15 July 2025, 15:59 | Updated: 15 July 2025, 16:16

By Iain Dale

The older you get, the more a birthday leads you to think about how many more of them you’ve got left.

Today is my 63rd birthday and I’m in a melancholy rather than a celebratory mood. I suppose I could celebrate the fact that I’ve made it to 63, given that too many of my contemporaries haven’t.

The thing is, mentally, I don’t feel 63.

Physically, I’ll admit I am starting to, but my weekly visits to the gym with my personal trainer are paying off in that the stiffness and lack of movement are being warned off or at least delayed.

But I can’t play contact sports any longer.

I can’t play tennis as a fall would possibly........

© LBC