High life
I have signed an affidavit for a hearing in the High Court stating that Janan Harb was, to my knowledge,…
Long life
I have always been what I suppose one could call a weed, and a cowardly one at that. I never…
Long life
I have always been what I suppose one could call a weed, and a cowardly one at that. I never…
Low life
Watching the daily running of the bulls through Pamplona’s narrow streets online this week has given me a wistful pang…
Low life
Watching the daily running of the bulls through Pamplona’s narrow streets online this week has given me a wistful pang…
Bugs
If my husband were an insect it might well be a bug — a squat creature imbibing nutriment in liquid form.…
Real life
Insomnia has a lot to answer for. I have not been sleeping well for years but a few months ago…
Urban foxes, the ginger menace
Forget about the countryside. When is the government going to do something about the vulpine creatures wreaking havoc in central…
Urban foxes, the ginger menace
Forget about the countryside. When is the government going to do something about the vulpine creatures wreaking havoc in central…
The presentation of choice
The appallingly bad photograph below was taken on my mobile phone about 15 years ago. It shows the menu layout…
Wild life
Laikipia A quarter of a century ago I met two young South African men who had ridden their ponies 1,700…
On Wimbledon grunters
What a pleasure it was to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon contested with a minimum of grunting, exclaiming and…
Barometer
Ties that bind Lewis Hamilton was ejected from the royal box at Wimbledon for not wearing a tie. Some places…
Diary
I witnessed what was almost a violent fight to the death on Hampstead Heath the other morning. Broad flawless sunlight,…
Answering the call of duty
From ‘Education and Honour’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915: The young man who has been to a Public School or…
Portrait of the week
Home The government postponed a Commons vote on relaxing the Hunting Act in England and Wales after the Scottish National…
To tell you the truth…
True Story is based on the book True Story, which is itself based on a true story, so there is…
All you need is love
What could induce a grown-up, rational, childless person to go to see the ballet of Cinderella? You’ll expect to cringe…
He wuz robbed!
Lucas Debargue, a 24-year-old French pianist, came fourth in the finale of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow on 30 June,…
He wuz robbed!
Lucas Debargue, a 24-year-old French pianist, came fourth in the finale of the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow on 30 June,…
Royal diary
The first time I met the Queen, I was eight years old and she was visiting my school, in Brentwood,…
Growing Up
This morning, as I commuted through Hendon Central, I remembered you telling me you saw that day’s newspaper there on…
Shorten’s mensis horribilis
One problem of being Opposition leader is getting air time. They yearn for cut-through moments when the full focus of…
A deal for the good of the world, but in Vienna rather than Brussels
As an occasional lecturer on the abstruse topic of the efficacy of sanctions in conflict resolution, I find myself much…
Ten resolutions that should make my next 50 years pass more smoothly
Very soon now I shall reach my half-century. I would have preferred to keep the horror a secret but there’s…
