appreciates Lyveden New Bield in Northamptonshire.