The rich aren’t so different any more
The traditional orange at the bottom of a Christmas stocking dates to a time when this was the only orange…
Wild life
Kenya I realised I had fallen from grace when we were dropped from the Queen’s birthday party guest list at…
Kudos
What is a ‘kudo’? According to the Taxpayers’ Alliance, it is a mark of honour, many of which should be…
Barometer
Forgotten anniversaries 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution. Other anniversaries:50 years Radio 1; first North Sea gas…
Faith in the trenches
From a letter published under the heading ‘The religion of the ordinary soldier’, The Spectator, 23 December 1916: During a discharge…
Letters
Taking precedent Sir: In his excellent piece on the Supreme Court Article 50 ruling (‘Brexit in the balance’, 3 December),…
Australian letters
Gay progressives Sir: I am a great admirer of your magazine. It brings some balance into the political debate. I…
Portrait of the year
January The cost of an annual season ticket from Cheltenham to London rose to £9,800. Oil fell below $30 a…
A thousand words
Humour is not a feature one normally associates with a National Press Club address. I was surprised and somewhat humbled…
Post-truth, and other such falsehoods
In the weeks that followed first Brexit and then Donald Trump’s election to the US Presidency it seemed that many…
Love and marriage
The Fairfax-reading, ABC-viewing middle classes are getting rattled. In Victoria, 2,400 extra police officers are to be employed to help…
Crown princes and Russian spies
THIS is a confession of sorts. Since the rise of Trump, I’ve been sneering along with the best of them…
O come, let us adore him
On 27 July 1613 a man prostrated himself in the church of San Pedro Mártir in Toledo, having first made…
Question time
If you were to see one film about American whistle-blower Edward Snowden — there is no law saying you have…
Brahms’s benders
‘Brahms and Liszt’ is a lovely bit of rhyming slang, but it doesn’t have the ring of authenticity. Can you…
Brahms’s benders
‘Brahms and Liszt’ is a lovely bit of rhyming slang, but it doesn’t have the ring of authenticity. Can you…
Angst and cant
What if? is the engine of every great story. What if the toys came to life when their owner left…
Angst and cant
What if? is the engine of every great story. What if the toys came to life when their owner left…
Gardeners’ world
For the past few weeks I have been working my way through Decca’s gigantic set of every note Mozart wrote…
Gardeners’ world
For the past few weeks I have been working my way through Decca’s gigantic set of every note Mozart wrote…
Northern exposure
In this season of watching and waiting as we approach Christmas and year’s end, radio has a precious role. At…
Northern exposure
In this season of watching and waiting as we approach Christmas and year’s end, radio has a precious role. At…
Christmas diary
I couldn’t ask for a present this Christmas. First, what’s left for a conservative to wish for after this astonishing…
Answers to ‘Spot the British Author’
1. Kingsley Amis 2. Beatrix Potter 3. Graham Greene 4. Salman Rushdie 5. Nick Hornby 6. Arthur Conan Doyle 7.…
Bridge
Simon Cochemé, whose witty column appears monthly in English Bridge magazine, celebrated his 70th birthday with a knees-up and duplicate…
