Theresa May at the Rubicon
Last week many commentators drew on the Ides (15th) of March, the anniversary of Julius Caesar’s death in 44 BC, to……
Up the revolution!
From ‘The Russian revolution’, 24 March 1917: Even now, though the Revolution is young, the Russians have proved that they are fit……
Juncker is now the hardest Brexiter there is
The best thing about being a Remainer is obviously the dinner parties, where we all sit around being incredibly well-heeled……
Barometer
Princes among men British DJ Mark Dezzani was hoping to be elected prince of Seborga, a self-proclaimed independent state in……
Google still needs to try a lot harder to do the right thing
Shortly before agreeing, early last year, to pay token back taxes on a decade’s worth of UK-generated profits, Google also……
Cherry blossom
In what I like to think of as The Spectator’s back garden — most people call it St James’s Park…
2302: Urbane turban
The solutions to twelve clues, all of which lack definition, have to be adapted as the title indicates before the…
to 2299: Pieces of Eight
The unclued lights, including 28/3 in its English translation, are compositions by Carl Nielsen, (i.e. pieces of 8 Down). First…
Dear Mary
Q. We had some people up from London for a very long weekend. We put on an extra-special do, costing…
The fall of Paris
Paris used to be the most self-confident city in the world. Brash, assertive, boastful: Manhattan claimed to be the best.…
High life
A cloudless sky, crunchy spring snow, longer, warmer days. I’ve finally got in some good skiing, twisting around moguls like…
Girls
Sir Roger Gale sounds like an old-bufferish knight of the shires, but he once worked as a disc-jockey on a…
Real life
‘Mesdames et messieurs, allow me to introduce you to your meals,’ said the waiter. Oh lordy, I thought. Here we…
The liberals and the deplorables
In America, an argument has broken out among journalists, writers and intellectuals in the aftermath of the presidential election about…
How I learned to love the airport bus
After landing at Gatwick, the plane taxied for five minutes or so and then came to a halt in the…
Australian letters
Bad laws Sir: Now that a couple of ACTU present and former leaders have come out and declared the efficacy…
Australian notes
Bill Leak used to say that Picasso changed his life. He was, he said, ‘a troubled youth’ of 16 years…
Brown study
The government deserves two cheers for its changes to Section 18C which may do something towards restoring free speech. But…
Michael Parekowhai The English Channel, 2015 stainless steel, 257 x 166 x 158 cm.
Australians have a proprietorial interest in Captain James Cook but of course he belongs to the whole world. That is…
Del-con notes
Terry, you’re wrong… My esteemed fellow Speccie contributor Terry Barnes last week offered some advice to the federal Coalition based…
18Congratulations
The memorial service for Bill Leak at Sydney’s Town Hall on a grey and rainy day was a moving, entertaining,…
The best sort of magic realism
Michael Fishwick’s new novel tells the story of a young man called Robbie, who has been uprooted from his London…
A genial green guide to 2000 AD
I can recall exactly where I was 40 years ago when I didn’t buy the first issue — or ‘prog’…
Mach the Knife
The business of banking (from the Italian word banco, meaning ‘counter’) was essentially Italian in origin. The Medici bank, founded…
