Real life
‘Of course, there will be no air quality now,’ said a friend, shaking her head over my support for Brexit.…
Wimbledon’s ultimate one-up man
What a well-behaved Wimbledon. Apart from a bit of racket-smashing (most of the ladies), low-level swearing (Nick Kyrgios), tantrums (Kyrgios),…
The art of the quit
Brits don’t quit,’ said David Cameron two weeks ago, to which the obvious rejoinder is: ‘Oh but they do!’ The…
The art of the quit
Brits don’t quit,’ said David Cameron two weeks ago, to which the obvious rejoinder is: ‘Oh but they do!’ The…
Six of the best
I love Eclipse Day at Sandown, the first occasion in the year when the classy three-year-olds start taking on their…
Six of the best
I love Eclipse Day at Sandown, the first occasion in the year when the classy three-year-olds start taking on their…
Jeremy Corbyn and the oracle
Inscribed in the forecourt of the temple of Apollo in Delphi were the famous words gnôthi sauton (‘know yourself’) and…
Diary
All hail social media. In January, I lost my beautiful pussycat Mr Mew, and I have spent six long months…
The meaning of the Somme
From ‘News of the week’, The Spectator, 8 July 1916: On the surface of London life there is hardly a ripple,…
Letters
Junior elitists Sir: In response to Andrew Peters’s reminder that in many cultures it is the older and more experienced…
Portrait of the week
Home Conservative MPs set about finding two candidates for the party leadership to be put to party members as rival…
Death of the auteur
From the Oscar winning classics of the early Seventies — The French Connection (1971) and The Exorcist (1973) — to…
Erectile dysfunction
Anthony Weiner is the American politician who made a comeback after a sexting scandal and stood for New York mayor.…
Double trouble
The Bolshoi Ballet’s wunderkind ballerina Natalia Osipova defied received wisdom when, in 2012, she cast off from the great Moscow…
Echoes of Italy
‘Hidden beauty is best (half seen), faces turned away.’ So noted a young English painter named Winifred Knights in 1924.…
I can’t get no Satiesfaction
After peaking at around the tenth instalment, birthday celebrations get progressively less interesting, for their subjects at least. I remember…
I can’t get no Satiesfaction
After peaking at around the tenth instalment, birthday celebrations get progressively less interesting, for their subjects at least. I remember…
Friel good factor
Does anyone believe Brian Friel’s libellous blarney? He portrays Ireland in the 20th century as an economic basket case where…
Friel good factor
Does anyone believe Brian Friel’s libellous blarney? He portrays Ireland in the 20th century as an economic basket case where…
Fifty shades of grey
Grey men in grey overcoats walking through grey architecture. If you had to pick an image to reflect the current…
Fifty shades of grey
Grey men in grey overcoats walking through grey architecture. If you had to pick an image to reflect the current…
Accentuate the positive
Fifty years ago on Monday the World Service programme Outlook was launched as an innovative news and current affairs programme…
Accentuate the positive
Fifty years ago on Monday the World Service programme Outlook was launched as an innovative news and current affairs programme…
Soaking wet at Songkran
Songkran is not the best time of year to be a correspondent in Pattaya. It’s not that the story you’re…
Election diary
As a first time candidate in a volatile election, with a member retiring after 43 years, I was keen to…
