Sublime strangeness
Whose were those feet in ancient time that walked upon England’s mountains green? That William Blake assumed his readers were…
This will hurt
Before the National Theatre produced Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood they had to make a decision. How could they stuff…
Fifty years of The Spectator crossword
by Tom Johnson aka Doc During the early spring of 1971, a package of eighteen unsolicited crosswords arrived in…
A load of oddballs
For reasons I can’t seem to remember, I have read an awful lot of cricketing histories. The dullest, by a…
Firestarter
It’s a joy to watch a player like Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who can light a fire with his bare hands. Where…
Real life
The woman sat alone and stony-faced in the passenger seat of the car as it blocked the road. She was…
Tsar quality
There are worse inconveniences than having to wear a face mask to the opera. But there’s one consequence that hadn’t…
The second-worst journey in the world
The epic story of the Antarctic voyage of the Belgica (1897-9) has all the ingredients of a truly glorious misadventure:…
Wild life
Kenya In March, Global Britain signed a new, post-Brexit trade deal with Kenya. This was a welcome agreement for my…
Low life
The village square is a long and pedestrianised oblong shaded along its length by massive pollarded plane trees. It’s known…
Puzzle no. 660
White to play. So–Vachier-Lagrave, Paris, June 2021. The queen on e7 can be taken, but Black’s last move was …Rd8,…
Sajid’s cold reality
The most difficult time for a new secretary of state is normally the first three months in the job. An…
The court judgement that confirms women pay for trans rights
I am coming out of semi-retirement from writing about sex and gender to write this, because it’s about women in…
Supreme Court rules big for election integrity
The Supreme Court upheld two Arizona voting laws on Thursday in a case that could have major implications for election…
Michael Gove and Sarah Vine announce divorce
It’s been a bad week for marriages in Westminster. First the revelation of Matt Hancock’s affair with adviser, friend and…
The Batley and Spen result is a rejection of identity politics
What should we make of the Batley and Spen by-election, won by Labour with a majority of just 323 votes?…
Boris bids to reset Anglo-German relations
Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel have just held a joint press conference following their meeting at Chequers. The usual contrast…
Can Labour afford to continue its culture war?
After being soundly beaten by the Tories in Hartlepool and winning a paltry 1.6 per cent of the vote share…
How Keir Starmer can rescue his leadership
In January 1990 things looked truly bleak for Alex Ferguson as Manchester United manager. He had not won a trophy…
A complete history of Jew-baiter George Galloway’s electoral defeats
Labour’s Kim Leadbeater may be celebrating her triumph in Batley and Spen (though not as much as her leader Keir Starmer)…
Can Britain stop migrants crossing the Channel?
How do we stop those pesky boats from crossing the English Channel? How about yet another reorganisation of the Home…
Labour hold Batley and Spen
Labour have held on to Batley and Spen. In a result that will win some breathing space for Keir Starmer’s…
The Peter Ridd case: am I missing something?
Yesterday’s piece by Graham Young on the Peter Ridd High Court case got me thinking. Not about Young’s thesis that…
