William Cash

William Cash is the former Times US West Coast correspondent and former editor of the Catholic Herald.

Tuesday

William Cash

Tom Wolfe 1931-2018

Tom Wolfe has died at the age of 87. In 1998, William Cash interviewed the great author for The Spectator: Yes, Tom Wolfe does own one of those 12-room Upper East Side apartments, as he wrote in Bonfire of the Vanities, 'the mere thought of which ignites flames of greed and covetousness under people all over New York, and for that matter, the world'. Contrary to reports in the British press, however, the 68-year-old dandy New Journalist, self-styled Zola of Our Times, does not resemble Bela Lugosi with 'cracked lips' and the blood sucked from a 'ghastly livid-white' face. Although he does wear a cape at night and has rarely been seen out in public in the last year, he looked extremely well in his whipped ice-cream suit.

Friday

William Cash

Hugh Hefner was the king of soft porn – and luxury living

From our UK edition

I got to know Hugh Hefner quite well when I lived in LA in the nineties and was a fairly regular visitor to the Playboy Mansion. As the Times of London's Hollywood Correspondent, I was a regular on the guest list for The Playmate of the Year awards and occasionally was asked over for one of his supper evenings in his private cinema – with drinks served by waitress-style bunnies. During one Playmate of the Year awards in 1992, I wrote a piece for The Spectator about covering the LA riots from his study as the city went up in flames. Hefner's life philosophy was that 'Life is too short to live somebody's else dream'.

Saturday

William Cash

Why the Midlands will matter on June 8th

From our UK edition

It is no coincidence that Theresa May chose to hit the campaign trail in Wolverhampton and Dudley last weekend; both are areas where Ukip did especially well in 2015. What is emerging is that the West Midlands – particularly the Labour-held Midlands marginals – will be the key battleground in this coming election. From the creation of the Mercian kingdom by Alfred the Great, to the Battle of Bosworth and Germany’s bombing of Coventry in 1940 – not to mention the 2015 election which led to Brexit – the Midlands has provided the backdrop against which the future of our country has been shaped. The election on 8 June will be no exception.

Sunday

William Cash

How Britain’s legal system went global

From our UK edition

It was Henry Fairlie in his famous article in The Spectator in 1955 that made the critical point about the way 'Establishment' power (political, legal, media, foreign office, civil service and so on) is exercised in Britain: namely such a 'matrix' of influence was exercised 'socially', behind closed doors; or maybe 'closed chambers' would be more apt as the Supreme Court faces the biggest legal showdown in its short history on Monday 5 December.

Monday

William Cash

William Cash: Like Nigel Farage, I am also resigning from Ukip

From our UK edition

On the morning of the Referendum vote, I texted Nigel Farage - as the Heritage and Tourism spokesman of his party -  to say he 'had fought a hard battle and deserved to win'. He texted back: 'One dares to hope'. Like most of the best English people I know Nigel has a strong sense of loyalty and decency and also loves a drink. He doesn't take himself - or politics -  that seriously. Like Jimmy Goldsmith he gave up a business career to fight his cause. He only pursued his convictions so hard because he believed in leaving the autocratic and anti-sovereign EU  - and risking the opprobrium of many - regardless of career or any financial rewards. Well, now he has resigned from Ukip, and I have decided to follow his example.

Tuesday

William Cash

David Cameron’s decision to sack Owen Paterson will send rural voters flooding to Ukip

From our UK edition

During Owen Paterson's vocal conversation with David Cameron in defence of his record as Environment Minister after learning he was being sacked, Paterson reportedly said: 'this will be a kick in the teeth to 12 million countryside voters... you are making a big mistake'. There is already mounting evidence to suggest Paterson could be right. Judging by the two standing ovations that Paterson went on to receive last Friday at the Game Fair at Blenheim Palace (at the mere mention of his name), Charles Moore commented that 'you could almost see the disaffected Tory voters fleeing to Ukip across the tent'.

Friday

William Cash

In praise of those who have improved healthcare in Staffordshire

From our UK edition

Last week, the House of Commons considered the vital matter of the Francis Report – one year on. It is quite difficult at this stage in the tragedy of Stafford hospital to recall how it all came about and the difficulties that those of us who experienced it had to endure, the patients and the victims in particular. There was complete and total resistance, a granite-like refusal, to having a proper look at what was going on. A tooth and nail battle had to be fought to get the Inquiry in the first place, under the Inquiries Act 2005. I was absolutely astonished that successive Secretaries of State completely refused, point-blank, to have such an inquiry in the case of Mid Staffordshire.

Saturday

William Cash

Say no to wind farms: Selling our birthright

From our UK edition

A few weeks ago, I attended a planning seminar at Ripley Castle in Yorkshire organised by the Historic Houses Association (HHA). It was a chilling presentation which contained a clear message: the current planning proposals — which close for consultation next week— pose a serious threat, not just to our countryside, but to our heritage. With the removal of Public Planning Statement 5 (PPS5) from the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), there are now few safeguards to prevent developers building 300ft-high industrial wind turbines right next to historic castles, new sprawling social housing next to the walls of stately homes or 12th-century village churches. No, no! I can already hear the government ministers’ response.

Saturday

William Cash

Instrument of terror

From our UK edition

William Cash meets a Devon farmer who keeps the family’s gruesome family heirloom — Hitler’s red telephone — in his safe A week before Christmas the Grampian microphone that Sir Winston Churchill used to make his VE Day speech in Westminster Chapel went under the hammer at a specialist sale of historical documents at Ludlow Racecourse by the Shropshire auctioneers Mullock Madeley. The estimate was a fairly modest £700–£1,000. The microphone — whose wooden plinth is engraved with the words ‘The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance’ — has a curious history. In the 1950s it was the star attraction at a famous London restaurant, but it then crossed the Atlantic and ended up in a tequila restaurant in New Mexico.