The Varsity match
Anyone who has attended the Varsity chess match knows that an online version just wouldn’t be the same. The annual…
Low life
Earlier in this run of glorious October sunshine I was languishing on the bed in the middle of the afternoon…
Bridge
It was great to be back playing live bridge at the Portland Club last week. I was lucky enough to…
The turf
In 1986 a young Mark Johnston, having acquired a derelict yard on the Lincolnshire coast, phoned the Jockey Club to…
The Spectator’s Notes
When I went to Poland not long before Covid, I found a country more bitterly divided by a culture war…
Britain’s fish fight with France risks triggering a new low in EU relations
Another day, another troubling development in UK/ EU relations. Earlier this week, a British trawler was seized by France and another fined. Now, France’s…
Joe Biden takes his failures on tour
How’s the ice cream in Rome? Joe Biden is about to find out. Word is he is excited about the…
The worst boogier inside the Beltway
Cockburn’s rug-cutting days are behind him. An unfortunate misunderstanding with the wife of an Ecuadorian chargé d’affairs during a Georgetown…
EXCLUSIVE Assistant Attorney General: Daniel Andrews pandemic bill must not pass
The end of the pandemic is in sight. After two years of lockdowns, border closures, curfews and mask mandates, Australians…
Rishi Sunak’s new age fantasy and the great Tory con
Failure corrupts as much as power does, and when the powerful fail they make others pay for their disappointment. To…
Daniel Andrews, all-powerful Zeus?
When justifying the most recent hard Victorian lockdown that started on August 6, 2021, Premier Dan Andrews told the enquiring media pack…
Who should pay for nuclear?
How much longer is the government going to suppress the cost to households of achieving net zero carbon emissions, or try…
How Canberra can open the borders of the corona crazed states
It seems as if the latest in-house polls have told Daniel Andrews that he is going to lose. With losing…
Can Beijing buy the Taliban?
China is seeking a grand bargain from the Taliban: eliminate the groups Beijing says are stirring up trouble among its…
Woke corporates divide us
Last week, as our papers filled with greenwash and Scott Morrison worked on the betrayal of his “quiet Australians” ahead…
The MAGA infiltrator is sad, not brave
Last weekend brought some minor internet drama courtesy of Amanda Moore, a progressive activist who outed herself as having spent the…
Smug vegan Eric Adams phones it in
Crime is the biggest issue in the New York mayor’s race, according to both candidates and the moderators of Tuesday…
Farewell ScoMo, hello crippling costs of climate fantasy
Scott Morrison is heading off to lead Australia’s team at the Glasgow climate change meeting. He goes with a formula…
Would the real Rishi Sunak please stand up?
It was a tale of two chancellors at today’s high-spending Budget. Rishi Sunak began by embracing the big-state profligacy pursued…
What broke the New York Times?
The New York Times entered the digital era under duress. In 2011, the Times erected a paywall in what it…
The rise and fall of Jack Ma
Jack Ma used to give rock star performances for his employees at Alibaba, Asia’s biggest online commerce company. He once…
Why Jesus College shouldn’t have returned its Benin bronze
Jesus College Cambridge can claim a world first. It is the first institution, at least in the twenty-first century, to…
