Where Wales went wrong
There is no land more lovely than Wales. I have walked through a magical forest to splash in the shallow,…
The tragedy of Jocelyn Wildenstein
When I saw that Jocelyn Wildenstein, aka the Bride of (art dealer Alec) Wildenstein, had died at the age of…
Spare us from ‘amber’ weather warnings
With quiet, sinister inevitability, the health and safety edifice has been marching through the festive season, capturing new terrain. Arguably…
Women would be wise to avoid the streets of Lambeth at night
Being a woman walking on the street at night, especially on your own, is still scary. No matter that we…
Young people are ruining Guinness
James Joyce called Guinness “the wine of the country.” Now it feels a bit more like the Coca-Cola of alcohol…
How the Groucho lost its lustre
This week, the Groucho Club in Soho had its licence suspended by Westminster Council after a request from the Metropolitan…
There’s nothing worse than an entitled restaurateur
Going to restaurants used to be fun. So much so that in the first two booze-sloshed decades of the 21st…
Flying isn’t what it was – but don’t blame British Airways
It is tempting, confronted with the news that British Airways is to swap out lunch on long-haul flights leaving between…
The horror – and glory – of Sandbanks
In the showy harbourside enclave of Sandbanks, in Dorset, properties regularly go for upward of £7 million; one bungalow there…
Why Spain might be the worst country in western Europe
Spain is busy with an image update. Thanks to a host of savvy media stories, we’re now supposed to think…
Not for the squeamish: The Substance reviewed
Both horribly familiar and wonderfully shocking, this body-horror film written and directed by Coralie Fargeat does a very traditional thing…
TGI Fridays was doomed from the beginning
Few will mourn the demise of TGI Fridays, which collapsed into administration this week. The restaurant chain’s 87 branches in…
The rise of the Keffiyeh Karen
When Black Lives Matter created the figure of the Karen, it was a sign of that movement’s darker, bullying qualities.…
Europe’s war on tourists is no laughing matter
‘Enough! Let’s put a stop to tourism!’ So goes the slogan to be bellowed at a planned protest on 6…
Why shouldn’t teenagers be allowed to use WhatsApp?
For my thirteenth birthday, which coincided roughly with my Bat Mitzvah (the Jewish ceremony for entering adulthood), I had begged…
Britain should follow Germany’s lead in weeding out anti-Semites
On the surface of it, Germany’s new pathway to citizenship sounds like a rare dose of sense from the one…
A (partial) defence of the ‘Jewface’ Oscars
How could I be Jewish, my friend wondered out loud, when I didn’t have the… She paused as she mimed…
How Israel is failed by its war of words
Sitting in a room at the Israel Defence Forces’ Hakirya base in Tel Aviv, I listened – along with a…
How Hamas radicalised Israel’s liberals
I have visited Israel three times in the past year. The first trip was in the spring, just as the…
Why climate activists love to hate Israel
Climate activists have been busy since 7 October. The demands for ‘action now’ on global warming continue, but affairs in…
In defence of the noughties
Russell Brand always seemed repellant to me, but that had little to do with the fact he became famous in…
The truth about Bedales
Every now and again, my alma mater is in the news, and why wouldn’t it be? Britain is obsessed with…
Fear and complacency in Taiwan
On a recent trip to Taiwan as a guest of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I knew that war with…
Chess doesn’t need Rishi Sunak’s cheesy cheerleading
There’s something embarrassing about Rishi Sunak’s plan to revive chess in Britain. The PM is set to announce half-a-million pounds…
