So it was the quail what done ’er in. Asked to give an example of the ‘outrageous sexism’ that brought…

I originally thought the Abbott/Hockey budget was pretty sensible and logical in terms of the financial crisis facing the country;…

So despite being ‘well-meaning’ I am, according to Peter Manning in last week’s Sun-Herald, some sort of ‘racist’. This became…

One of the worst aspects of the way we go on these days is not only that we are all…

How to sell the budget to the ordinary bloke

Remember when reform generated real political heat?

Al-Qa'eda in Iraq faded away. ISIS may well do too. But don't you dare say 'mission accomplished'...

Why is Index on Censorship cosying up to the tribune of Hacked Off?

…from Jilly Cooper, Rod Liddle, Petronella Wyatt, Rachel Johnson and more

An interview with the coalition’s senior Scot

Plus: Orthodox beaches, the rise of Israeli bacon, and a breakfast request

Forget being ‘spiritual but not religious’. It’s much better to be religious but not spiritual

And they're good hotels, too

The world is much better for the revolutions that occurred in Eastern Europe. But the West has lost some moral clarity

Home With war engulfing Iraq, Britain set about reopening its embassy in Tehran, closed in 2011. William Hague, the Foreign…

Plus: Alex Salmond's retro nationalism, and eerie signs on the South China Sea

HMRC’s pre-payment plan has good classical precedents

Plus: Does a dirty football team indicate a crime-ridden country?

Malcolm was hopeless Sir: The attempts by Mungo MacCallum (‘Turnbull lives on’, 7 June) and Richard Ferguson (‘One of us’,…

Parliament has no appetite to intervene. But don’t expect it to stay like that for ever

We can't promise sandwiches of unknown nature, or a mad hatter. But there will be cake

Plus: Good and bad banking challengers, and the latest threat to the Co-op

Plus: An Any Questions anniversary, and Alexander Chancellor at the Oldie

If you’ve ever wondered what connection bien-pensant MPs have with their constituents, this might help make it clear

This time, surely there is no one we can mistake for simple goodies and baddies

A gigantic scare that lasts for decades because the experts are too embarrassed to back down. Remind you of anything?

A review of Inside Enemy, by Alan Judd. A thriller that is plausible, curiously old-fashioned and deceptively calm in its build-up – and one of Judd’s best

A review of The House of Fiction: Leonard, Susan and Elizabeth Jolley: A Memoir, by Susan Swingler, ‘a story of sex, love, family secrets and deception’

A review of Deaf, Dumb and Brilliant: Johannes Thopas, Master Draughtsman, by Rudi Ekkart. Thopas was an equal of his peers - his disability shouldn’t even come into it

A review of Clothes, Clothes, Clothes, Music, Music, Music, Boys, Boys, Boys, by Viv Albertine. A funny, rude, tender, and superbly written memoir

A review of Waterloo: A New History of the Battle and its Armies, by Gordon Corrigan. Elbow the author out of the way and what you will find is a vigorous account of the famous campaign

A review of Hard Choices: A Memoir, by Hillary Rodham Clinton. The endless clichés and pseudo-details make her sound more reptilian than she probably is

A review of Mr Mercedes, by Stephen King. We know to expect the unexpected; but when the unexpected happens, it’s not the unexpected we were expecting

A review of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, by Joshua Ferris, a novel as engrossing as it is uproarious

A review of Hotel Florida, by Amanda Vaill. This sanctuary for war tourists, opportunists, dreamers, buccaneers and writers kept Republican hopes alive

But some of these books, blessedly, still have ideas you can whip up at short notice

A review of Black Venus, by James MacManus. A cinematic take on Baudelaire’s relationship with his voluptuous Haitian mistress

A review of The Highlights, by Frank Keating. Keating's tales of what sports legends got up to off the field of play are priceless – and beautifully written

A review of Upstairs at the Party, by Linda Grant, a story about the long-lost world of 1970s student life that doesn’t ever quite cohere

If you were contemplating running for President of the United States, a national book tour would be a handy pointer…

'There were moments of thinking, why the fuck am I putting myself through this?'

Plus: a straightforwardly colourful first staging of Offenbach’s gently satirical Vert-Vert at Garsington

And to get out of that corner, The Fault in Our Stars paints itself into yet another contrived corner - until it runs out of corners

This BBC4 documentary on a bonkers episode in animal science lives up to its own hype

Francesco Piemontesi combines stunning technique with an intellectual capacity that few can match

A chilling new staging of Brian Friel’s adaptation of Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons at the Donmar

Plus: When Joan Miró met Eduardo Chillida

A seminal album by South African jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim celebrates its 40th anniversary

…and all the other news from the Pugs club

And the kids weren't even impressed

 Rift Valley Many of my British tribe fled Kenya around independence in 1963 because they believed there was no future.…

The unclued lights are of a kind and are listed together in Chambers 2011. Solvers should highlight two normally clued…

The unclued lights are types of CROSS. Solver were required to indicate clearly the FYLFOT at the centre of the…

The word's meaning is shifting – but not that fast

...if you're out there, this is what I wanted to say

Losing an editorship isn't the end of the world. But it is glorious to have another one at the age of 73

It takes a lot for me to give up on a ‘double-dummy’ bridge problem — i.e. one in which you…

For the second year running, 24-year-old Sergei Karjakin has won the Norway International, on both occasions ahead of Magnus Carlsen. The…

Black to play. This is a variation from Svidler-Carlsen, Norway Chess 2014. Failing to win this game cost Carlsen first…

In Competition No. 2852 you were invited to step into the shoes of a well-known writer of your choice and…

The case for economic liberalism seemed won after the 1980s. But the old left is back

Markets can do almost everything. Here's where they seem to me to fail

Plus: What suitcases without wheels are good for, and professional advice at parties

What five decades do for a fine bottle of whisky