Against Queen Camilla
How would you feel about a Queen Camilla, as in the wife of King Charles? Personally I’d be dead against,…
Make way for Ubercare
There is much to be faulted in Uber, which has branched out from delivering people into delivering meals, under the…
The McMaster plan
When Lt Gen H.R. McMaster was appointed by Donald Trump to the post of national security adviser, newspaper reports hailed…
Brutish Britain
Life in Britain has become much cruder, meaner and more spiteful practically everywhere. It can be seen in people’s behaviour…
Wetherspoons
Of all the stories I’ve heard about the fallout from Brexit — families divided, work jeopardised, friendships ended — the…
The new third Way
Forget left and right — the new divide in politics is between nationalists and globalists. Donald Trump’s team believe that…
Blazing Sadler
Matthew Sadler’s retirement from full-time international chess is one of the great losses to the British game. Occasionally, the one-time…
no. 445
Black to play. This position is from Morozevich-Sadler, Reykjavik 1999, a game from Sadler’s heydey, when he was regularly beating…
You’re toast
In Competition No. 2986 you were invited to submit a poem about a deadly foodstuff. My inspiration for this…
to 2295: Juicy
The shared name was PERRY (18), shared by GRAYSON (28) Perry and Perry MASON (2). GP, whose alter ego is…
Dear Mary
Q. I’ve listened to the radio to deal with insomnia for years (Dear Mary, 18 February) and your suggestion of…
Lost boys
For a body supposedly committed to eliminating inequality between the sexes, the Women and Equalities Select Committee don’t exactly lead…
2298: NOᴎ
The unclued lights (one of two words), correctly paired, are of a kind and are defective in the same way.…
The loopholes in Daniel Andrews’ death laws
In what is clearly becoming a drip feed exercise, Dr Brian Owler, head of Premier Daniel Andrews’ advisory panel charged…
Four year terms are a bad idea
The election of Donald Trump, the vote for Brexit, and the return of One Nation have all threatened the centre-right status…
Penalty rate revision a win for jobs and commerce
Earlier today, the Fair Work Commission announced that Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for hospitality, restaurant, fast food, retail and pharmacy workers would be reduced…
The desecration of the Australian worker
Today’s disastrous decision by the Fair Work Commission underscores an attack that has been waged on the Australian worker by…
Thank God for overpriced lawyers!
When you buy a house in Britain, there is an extensive and well-established series of checks you must perform to…
All the President’s yes-men
Donald Trump takes it as read that any criticism of his words or actions is an assault on the truth.…
Barometer
Big league Lincoln City became the first non-league club since Queens Park Rangers in 1914 to win a place in…
The Americans are coming
From ‘What will the United States do?’, The Spectator, 24 February 1917: It may be that the congestion of American…
Letters
Seeing off the Speaker Sir: If senior Tories in Buckingham had had their way, John Bercow’s career as Speaker could…
Portrait of the Week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, sat on the steps of the throne, as a privy counsellor, watching the Lords…
Building block
What a strange affair it now seems, the Mansion House Square brouhaha. How very revealing of the battle for the…
