Australian notes
Who won the wooden spoon for obtuseness among the swarm of the ABC’s apologists for putting Zaky Mallah on Q&A?…
You can’t take the Islam out of Islamic State
At last, British politicians have been galvanised into action by the appalling events last weekend in the Tunisian resort of…
Portrait of the week
Home Tens of thousands took part in a demonstration in London against austerity, and thousands more in other cities. Russell…
Diary
…and the woman I might actually turn for. Plus: any chance of men’s final tickets for Wimbledon?
Barometer
Plus: the figures on knife crime, crowds at religious festivals, and the prevalence of paedophilia
Hesiod on Grexit anxiety
Strife and competition motivate all – so go for the braver option, Mr Tsipras
The Russians are coming
From ‘The Inexpugnability of Russia’, The Spectator, 26 June 1915: At this moment, after nearly a year’s fighting, Russia is only…
The Spectator’s notes
Plus: The Pope and species loss; a wet speech by my parliamentary ancestor; and a brilliant charity
Europe’s great game
The EU is going to have to change significantly whatever happens to Britain – and Britain should take advantage
The questions you don’t ask at the BBC
The bias was crystal clear when I was there. It’s got much worse since
Spy if you must, but don’t give the game away
I’ve never assumed my emails and internet activity are completely private. Has anyone?
How Taylor Swift socked it to Apple over a weekend
The 25-year-old singer is a model of frictionless aspiration; less a rebel, more a CEO
Contagion of a different kind as Greece wriggles off the hook
Plus: Potash, fear and fracking in north Yorkshire; and Kirk Kerkorian, a Babe Ruth of investing
If Merkel shrugs…
As soon as the decision is made, the €55 billion bill comes due. That’s why it keeps not happening
Champions of hypocrisy
When the profits of multinational corporations depend on an aura of Corinthian virtue, expect moral contortions
Where Ukip went wrong
Nigel Farage and his senior adviser were caught up by the glamour of the Tea Party – to the fury of some in their own party
Poor form
The customer-service questionnaire is a sign of a company that doesn’t trust its staff to care
Verse Letter
In reply to Ann Baer, aged 101, of Richmond-on-Thames. Your handwriting, so perfect for its style And firmness, made…
Filling in the Bloomsbury puzzle
Bunny Garnett and Henrietta Bingham may have been borderline members of the Group, but they made up for it with their scandalous escapades, as Sarah Knights and Emily Bingham reveal
The hardest man of all
Frank McLynn’s latest biography is too lenient to the ‘Ruler of the Universe’, whose reign of terror was responsible for nearly 40 million deaths
Recent crime fiction
A troubled marriage, global conspiracy, Swedish noir and the Mau-Mau in Kenya — from Renée Knight, David Shafer, Christoffer Carlsson and William Shaw
