Our holiday in a French Butlins
I’m currently at a French campsite in the Languedoc, having been persuaded by my wife that it would be a…
Our holiday in a French Butlins
I’m currently at a French campsite in the Languedoc, having been persuaded by my wife that it would be a…
In the know
Master golfer Gary Player had the perfect retort when a 19th-hole pundit on his fourth G&T declared, ‘It’s all down…
Tacitus on Edward Heath
The press and police have been condemned for the way they fall on mere rumour and plaster it across the…
Barometer
No sex, please Several friends of the late Sir Edward Heath asserted that he could not be guilty of sexually…
Diary
This is the Corbyn summer. From the perspective of a short holiday, my overwhelming feeling is one of despair at…
Field studies
From ‘Education and the War’, The Spectator, 21 August 1915: War is a time in which a shortage of labourers can…
Portrait of the week
Home Andrew Burnham described calls from Yvette Cooper, a rival candidate for the Labour leadership, for him to withdraw from…
Male order
Gemma Bovery is a modern-day refashioning of Gustave Flaubert’s literary masterpiece Madame Bovary, and while such refashionings can work well…
The master returns
There’s a scene in 887, Robert Lepage’s latest show, which opened at the Edinburgh International Festival last week, in which…
The greatest pianist you’ve never heard of
William Kapell was an American concert pianist with the looks of a male model and the fingers of a wizard.…
The greatest pianist you’ve never heard of
William Kapell was an American concert pianist with the looks of a male model and the fingers of a wizard.…
Ai Weiwei
In September, the Royal Academy of Arts will present a solo exhibition of works by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.…
Ai Weiwei
In September, the Royal Academy of Arts will present a solo exhibition of works by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.…
Nottingham diary
There are few things better than a week off work, flying to the far side of the world to watch…
Summer listening
Just back from a few nights in Sweden to find the perfect programme on Radio 3. It was one of…
Elysium
The best time is the summer time When cow parsley is high, And daylight hours of field flowers Are spread…
Bridge
I have great respect for top French bridge players but I think it’s fair to say they don’t go in…
Clean-up required
A Dyson cleaner is a slick, state-of-the-art invention, looking like an escapee from the set of Alien with its transparent…
Come on, prime minister: a peerage for our peerless folding bike designer
Asked to name Britain’s greatest living industrial designer, most people might cite Sir Jony Ive of Apple or Sir James…
Bisexuality is now everywhere (and nowhere)
I’m not aware of knowing many bisexual people. Or indeed, off the top of my head, any bisexual people. Which…
The welcome return of the valedictory dispatch
‘All I ever tried to do was hold a mirror up and show you how beautiful you really are. Shine…
The Spectator’s notes
Watching the very pleasant Liz Kendall on television this week, I was struck by how extraordinary it is that more…
Poldark porn
My favourite moment in The Scandalous Lady W (BBC2, Monday) was when the heroine played by Natalie Dormer was shown…
Summer listening
Just back from a few nights in Sweden to find the perfect programme on Radio 3. It was one of…
