Mary Wakefield

Is our only choice to be cynics or suckers?

26 September 2015 8:00 am

It’s all the rage to mistrust the powerful these days, to say politicians are scum, or all bankers are selfish.…

Is my only choice to be a cynic or a sucker?

24 September 2015 1:00 pm

It’s all the rage to mistrust the powerful these days, to say politicians are scum, or all bankers are selfish.…

Warning! Can seriously damage your health

The contagious madness of the new PC

29 August 2015 9:00 am

Obsessive searching for hurt and offence will create it where once it never existed

Warning! Can seriously damage your health

The contagious madness of the new PC

27 August 2015 1:00 pm

It’s becoming pretty clear, as the year rolls on, that some of our brightest youngsters have gone round the bend.…

‘Not to worry, just a gang killing’: the mantra of the metropolitan middle classes

1 August 2015 9:00 am

Another stabbing in my new neighbourhood, not with an axe or with a samurai sword this time, but a machete.…

Machetes and the middle classes

30 July 2015 1:00 pm

Another stabbing in my new neighbourhood, not with an axe or with a samurai sword this time, but a machete.…

Are schoolgirls still fair game for teachers?

20 June 2015 9:00 am

Mr Malcolm Layfield, the former violin teacher at Chetham’s music school, will have been celebrating this week after being found…

Are schoolgirls fair game for teachers?

18 June 2015 1:00 pm

Mr Malcolm Layfield, the former violin teacher at Chetham’s music school, will have been celebrating this week after being found…

Eritrean migrants face many dangers. Are we one of them?

6 June 2015 9:00 am

A few weeks ago someone very dear to me passed on a question about The Spectator, asked them by a…

Migrants face many dangers. Are we one of them?

4 June 2015 1:00 pm

A few weeks ago someone very dear to me passed on a question about The Spectator, asked them by a…

In praise of the pit bull terrier

9 May 2015 9:00 am

Last night I saw a woman dancing with a pit bull terrier. It was about 9 p.m. and her curtains…

In praise of the pit bull

7 May 2015 1:00 pm

Last night I saw a woman dancing with a pit bull terrier. It was about 9 p.m. and her curtains…

Original sin makes us better people. I wish Muslims believed in it

11 April 2015 9:00 am

These days, on the subject of Islam, non-Muslims have mostly divided into two camps — though there’s a little wandering…

Original sin makes us better people. I wish Muslims believed in it

9 April 2015 1:00 pm

These days, on the subject of Islam, non-Muslims have mostly divided into two camps — though there’s a little wandering…

How do bright schoolgirls fall for jihadis? The same way they fall for Justin Bieber

28 February 2015 9:00 am

How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…

Why do bright schoolgirls run away to Syria?

26 February 2015 11:30 am

How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…

Do I really care about Ebola? Do you? Does Oxfam?

31 January 2015 9:00 am

It’s strange how quickly we all forgot about Ebola. Speak for yourself, you might say — and I will. Until…

Do I care about Liberia? Do you? Does Oxfam?

29 January 2015 3:00 pm

It’s strange how quickly we all forgot about Ebola. Speak for yourself, you might say — and I will. Until…

The real reason GPs are grumpy: the robots are coming for them

17 January 2015 9:00 am

There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…

Would you put your life in the care of Dr Droid?

15 January 2015 3:00 pm

There’s something wrong with the relationship between patients and their GPs. I’ve spent much of this winter in my local…

Are old fairy stories too scary for kids?

13 December 2014 9:00 am

Moving house, stacking books in boxes, I came across a clutch of fairy books, Andrew Lang’s folk tales from around…

Why scary fairy stories are the best

11 December 2014 3:00 pm

Moving house, stacking books in boxes, I came across a clutch of fairy books, Andrew Lang’s folk tales from around…

Patriotism isn’t uncivilised - it’s what makes civilisation possible

22 November 2014 9:00 am

Is it racist to be patriotic? Is patriotism, by definition, small-minded and exclusive? When you strip away the onion layers…

Without patriotism, there’s no civilisation

20 November 2014 3:00 pm

Is it racist to be patriotic? Is patriotism, by definition, small-minded and exclusive? When you strip away the onion layers…

What are 16-year-olds supposed to learn by making posters?

25 October 2014 9:00 am

My niece, Lara, 15, has a mind like a surgical blade. On any subject, from calculus to The X Factor,…