The race for the UN’s top job
We should care about who is the next Secretary-General - and it shouldn’t be Kevin Rudd
Australian letters
Navy sunk Sir: As a proud ex-Wren during World War ll, I heartily endorse your editorial on the Royal Australian…
Death and the Bard
Listen http://feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/260046943-the-spectator-podcast-obamas-eu-intervention-the-pms.mp3 How did the Bard kick the bucket? The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death reignites interest in a great…
The delights of Hieronymus Bosch
If you hope to inspire an appreciation of Renaissance art in your children, look to Hieronymus Bosch. Ideally, your children…
The Godfather
It is often asked how chess became so popular in the USSR. My answer is that most areas of creative…
No. 405
White to play. This position is from Vallejo-Wynn, Bangkok 2016. White has sacrificed a rook and a bishop. He now…
Much ado about nothing?
In Competition No. 2944 you were invited to imagine what characters from Shakespeare’s plays would have made of this year’s…
Your problems solved
Q. A friend of mine’s husband is in his nineties. They are a delightful couple but the husband has started…
Riders and diners
Not quite nil humanum a me alienum, but I have always been interested in other people’s trades and worlds. That…
Cut the claptrap
So far the campaign for the EU referendum has resembled a contest as to which side can spin the most…
High life
My, my, the rich are under attack everywhere, and I thank God the Panama Papers didn’t include the name of…
Long life
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
Long life
As we prepare in Britain for our momentous referendum in June, Italy has just had one. It happened last Sunday…
Low life
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
Low life
What consolation in life can Arthur and I find after that defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the…
Sex worker
‘Of course,’ said my husband in his worst smirky way, as though waiting for an appreciative chuckle, ‘as soon as…
Real life
The cottage of my dreams (or possibly worst nightmares) proved rather difficult to purchase, not least because the agent selling…
Long may we laugh at our absurd demagogues
In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke warned that ‘pure democracy’ was as dangerous as absolute monarchy. ‘Of…
Long may we laugh at our absurd demagogues
In Reflections on the Revolution in France, Edmund Burke warned that ‘pure democracy’ was as dangerous as absolute monarchy. ‘Of…
How to do better at darts – and life
I have always been intrigued by the scoring systems for different sports, and the degree to which they contribute to…
Wild life
Laikipia I sip my Tusker beer on the veranda, staring at the elephant. He’s not the elephant in the…
The Treasury’s prophecies
The Treasury has announced that an EU exit ‘could leave households £4,300 a year worse off’. Since that only ‘could’ be…
