Gas crisis offers hard choices: market mayhem or limitless subsidy
Will my bath water still be hot by Christmas? That’s not a question I’d normally feel a need to share…
Step on the gas
Britain is caught in an energy crisis of the government’s own making. It is true that gas prices have spiked…
Lindsey Buckingham: Lindsey Buckingham
Grade: B– The first time Lindsey Buckingham had a big falling out with Stevie Nicks we at least got some…
Phantom thread
Blithe Spirit is a comedy with the plot of a horror story. Charles, a middle-aged novelist, lives happily with his…
There will be blood
Like musical supergroups and Olympic basketball teams, ballet galas tend to prize individual gifts over group cohesion. A recent one…
Man and boy
So how exactly did Tony Soprano become a New Jersey mob boss? It’s 1967 and young Anthony is struggling to…
Follow the science
It is, of course, not unknown for a man to become famous with the support of his family — and,…
Flower power
Elizabeth Blackadder, who died last month at the age of 89, was probably the most distinctive botanical artist of our…
Barometer
Seeds of change The Chelsea Flower Show opened in autumn for the first time, delayed thanks to the pandemic. The…
Portrait of the week
Home To prevent a shortage of meat, which relies on carbon dioxide in its packaging, the government gave millions of…
Letters
Driving force Sir: As a long-distance UK lorry driver I am very aware of the issues raised by Rodney Pittam…
Snap, crackle, shriek…
So it finally happened: I experienced my first vocal setting of the word ‘Covid’. An encounter that was, inevitably, more…
Power struggles
Why are cabinet ministers Liz Truss and Dominic Raab squabbling like children over access to grace-and-favour Chevening? Because they know…
Bame
In its coverage of the shuffled cabinet, the BBC added a note: ‘BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) is a…
A world full of noises
The world Ruth Ozeki creates in The Book of Form & Emptiness resembles one of the snow globes that pop…
Wild life
Laikipia He was turned out in a crisp bush ranger’s uniform and handled his assault rifle like a man hardened…
Bridge
The first serious F2F bridge tournament we have played for almost two years was the Premier League last weekend. Whatever…
A web of fear
Even in my shed at the bottom of the garden I can hear the screams coming from the house. Shrieks…
Starmer’s last shot
Next week, when Keir Starmer appears on stage at Labour conference in Brighton, it will be the first time he…
The Spectator’s Notes
Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, has begun this academic year by announcing it will be his last in the…
