The truth about Dominic Cummings and Elon Musk’s ‘sabotage plot’
A few centuries ago, when I worked on the Daily Telegraph under the editorship of the now Lord Moore, there…
A winter’s tale: Brightly Shining, by Ingvild Rishoi, reviewed
In a poignant story reminiscent of ‘The Little Match Girl’, two Norwegian children try to dodge social services by selling wreaths and Christmas trees when their father fails to provide for them
Is it time to lay off Tulip Siddiq?
We all have generous aunties, right? My own once let me live rent-free in her London flat for several months…
The intensity of female friendship explored
Rachel Cooke’s spry anthology includes fiction, poetry, memoir, speeches, obituaries, letters and even comics – The Four Marys from Bunty
The downside of charity
I blame Charles Dickens, personally: he of David Copperfield, Little Nell, Oliver Twist and, of course, Tiny Tim. He’s the…
Should AI be allowed to train itself off this column?
If you’re a writer, should AI companies be allowed to use your work to train their models without your permission?…
The hypocrisy of Nick Candy
The property tycoon Nick Candy, interviewed in yesterday’s Sunday Times, appears to be hoping to position himself as a UK…
The absurdities of a ‘meritocracy fund’
‘Go woke, go broke,’ runs the catchphrase. Now, at last, we are presented with the welcome opportunity to put this…
Why Gail’s triumphs
The bakery chain Gail’s, which opened its first branch in Hampstead less than 20 years ago, is reportedly touted for…
Lovingly designed, touching and immersive: Neva reviewed
Grade: A- There’s a very faint echo of Jeff VanderMeer’s unheimlich Southern Reach Series in the new indie side-scroller Neva.…
Those signing the general election petition should know better
Every now and again, a newspaper will run – and portentously headline – a survey on the future of the…
Elon Musk and the age of the troll
There has been a cheering new development in the struggle against scam phone callers. AI can now be used to…
Peanut the squirrel shows Elon Musk is wrong about the mainstream media
Was it Peanut wot won it? One of the stranger and more incendiary aspects of the run-up to the recent…
Much more than just a game: World of Warcraft at 20
On 23 November, the video game World of Warcraft celebrates its 20th anniversary. That’s no small thing. By most metrics,…
Do we care that the King is rich?
For the first time, the true extent of the property held by the King and the Prince of Wales’s private…
Why is Elon Musk obsessed with Diablo IV?
Grade: A- I usually try to write about new games, but indulge me in addressing Blizzard’s open-world dungeon crawler Diablo…
Keir Starmer, Karl Marx and the cant of ‘working people’
Labour has promised that, come what may, they will not be increasing taxes on ‘working people’. Well, jolly good. Those…
Is it time to ban the boy band?
It was Oprah Winfrey, I think, who said that ‘if you come to fame not understanding who you are, it…
Labour were right to protect Taylor Swift
Still making headlines, it seems, is one of the more trivial scandals to have dogged the Labour government in its…
Sue Gray, Keir Starmer and the centre-left’s self-righteousness problem
‘Could you write a piece,’ my colleague wondered aloud, ‘saying come back Jeremy Corbyn: all is forgiven?’ Ha ha ha,…
The tragedy of Phillip Schofield
Robinson Crusoe on Mas a Tierra; Napoleon on Elba; Schofield on Nosy Ankarea. Island exile is an opportunity for man,…
Trump could teach Starmer a thing or two about speeches
The standout line from Sir Keir Starmer’s first speech to conference as prime minister – the one that will be…
Why are you proud to be British?
Introducing a tub-thumping op-ed in the Mail yesterday, Robert Jenrick quoted Orwell: ‘England is perhaps the only great country whose…
Why do the Starmers need a personal shopper?
Well, colour me disappointed. I was among those – mugs, the uncharitable will be quick to call them – who imagined that…
