The problem with grammar schools
By rights, I should be one of those Tories who is passionately in favour of grammar schools. After all, I…
The problem with grammar schools
By rights, I should be one of those Tories who is passionately in favour of grammar schools. After all, I…
When more data makes you more wrong
In a one-day international against Australia last year, Ben Stokes was dismissed for ‘obstructing the field’, a rule rarely invoked…
Rome’s border policy
Whether the EU commission knows what is good for it or not — always a tricky call — post-Brexit Britain…
Barometer
The end of an emperor — 82-year-old Emperor Akihito of Japan has announced that he wants to abdicate, partly, he…
Diary
Walking along the Brighton seafront, I was struck by posters advertising endless tribute acts; among them Suspiciously Elvis, the Small…
Holding on
From ‘Restless politicians’, The Spectator, 12 August 1916: Even those journals which a few months ago were most zealous for…
Letters
The hate is real Sir: It is clearly an exaggeration to call Britain a bigoted country (‘We are not a…
Australian letters
Costello for PM? Sir: John Stone’s prediction that Liberal MPs will soon revisit the cutlery draw and stab Turnbull in…
Portrait of the week
Home The government floated the idea that individuals might receive payments in areas where fracking was approved, or where housing…
Requiem for a designer dream
Threnody. Dirge. Lament. Epitaph. Elegy. Wake. There are so many English terms to describe the passing of people and things…
Oven-ready
Todd Solondz’s Wiener-Dog is billed as a ‘dark comedy’ although it is far more dark than comic. If pressed to…
Recycling the avant-garde
One overcast afternoon in late July I took a train to Norfolk. It seemed a good time and place to…
Tartan-ing up the arts
Many years ago an arts spokesperson for the SNP launched an extraordinary attack on Scottish Opera, saying, ‘If push comes…
Tartan-ing up the arts
Many years ago an arts spokesperson for the SNP launched an extraordinary attack on Scottish Opera, saying, ‘If push comes…
Northern exposure
As the festival grows, the good acts are harder to find and the prices keep rising to meet the throngs…
Northern exposure
As the festival grows, the good acts are harder to find and the prices keep rising to meet the throngs…
Dorset’s winning formula
Dorset Opera seems to receive far less coverage than the rest of the country-house summer shows, although it is in…
Dorset’s winning formula
Dorset Opera seems to receive far less coverage than the rest of the country-house summer shows, although it is in…
Funny is dangerous
‘I’m off now,’ says Michael Heath, signing off from his selection of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, ‘to go…
Funny is dangerous
‘I’m off now,’ says Michael Heath, signing off from his selection of Desert Island Discs on Radio 4, ‘to go…
Australian diary
It is census night and what a controversial thing this census is turning out to be. The twitter feed is…
Bridge
Here’s a bridge tip you won’t find in a book — one which the wonderful Gunnar Hallberg gave me. You’re…
Team Australia, in Rio
It has all the makings of a classic feel-good movie. A selection of young Aussie girls from a variety of…
Team Australia, in Rio
It has all the makings of a classic feel-good movie. A selection of young Aussie girls from a variety of…
