DAVID JONES: As millions suffer in its pandemic, India’s narcissistic leader is building a folly

Hidden away in some half-forgotten chambers in the heart of New Delhi, there are two blocks of white sandstone — relics of India’s long years under the yoke of the British Raj. Laid down in 1911 by King George V and Queen Mary, who later reclined on thrones of solid gold, shaded from the blazing … Read more

DAVID JONES: As millions suffer in its pandemic, India’s narcissistic leader is building a folly

Hidden away in some half-forgotten chambers in the heart of New Delhi, there are two blocks of white sandstone — relics of India’s long years under the yoke of the British Raj. Laid down in 1911 by King George V and Queen Mary, who later reclined on thrones of solid gold, shaded from the blazing … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Hitting the nation’s wealth creators would be folly 

ALEX BRUMMER: Hitting the nation’s wealth creators would be folly By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail Published: 22:30 GMT, 28 February 2021 | Updated: 22:31 GMT, 28 February 2021 No post-war British Chancellor has faced a more difficult challenge than the one confronting Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.  He knows he must release the ‘coiled … Read more

Fred’s folly at RBS’s Gogarburn HQ transformed into a food bank

It is not quite a tale of scallop kitchen to soup kitchen, but not far off. Royal Bank of Scotland’s vast Gogarburn complex outside Edinburgh, widely viewed as a monument to the vanity of former chief executive Fred Goodwin, is now playing host to a food bank. Shortly after the UK went into the first … Read more

Harvard professor says it’s folly to assume humans are the only life force in the universe

A quarter of all known stars in the universe are thought to host a ‘perfect planet’ — one the same size and temperature as Earth. There are approximately a ‘zetta’ of them … that’s a trillion billions — a one with 21 zeroes after it. So it is presumptuous for us to assume we are … Read more

Harvard professor says it’s folly to assume humans are the only life force in the universe

A quarter of all known stars in the universe are thought to host a ‘perfect planet’ — one the same size and temperature as Earth. There are approximately a ‘zetta’ of them … that’s a trillion billions — a one with 21 zeroes after it. So it is presumptuous for us to assume we are … Read more

Rock Folly ruined by review that gave her the bum’s rush

Charlotte Cornwell was a magnificent stage actress, a leading member of both the RSC and National Theatre, and a star of the Bafta award-winning TV series Rock Follies. She was a wonderful singer, a committed social activist and the younger half-sister of writer John le Carre — who used her as the inspiration for Charlie, … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Folly of debt-fuelled acquisition

ALEX BRUMMER: Big battalion investors do nation a huge disservice when they sell engineering and aerospace crown jewels to leveraged financial buyers with no strategic vision The debt-fuelled model at Melrose was unsuited to an engineering enterprise like GKN It may be frustrating for Melrose’s already-rich top team that they might not achieve the supercharged … Read more

Victorian folly reaching 218ft high goes up for sale for £2.5m

Buyers have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a 218ft-high Victorian folly which boasts a 60ft swimming pool and a telecommunications income of £35,000-a-year. Sway Tower in Hampshire is 14 storey tower house which is believed to be the tallest unreinforced concrete structure in the world. It was built in 1879 and offers incredible views across the … Read more