No Khan do
Let’s try a thought experiment, shall we? If a senior adviser to my old boss, Boris Johnson, had celebrated John…
Permanent ink
Brooklyn Shall I have my sister’s skin peeled off for display after she dies? Specifically, the tattooed bits — the…
France’s new right
The result in France in the first round of the Les Républicains party’s primary elections marks the political death of…
Exodus from Gambia
A ticket to paradise comes very cheap in Gambia — as long as you’re headed in the right direction. Thomas…
High life
New York If only my wordsmith friend Jeremy Clarke had been with me. What fun he’d have had with…
Skin in the game
Terry Smith is in the news again. Not for being a Brexiteer — though he’s been committed to that cause…
Willing to wound
But yet afraid to strike, as Alexander Pope would doubtless have described the first seven games of the World Championship…
no. 436
White to play. This is from Karjakin-Carlsen, World Championship, New York (Game 7) 2016. This position will be dead equal…
Changing fashions
In Competition No. 2975 you were invited to supply your own nine-line twist on Robert Herrick’s ‘Upon Julia’s clothes’: …
Dear Mary
Last week I went for an interview with the Irish Guards. My father and his father were both in this…
Meat and greet
Zelman Meats — catchphrase ‘great meat’ — is sustenance for a hard Brexit — a harder Brexit, if you will.…
Just managing
From the moment she arrived in 10 Downing Street, Theresa May has been commendably clear about her economic priorities for…
High life
New York If only my wordsmith friend Jeremy Clarke had been with me. What fun he’d have had with…
Long life
Do you remember Liberace? Yes, of course you do. Who could forget him? The Wisconsin-born son of a poor Italian…
Long life
Do you remember Liberace? Yes, of course you do. Who could forget him? The Wisconsin-born son of a poor Italian…
Coulrophobia
There’s something suspicious about the name for a fear of clowns which was on the shortlist of words of the…
Real life
A few weeks after switching my iPhone to the EE network, I noticed a funny thing. It hadn’t rung. I…
Abandon dope, all ye who enter here
The World Anti-Doping Agency has just called on Russia to confront its wrongdoing and generally shape up. Well, good luck…
My ticket to a £150 rip-off
Last week, my 13-year-old daughter Sasha and her friend Tess were taken by her god-father, Sean, to see Catfish and…
My ticket to a £150 rip-off
Last week, my 13-year-old daughter Sasha and her friend Tess were taken by her god-father, Sean, to see Catfish and…
The turf
Talking to Paul Nicholls earlier this season, I was shaken to hear the ultra-competitive champion trainer say that he wouldn’t…
The turf
Talking to Paul Nicholls earlier this season, I was shaken to hear the ultra-competitive champion trainer say that he wouldn’t…
