What Trump is getting right
Almost anyone who has followed the US presidential selection process closely could realise what a brilliant campaign Donald Trump has…
Aux bien pensants
There is a disturbingly authoritarian trend in Australia, an insistence that out-of-touch politicians know best. Decisions are made reducing or…
The bust that wasn’t
It has been a month since the UK voted to leave the European Union — but something is missing. Where…
Business/Robbery etc
Malcolm Turnbull, already weakened by his narrow election win, has no option but to stick to the substance (excepting unintended…
Turkey’s continental drift
In Turkish the word ‘yurt’ has two definitions. It means ‘place’, ‘land’, ‘territory’, ‘homeland’. It could also indicate a round,…
Australian letters
Dumb ox Sir: I am surprised that Noreen from Queensland would expect to find balanced opinion in the pages of…
What wasps do for us
Dom Perignon, Pimms, Carling Black Label, Coca-Cola — one’s as good as the other, so far as they’re concerned. Even…
Dramatic effect
It was hard to believe that Monday morning’s introduction to the Italian writer Primo Levi on Radio 4 lasted for…
Beat echoes
Laid out flat, running the length of the exhibition, the original scroll of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road forms the…
Low life
I sat down at the metal table on the shaded terrace to write a column. In front, ripening vines receding…
Never gonna give EU up
June the 24th was a grim morning for Remain voters, and we’ve been working through the seven stages of grief…
Long life
One of David Cameron’s last decisions as prime minister was to get the brass doorbell of No. 10 cleaned. I…
The gardens of Ninfa
I’ve just been given a personal tour of Ninfa by Monty Don. True, I had to share the thinking woman’s…
Bridge
Summer finally appeared like magic on Saturday, 16 July. Did I fire up the barbie? Did I relax with a…
The great sulker
Ted ‘Grocer’ Heath, as he will always be for me, was chosen by his fellow MPs to be their leader…
No. 418
White to play. This position is from Najer-Buhmann, Dortmund 2016. How did White make the most of his g7-pawn? Answers…
Riding high
How’s this for a heartwarming set-up? Forty-something recovering alcoholic and aspiring artist Ginger copes with the disappointment of being unable…
2270: Hard
Seven unclued lights (all real words) are names of 22 (hyphened) minus one letter. The missing letters give GROWN-UP. …
Pitch perfect
One day, many seasons ago, Jon Hotten was on the field when a bowler took all ten wickets. In his…
The best way to bring back grammar schools
Could grammar schools be about to make a comeback? That Theresa May went to one, and that the number of…
Stiffen the sinews
It’s not unreasonable to expect that the anatomy syllabus for a medical degree should include breasts. Last year I performed…
Way off track
What’s going on with athletics? Do you know anything that’s happened in the sport this year? Has a sport ever…
Death in Greenwich
With the current political saga running in our heads, trumping all other stories, it has been hard to concentrate on…
Theresa’s first mistake
Helga Hunter met her husband Michael when he was a Scots Guardsman serving in Münster in 1968. She moved back…
Something new out of Africa
In a Johannesburg mall, a listless and lonely IT worker chats with his dad about the bitter fruits of upward…
