Sarah Sands

Sarah Sands enjoyed decade long tenures at the London Evening Standard and The Daily Telegraph, before becoming the first female editor of the Sunday Telegraph in 2005. Her topical weekly column looks at social and cultural issues.

Sarah Sands: Blessed are the sacked, for they shall change the world

Time magazine names Ben Bernanke, head of the US Federal Reserve, as person of the year. After the storm, the old sage acknowledges the first puny signs of growth. This year was all about the masters of the universe, and they were wonderful material for writers. The story that has not been told is the poignant and fearful one of unemployment in the real economy. The sorrows of the boss class have little in common with the stomach-gnawing anxiety of the rank and file. For the former, hurt pride can be soothed by lawyers and socking great pay-offs. For the rest, it can mean losing everything.

Recently by Sarah Sands

Sarah Sands: Life goes on, and even Radio 4 listeners catch up in the end

Sunday, 13 December 2009

After the death of Humphrey Lyttelton in 2008, the panel show that he had chaired for nearly 40 years, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, temporarily ceased because no one could imagine it without him. Barry Cryer wrote that Lyttelton was "the hub of the show". Jeremy Hardy ruled himself out as a successor on the grounds that "Humph had big shoes to fill and I wouldn't do it".

Sarah Sands: See why diversity works – switch on your set

Sunday, 6 December 2009

It has been a rough year for the BBC, but its programmes have never been better. It ends the year with two dramas of towering intent and execution.

Sarah Sands: Women love him. Men love him. Whishaw has it all

Sunday, 29 November 2009

The reason Kate Moss timelessly endures as a model is that you never tire of her face, although you see it everywhere, every day. I have the same response to Ben Whishaw, who won an Emmy last week for his role in the BBC's Criminal Justice series. He is acting incarnate, not so much a performer as a lightning conductor for drama.

Sarah Sands: Out of the shadows and into obscurity

Sunday, 22 November 2009

Belle de Jour made a big mistake revealing her identity. Among the ranks of anonymous authors, she above all should know that the thrill is in the chase. Once the mystery is gone, the fun is over

Sarah Sands: The sky's the limit for our daughters

Sunday, 15 November 2009

At a party last week for London's 1,000 most influential people, Rachel Whetstone, of Google, noted there was something unusual about the gathering. "Where are all the women?" she murmured to me.

Sarah Sands: Why it takes a mother to make the male of the species blush

Sunday, 8 November 2009

No matter how powerful the man, he can always be embarrassed by his mum

Sarah Sands: Why I check the stationery cupboard for lovers

Sunday, 25 October 2009

A photograph in the Times business section of a tense and purposeful chief executive of an insurance company, framed by his office view of the City, suggests a motivational piece about coming through the recession leaner but more competitive, etc. But it turns out to be a report of an affair between Andrew Moss, the married chief executive of Aviva, and a member of his human resources department, Ms Deidre Moffat, now known as Deidre Galvin. What complicates matters further is that Ms Moffat's husband is the head of HR for Aviva in Europe.

Sarah Sands: It can't be true – it was in the newspaper

Sunday, 18 October 2009

If stars live on publicity, some of it will be made up

Sarah Sands: More email kisses would oil the wheels at work x x x

Sunday, 11 October 2009

A friend of mine, a clever, civilised man, once worked as a private banker to Fred Goodwin, during his reign of madness at Royal Bank of Scotland. My friend's field was not actually customer relationships, but Goodwin insisted that he would deal only with the most senior person in the bank where my friend worked.

Sarah Sands: Parakeets have turned Richmond into Rio

Sunday, 4 October 2009

During a birdwatching lull, after each of us had borrowed the best-looking tripod for a closer look at some marsh herons, the subject turned to the explosive issue of the ruddy duck. Being among friends, some of the company confessed that they were shooting the ducks on the quiet. Although they were introduced into this country during the 1950s, the ruddy ducks never really assimilated. They just bred and bred and made themselves a nuisance. No one used the expression "River Tiber foaming with much blood" but the tension in the twitching community was evident.

More sarah sands: