Vindalism
In Competition No. 3231, you were invited to supply an example of pretentious wine writing. Space is tight and the…
Real life
One of the village vegans gave the bacon sandwich resting on top of the recycling bin outside my house an…
The Spectator’s Notes
According to the new Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the Russians wish to ‘put at risk…
Sole traders
My strange encounter with the foot fetishists
Why I don’t walk under ladders
Well, I did warn you. As I typed my column last week on the imminent end of Covid I said…
The truth about that No. 10 party
People seem surprised and a little doubting that the Prime Minister is incapable of remembering if he attended a party…
Work in progress
If I could lift one thing from younger generations, unpeel one idea from their anxious minds, it would be the…
Hunterston’s closure is the nuclear accident no one noticed
So farewell, Hunterston B, the nuclear power plant on the Firth of Clyde that shut last week after 46 years’…
A slice above
It is a truism that there is never enough schnitzel (‘slice’, German); or, rather, schnitzel does not get the attention…
To die for
If there’s any form of entertainment that I will reliably find time for, no matter how big the to-read pile…
Haunted
The spectre of revolution is stalking Putin
Neil Young and Crazy Horse: Barn
Grade: A I have persisted in buying everything Neil Young releases since I first heard On the Beach as a…
User friendly
The London mayor’s new policy on cannabis is a disaster
Wild life
Kenya Wondering what this year will bring, at dawn this morning I stood in the waves in front of our…
Bounce back
Can Berlusconi become Italy’s next president?
Magical mystery tour
At a village train station in deepest Kent two men and their pet mongoose are setting off on their honeymoon.…
Doctor’s note
Why should I be sacked for refusing the Covid vaccine?
An abiding evil
The premise of White Debt is that the author’s ancestors ran a business selling a product grown by slaves. Therefore…
Alumni
My husband is forever being sent magazines from his Oxford college inviting him to give it money. I suggest he…
Solution to 2536: At rest
The unclued lights (3 composers, 3 artists and 3 writers) are all buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery. The name should…
Dear Mary: Your problems solved
Q. My cleaner is industrious and trustworthy but she doesn’t have many people to talk to and evidently looks forward…
Man of honour
On 8 April 1864 an Austrian archduke with a penchant for daydreaming agreed to be emperor of Mexico. As Edward…
Doom-mongers can be funny too
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Don’t Look Up, the new satirical film on Netflix. It’s about a couple of…
Dirty secrets
Claire Keegan’s tiny, cataclysmic novel takes us into the heart of small-town Ireland a few decades ago, creating a world…
Under the influence
The trouble with dating a social media star
