It was around three weeks ago that The Spectator Australia’s Mark Powell first broke the story on our online magazine…

In a recent Speccie column my friend Giles Auty recalled his late father’s difficulties with door handles. This may have…

My gosh these are delicate times Down Under. Not for Australians the vigorous thrust and parry of political debate with…

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Brexit decision on June 23, 2016, was that a majority of voters…

A Pacific Island Forum in Tuvalu was always going to be inundated by climate catastrophism. One of the lowest-lying island…

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now,’ exhorts Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, whipping up the crowd against…

On a Pacific cruise ship recently, passengers were subjected to a rant by an Australian ‘comedian’ – a word now…

Unfortunately, critical scientific research does not always filter through to the public. Consequently, climate alarmists are getting away with blue…

It was a moment of sheer evil. This was when the closely guarded secret bill to allow the killing of…

Despite ScoMo’s ‘miracle’ victory over the now almost forgotten Bill Shorten, and much Liberal party celebrating over the apparent return…

Yesterday’s 80th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, the curtain-raiser for Hitler’s invasion of Poland a week later,…

August on Royal Deeside. Soft rain falls without cease on the Caledonian pine forests, it soaks into the ancient peatlands…

One part of our unwritten constitution has been functioning perfectly during the Brexit upheaval: the monarchy. Unhappy behaviour by some…

Quick! Roll up the Persian carpet. Hide the willow-pattern service. Sweep the wok and chopsticks under the Berber rug. Mr…

I have no doubt that Britain will thrive after leaving the EU, whether or not it leaves with a deal.…

The past decade has not been kind to those we entrust, in the words of Sir Robert Peel, ‘to give…

In a café in Norfolk last week, my seven-year-old son uttered words that mortified me. No, he didn’t comment loudly…

‘Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!’ As morning alarms go, this one leaves a lot to be desired. Normally I wake up to…

When the news broke of Donald Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland from the Danes for strategic, mining and perhaps golf…

There were many Brexiteers who were urging Boris Johnson to travel to Washington before he went anywhere else, to underline…

Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, wrote to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, saying: ‘The backstop cannot…

I AM up on the far north-west coast of Scotland, where the weather is changing every five minutes under vast skies…

Name calling Richard Braine was appointed leader of Ukip, leading to jokes about the party being led by a ‘Dick…

The PM’s hero is the Athenian statesman Pericles, and a Periclean crossroads is now approaching. According to the biographer Plutarch,…

Travelling in discomfort Sir: I don’t agree with much of what Matthew Parris says these days, but he was spot…

ONE should not be censorious if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly in private jets to their holidays, though…

The main reason Conservative MPs prefer Boris Johnson’s government to Theresa May’s is because of its clarity of message. The…

I suppose it is overstating the case to suggest that dyslexia is simply a term coined to assuage the disappointment…

Now that my youngest has got her A-level grades, I’m finally free to say just how much I have loathed…

Reading the news this week of Jihadi Jack (née Letts, of Oxfordshire) having his UK passport withdrawn, my mind went…

A couple with a first baby sought my advice: they had accepted a low offer for their cramped London flat…

One autumn night in 1991, I stood on the rooftop terrace of a tacky villa in Saranda once owned by…

My local shop in Yangon was owned by a retired army officer and his wife and guarded by their handsome…

This is a gentle, lovely book. It will, I’m sure, appeal to many an aspiring cook and baker, and should…

Readers of Jane Austen gain a clear idea of the task facing the daughters of gentlemen. They need to secure…

How interesting is local history? The history of my Cotswold village — recently celebrating the centenary of the Armistice with…

The 1950 B-film The Mudlark tells of an urchin who ekes out an unpleasant existence scavenging the slimy Thames foreshore.…

There was a time when travel writers would set off with a spring in their step: Coleridge knocking the bristles…

Serious readers and serious writers have a contract with each other,’ Deborah Levy once wrote. ‘We live through the same…

Acamera sweeps across the verdant, shimmering beauty of Jamaica before descending on to a raffishly charming wooden house built into…

Twenty years ago, I visited the ancient Egyptian city of Amarna with a party of American journalists. Even in those…

Some of the marketing efforts by amateur impresarios up in Edinburgh are extraordinary. I was handed a leaflet for a…

The madeleine upon which Proust’s seven-volume epic In Search of Lost Time pivots makes its significant appearance after just 18…

All symphonies were sacred symphonies, once. Haydn began each day’s composition with a prayer, and ended every score with the…

Professor David Scheel, the presenter of a BBC2 documentary on Thursday, instantly brought to mind that American scientist in The…

Pedro Almodovar can sometimes be overly flamboyant if not out-and-out nuts — let us never talk about I’m So Excited!…

A new book reminds us, perhaps unintentionally, that not everything that has mattered in the performing arts started with the…

Gstaad   It’s written in the Declaration of Independence, so it must be true: the pursuit of happiness is an…

On Saturday evening I showered, shaved and, prompted by a strange impulse, put on my going-out clothes. Then I cycled…

When is fly-tipping not fly-tipping? I think I can explain, now the pile of rubble has finally moved from the…

Malindi   I could measure my whole life in the summers I’ve spent on the beach in front of our…

Terence Reese’s concentration at the bridge table was legendary. Most people know the story of how Boris Schapiro once wagered…

At St Louis, world champion Magnus Carlsen met with unexpected setbacks in both the rapid and blitz sections. In both…

White to play. This is from Aronian-Mamedyarov, St Louis 2019. We are only just out of the opening but White…

In Competition No. 3112 you were invited to submit an extract from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Brexiteers.   The title…

The unclued Across lights are of a kind, as are the unclued Down ones, all verifiable in Chambers.   Across…

The unclued lights are English place names which include a number in their spelling. These words appeared as figures in the…

I’m on holiday with my family in Turks and Caicos, and maintaining my current weight is proving difficult. Regular readers…

Funny, the things cricketers put on their bats. England’s Jos Buttler has ‘Fuck it’ written at the top of his…

Q. What is your view on emailed vs handwritten thank-yous? During my recent travels around pre-Brexit Europe I stayed in…

The Market Hall Victoria is an international food shed opposite the station terminus. I have long hated Victoria, thinking it…

My husband, with a dependable appetite for chestnuts, says he would be the ideal person to start an Apathy party.…