Features
The dice men
‘I have a slight bone to pick with you,’ I tell Ian Livingstone as he makes me a cup of…
Macron marches on
The rentrée politique in France next month promises to be the most exciting in decades as the dynamic superstar president…
Puppy love
There have been times since the break-up when I’ve felt so low I’ve opened a bottle of Shiraz and spent…
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
When towns are on the up, there is a brief period when they inhabit what I would call the Goldilocks…
The ‘sex worker’ myth
In the midst of all the outrage about modern-day slavery, usually vulnerable men forced into manual labour, there is actually…
Varsity blues
A vast cohort of bright young things have secured their university places with A-level success this week. But things are…
The true Trump scandal
Washington DC The National Enquirer presented Trump watchers with a mystery last week. Why did it print an attack on…
Hostile climate
The subtitle of Al Gore’s new film is ‘Truth to Power’, which is supposed to give the impression of brave…
Frater, ave atque vale
As his obituaries pointed out, my brother David made a name for himself with his unrideable bicycle; his ‘perpetual motion’…
Beyond the pale
Setting off to spend a year teaching English in Zhejiang province in south-eastern China, I expected plenty of surprises. But…
Boxer shorts
Chaps, be honest. Have you achieved nether-region nirvana? Twenty years ago I had reached the summit of underwear style and…
Going nuclear
Wednesday marked the 72nd anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Nagasaki. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted…
The joy of sex
Your typical Trollope-loving, Brahms-bothering Spectator reader probably won’t be aware that the most recent winner of Big Brother was a…
General rule
Dwight Eisenhower was right to warn Americans in 1961 of the ‘military industrial complex’, but perhaps it is now the…
How I write
How do they do it? Among writers, the earnest audience member at a literary festival who asks, ‘Do you write…
Don’t forget the Yazidis
As the floodwaters subsided, the Ark drifted across northern Iraq. Finally, with a crunching jolt, it hit dry land. Its…
A tale of two Valleys
Silicon Valley looks like a cross between Milton Keynes and the set of the Stepford Wives. Row after row of…
Watercolour
Like many artistically inclined children, I was given a set of Daler Rowney watercolours for my birthday one year. My…
Road to nowhere
When I heard the government’s announcement that petrol and diesel cars are to be banned from 2040, I resorted, as…
You’re fired!
Washington D.C. Even a reality show needs good plot twists, and Donald Trump has delivered them like the master he…
A fighting chance
‘We remember it not only for the rain that fell, the mud that weighed down the living and swallowed the…
Girl power
England won the cricket World Cup for the fourth time. Huzzah! England reached the semi-finals of the European football championship.…
Snapping point
Our family holiday snaps used to be slides. We’d gather in the sitting room while Dad clicked through each one.…
Whither Ukip?
‘Some wine? How about a beer? Shall we settle into a good old pub?’ I make these suggestions to Ukip’s…
The Surrey hills
I live in the oldest village in England. How come? Well, in a field below the big house, there is…
