There's no reason why you can't deliver a grammar-school curriculum to an all-ability intake.

The moment I'm perceived to be even a tiny bit successful, my career will go down the pan.

I miss being fawned over by restaurateurs and chefs.

My life's ambition is to play a James Bond villain. I have the cat and the eye-patch, so I'm just waiting for the call. For some reason, though, the phone hasn't rung.

I really like the Observer. I think I'd love to have a column with a broad reach that would enable me to do some proper reporting, but keep it on sort of a humorous level. I've always had a very happy experience writing for them.

In Britain, by contrast, we still think that class plays a part in determining a person's life chances, so we're less inclined to celebrate success and less inclined to condemn failure. The upshot is that it's much easier to be a failure in Britain than it is in America.

America thinks of itself as a meritocracy, so people have more respect for success and more contempt for failure.