Why 80 per cent of young people in this Macedonian town have turned to posting ‘fake news’

It’s such a relief to turn on the radio and hear the voice of Neil MacGregor. That reasoned authority, his deep knowledge of history and how things have come to be as they are, his measured common sense and ability to see round an argument or story. He’s like the voice of how things used to be, when the world was not so topsy-turvy and the news reports made sense. His series, As Others See Us, returns to Radio 4 this week (produced by Tom Alban), taking him this time to Singapore, the USA, Australia, Poland and Spain to talk to people there about Britain’s past connections, present woes and future prospects. It’s fascinating, salutary, and more than a little disturbing.

Take Singapore, for instance. MacGregor finds plenty of evidence for those colonial connections, laid down in 1819 when Stamford Raffles established British rule over the colony. But how do the denizens of that unusual city-state see us now? The characterful Catherine Lim grew up reciting ‘Daffodils’ by heart at her convent school as did her contemporary Tommy Koh, a former diplomat who spent many years at the United Nations.