Two bad ideas
Two absurd propositions are currently gaining unwarranted attention: ‘recognising’ aborigines in the Constitution and a recycled idea from the 1970s…
Just not cricket
From ‘The bed-rock of war’, The Spectator, 26 August 1916: As a rule in war the bowling has a great advantage over…
no. 423
Black to play. This is from Vachier-Lagrave–Anand, Sinquefield Cup, St Louis 2016. White has played to win a pawn but…
Letters
Golden age problems Sir: Johan Norberg’s ‘Our golden age’ (20 August) is absolutely right — we do live in a golden age;…
Chinese whispers
Peter Ho Davies’s second novel, The Fortunes, is a beautifully crafted study, in four parts, of the history of the…
Why I’ll keep cheering for Caster Semenya
An almost worldwide survey on penis length — the sort of thing I always read with a sense of trepidation…
Anti-Semitism of the progressive churches
One of the nastiest perversions of Christianity in the world today – the attempted demonisation and isolation of Israel –has…
The Boris-bashers should be ashamed
Throughout this fractious summer, one thing has united all the warring pundits and politicians. Left, right; Leave, Remain, everyone at…
Long life
The 6th Duke of Westminster, who died this month, was living support of the claim that wealth doesn’t make you…
Osborne’s gone. So why’s Carney still around?
Did you see that odd photo of George Osborne looking shifty, queuing up in the Vietnamese jungle for the chance…
Cover 27 August 2016
The post Cover 27 August 2016 appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment…
Oil prices will drift down again as Opec fails to get its act together
How many Olympic medals did Opec win? The answer (though I’ll bet no one else has bothered to work this…
2275: Frame of reference
Seven words read clockwise round the perimeter, in alphabetical order. Each of eighteen clues contains a misprinted letter in the…
Marriage for one
As far as the bride was concerned, the wedding was perfect. Her dress was beautiful, the vows were traditional and…
Dear Mary
Q. We have been invited to stay with a generous friend in Greece. Now we hear from other (slightly…
The Bank of Wonderland
What should we think about negative interest rates? What kind of Alice in Wonderland world are we living in when…
Diamond geezers
Ring a ding-ding — here comes the he-bling. Tony Blair started it. The war, that is. On good taste. This…
Martha Argerich
This is the time of the year when the major performing arts companies announce their seasons for next year, beginning…
Iraq’s endgame
Bashiqa, near Mosul, northern Iraq At night, the temperature around the Islamic State-held city of Mosul drops to around…
Australian diary
It is always a pleasure to catch up socially with Tony Abbott whose steadfast friendship I have enjoyed for over…
Bring back bonkbusters!
Life is starting to look a lot like the 1980s: Russia is flexing its muscles, the Labour party is tearing…
Vagabondism and harlotry
That we are to have yet another Royal Commission into Aboriginal Affairs is good news for some. It is good…
Mussolini at Lake Como
If your destiny is to be shot dead with your mistress, where better than Lake Como, which, in the words…
Wild life
Kenya When the late Tom Cholmondeley walked into his cell after being accused of murder in Kenya’s Rift Valley, etched…
The key to a hidden kingdom
It’s a modern pastime to hypothesise about what makes a good relationship. One evening not long ago in a Berlin…
