Hot air
Climate change has taken place for thousands of millions of years. The extraordinary claim that humans cause climate change must…
Jewish values and 18C
As anyone who has closely followed the 18C debate knows, the major secular Jewish communal bodies, particularly the Executive Council…
Copping it sweet
New research from the University of Melbourne claiming a tax on soft drink could add 1.2 years of healthy life…
Killing history
In February, the Dean of Bristol Cathedral, the very reverend David Hoyle, announced his ‘openness’ to removing the Cathedral’s largest…
Business/Robbery etc
It’s a no-brainer. Both economically and politically, only time will tell whether cutting penalty rates will create enough new jobs…
Building walls
The really bad ideas never go away – Bert Kelly. Protectionism is one of those really bad ideas. Last month…
Paradise lost
The American dream was a consumerist idyll: all of life was to be packaged, stylised, affordable and improvable. Three bedrooms,…
Victim mentality
Elle has been described as ‘a rape revenge comedy’, which seems unlikely, and also as ‘post-feminist’, which is likely as,…
Home help
There have been many explanations for what happened in the Italian Renaissance. Some stress the revival of classical antiquity, others…
Scottish power
‘Perhaps in this world nothing ever happens without purpose,’ sings old, blind King Arkel in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, and…
Keeping the faith
Perhaps surprisingly, in these secular times, Radio 4 keeps up its annual (and very Reithian) tradition of holding a series…
On the money
Fans of tough investigative journalism should probably avoid Channel 4’s How’d You Get So Rich? Presenter Katherine Ryan’s main tactic…
Sleaford Mods: English Tapas
It’s all beginning to wear very thin indeed. Ten years ago this already addled Nottinghamshire duo captured the attention with…
Changing of the Bard
Hamlet was probably written sometime between 1599 and 1602. The Almeida’s new version opens with a couple of security guards…
Australian notes
When I was offered a full-time job here in 1994, my understanding of this country was limited to say the…
Cressida Campbell Margaret Olley interior (detail) 1992 hand-coloured woodblock Private Collection
Margaret Olley had a gift for friendship, that is, in addition to her gifts as a wonderful painter. Among her…
Racial notes
I’m offended by… 18c According to the human rights bureaucrats and multicultural industry lobbyists who have opposed any changes to…
Heart and soul
‘He [Tony Abbott] knows exactly what he’s doing. I’m not going to go into what private conversations I have with…
New European giants? Standard-Aberdeen looks a better bet than Peugeot-Vauxhall
Budget week also turned out to be a week of notable deals. PSA, French owner of Peugeot and Citroën, went…
‘Cash for ash’ is one green scam among many
Toffs are like jackals: always quick to sniff out new carrion. I remember a few years back one florid aristo…
What will you do in the gene-editing revolution?
The only time I ever saw a wolf in the wild, a small one, I was so frightened that I…
Bridge
There are plenty of bridge professionals who believe in flattering lesser players (whether they’re clients, friends or spouses) by exaggerating…
A Budget to keep Brexit off the rocks
Chancellors often enjoy a Budget for the chance it gives them to show off. They enjoy wrong-footing their opponents with…
What I did on International Women’s Day
It was International Women’s Day on Wednesday of this last week. The Guardian had enjoined its readers to send in…
The Spectator’s Notes
After he left the Blues and Royals in 1981, the young Tristan Voorspuy drove a motorbike from London to Cape…
