A game for two
Some art can be made in solitude, straight out of the artist’s head. But portraiture is a game for two.…
The joy of the Proms
Summer nights, hot and humid, mean just one thing — it’s Proms season again. Sore feet, sweaty armpits, queuing outside…
Dethroned by feminism
I’m a bit worried about Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic). Not seriously worried: there’s too much money invested, too much…
Hadyn recreated
‘Rarely, rarely, comest thou, Spirit of Delight!’ wrote Elgar, quoting Shelley, at the top of his Second Symphony. He should…
Test of time
I first walked into the Oval as a small boy in the early 1950s. My family home was in Brixton,…
Deus ex machina
Mark Zuckerberg says that Facebook could be to its users what churches are to congregations: it could help them feel…
Must Colston fall?
Edward Colston, mega-rich philanthropist around the year 1700, is the nearest thing Bristol has to a patron saint. The largest…
It’s got to be perfect
When I order a cup of tea in Costa, the barista says: ‘Perfect!’ I ask for tap water in a…
Poor conduct
Last weekend Daniel Barenboim brought the Staatskapelle Berlin to perform at the BBC Proms for a cycle of Elgar’s symphonies.…
Kids Company faces the music
It was surreal to sit in the Donmar Warehouse and watch Committee, a musical based on the investigation into the…
New kid on the block
The new Grange Park Opera at Horsley is amazing, as everyone who visits it must agree. In less than a…
A genuine oddity
The most compelling pop singers in music right now — at least in the branch where pop singers still play…
Out of sorts at the RSC
The RSC’s summer blockbuster is about Queen Anne. It’s called Queen Anne. It opens at the Inns of Court where…
Myanmar diary
From time to time, a political leader embodies the past, present and future of their nation. Such is Aung San…
Cat call
In Competition No. 3007 you were invited to submit a poem about Larry, the Downing Street cat. Larry came to…
High life
I switch personalities at Spectator parties, depending who the guests are: for our readers’ tea party, I am a warm…
Diary
Monday morning and I am heading south on Harley Street towards a rendezvous with ramifications, a date that is also…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, told MPs before the summer recess: ‘No backbiting, no carping. The choice is me…
The Tories need a ‘what’ as much as a ‘who’
Theresa May has made it to the summer. In the aftermath of the election, Downing Street’s immediate aim was to…
The fuel that must not be named
The lengths to which some policy makers go in a democratic society to ensure that other points of view aren’t…
The roots of terrorism
The Hindu ceremony of Shiva Sarwan is a dedication to Lord Shiva through a special pilgrimage to the Ganges on…
Just when you think Fairfax couldn’t be more idiotic
Just when you think Fairfax couldn’t go any lower, couldn’t be more asinine, they come along and surprise you. “Are…
Silencing dissent against assisted suicide
Later this week the Ministerial Advisory Panel set up by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to advise his government on a…
I’m a doubter — and a sceptic too
The Associated Press is a worldwide news agency headquartered in New York City. It issues ‘The Associated Press Stylebook’ which…
