Life
Spectator Competition: Hope stings
Competition 3438 was inspired by the 1986 film Clockwise, in which John Cleese is constantly impeded in his attempt to…
Dear Mary: How can I stop people pitying me for being made redundant?
Q. I have just got off a nine-hour overnight flight from Miami to Heathrow. I was in premium economy in…
Does The Spectator hate the Welsh?
This St David’s Day weekend, I devote this column to a celebration of the world’s most under-appreciated ethnic group. Under-appreciated,…
‘Both things can be true’: The creep of an annoying cliché
‘It’s lunchtime and it’s raining. Both things can be true at the same time,’ said my husband, putting on the…
Hell is Dry January
‘Earth has not anything to show more fair.’ I have always believed that the notion of a Dry January must…
My mother has become a hostile stranger
‘Do you know who I am?’ said the voice belonging to the lady who used to be my mother, crossly,…
My wild house parties with Rose Wylie
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna I rang up my old best friend, Luke-John, for a chat a few days ago and to…
Keir Starmer’s selective ageism
If the newspaper reports are correct and Margaret Hodge is about to be named as the next chair of Ofcom,…
Aussie life
In an exciting breakthrough in academic hygiene, the University of Adelaide is to install ‘squat toilets’ in new buildings. This…
Language
I have finally snapped! I have become so annoyed by lying halfwits misusing the word ‘genocide’ that I am going…
There’s no beating the comfort of cabinet pudding
The British hold a steamed pudding close to their hearts. Like a culinary hot-water bottle, it may not be terribly…
The real problem with Welsh rugby
Wales rugby coach Steve Tandy must have the most difficult job in sport, apart maybe from Jim Ratcliffe’s public–relations whizz.…
The future of racing is in the Middle East
You can always judge a country by the reception you get at passport control. America is aggressive. Don’t even think…
Why is Hope Not Hate out to get me?
Hope Not Hate is up to its usual tricks in the Denton and Gorton by-election, keeping Britain safe from fascists.…
Spectator Competition: Wintry look
Competition 3437 invited you to submit a passage or poem incorporating the line ‘Why, what’s the matter, That you have…
Dear Mary: How can I stop my friend from ruining books I love?
Q. Our daughter is very keen on a young man from her office whom she has brought home to stay…
