Features
Putin’s Syria problem
For Vladimir Putin, Syria has been the gift that kept on giving. His 2015 military intervention propelled Russia back to…
Do you know a flake fatale?
It was the third time in a row that she had cancelled our date for drinks. The first time she’d…
Bias and the BBC
Last week, Nick Robinson wrote an article in the Radio Times saying Radio 4’s Today programme no longer has an…
Side-saddle is sexy
These days there are more than 1,000 members of the Side Saddle Association. Well, of course there are. People go…
The Benedict option
Hannah Roberts, an English Catholic friend, was once telling me about her family’s long history in Yorkshire. She spoke with…
Trump, the emptiest mind
Howard Jacobson awoke to the news of Trump’s victory in November. He had no newspaper column so, what could he…
Frank Matcham
Go inside the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, preferably when it is empty. Look round. Look up. And there it is, with…
Marmalade
Marmalade’s had a rough old time of it lately. A recent report in the Telegraph declared it is dying out;…
Inmates and Islamism
In response to the Westminster attack, a 100-strong new counter-extremism taskforce has been announced to deal with the terrorist threat…
War-war, not jaw-jaw
It’s often said that the Trump administration is ‘isolationist’. This is not true. In fact, we are now witnessing a…
My towering problem
Why don’t tall people get the same sympathy as short people? Everyone feels sorry for minnows, cutting them slack when…
Trump’s plan for Pyongyang
On several foreign policy issues, Donald Trump has mellowed since taking office. His administration still has concerns about the Iran…
In defence of Ken
We never loved each other, Ken Livingstone and I. We first clashed in public more than a decade ago, and…
Kaiser Donald
Germany’s Great War leader was a blustering, reckless gambler who took the world over the abyss. Sound familiar?
North Berwick
My home town is better than yours. Don’t take my word for it. This month North Berwick was crowned ‘best…
An actor’s notebook
It is delightful to be writing for a magazine I’ve read, man and boy, since I was 15. Such is…
The friendly alliance
Leaving the EU is the signal for a new form of cooperation with Europe
There will be a trade deal
Despite the bluster, both sides need one
The rescue racket
Are aid agencies colluding with people smugglers?
Lost city of fantasy
A new Hollywood film portrays Percy Fawcett as our greatest explorer. It’s pernicious nonsense
Fighting chance
Could the mixed martial artist Conor McGregor really defeat one of the greatest boxers in history? I can’t wait to find out
An actor’s notebook
It is delightful to be writing for a magazine I’ve read, man and boy, since I was 15. Such is…
A hard lesson is coming
Private schools have undermined their charitable status by dashing so shamelessly upmarket
Lost city of fantasy
The new film The Lost City of Z is being advertised as based on the true story of one of…
The friendly alliance
On 29 March 2019 the Queen should have a state dinner and invite the European Union’s 27 heads of state…
