When is a Whiteley not a Whiteley..?
A current court case in Melbourne explores a crime as old as art itself
Even the states dislike federalism
There can be only one explanation why the Victorian government would ask Canberra to help it out – cowardice
I come to bury Clarkson, not to praise him
Efforts to either replicate or replace Jeremy Clarkson are bound to fail. And I should know.
Australian letters
White Ribbon Sir: Tanveer Ahmed wrote an article in The Spectator Australia (14 March) about the various ramifications of the…
Culture buff
In her memoir Must You Go?, Antonia Fraser records an exchange between her husband Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett in…
Australian notes
It was more a rally of old hands recalling the glory days than a standard book launch. The venue was…
Not Mister Jones!
My father was always arguing and falling out with people in the neighbourhood, but when he clashed with Mister Jones,…
Don’t Look Back
No, let’s not look at the old photographs any more: our hair was so full and shiny then, and anyway…
Stolen Kisses
This elfin child was taken into care, And maintenance devolved upon the State. His whimpering mother was inadequate, His father…
Stolen Kisses
This elfin child was taken into care, And maintenance devolved upon the State. His whimpering mother was inadequate, His father…
Just So
Last week in a perceptive piece for the Times, Will Pavia animadverted upon the fact that the USA appears to…
No. 354
White to play. This is from Pillsbury-Tarrasch, Hastings 1895. White has only one move to bring his kingside attack to…
Men behaving badly
In Competition No. 2889 you were invited to submit an extract from an imaginary novel written from the perspective of…
Your problems solved
Q. I’m a single bloke now and for various reasons don’t foresee any change to that status. I have moved…
Kitty corner with the PM
David Cameron is too cowardly, or too cynical, to debate with Ed ‘Two or Possibly Three Kitchens’ Miliband — which…
Migrant muddle
For a long while, the Conservatives have been puzzled about their lack of popularity among immigrants. In theory, the Conservative…
New heights
For anyone who knows or cares about rock climbing — a minority sport if ever there was one, albeit pretty…
Going for Gold
Irish racing guru Ted Walsh was asked at the start of Gold Cup day if retiring champion jockey Tony McCoy…
Allah, Zeus and the Church of England
A ‘prominent liberal cleric’ in London has held an Islamic prayer service in his church, St John’s Waterloo. ‘We all…
Barometer
Cooking statistics Ed Miliband was photographed in a miserable kitchen, but it turned out to be only a snack preparation…
What the censors miss
From ‘Unofficial News’, The Spectator, 13 March 1915: The exclusion of war correspondents from the firing line has greatly reduced the…
50 shades of beige
My moment of the week was stumbling into the shocking, fantastical Cabinet of Curiosities in the Alexander McQueen show at…
Stephen Sondheim
I came out in a rash when I heard that Emma Thompson was to star in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd…
