‘Boldness was his friend in betting and in life’: A tribute to the great Barry Hills
I have always enjoyed Royal Windsor Racecourse, as it styles itself. It may not have quite so many dignitaries popping…
Will the Irish ever forgive the English?
Leaving home is the best way to find out who you are. In my case, it’s a muddle. Welsh dad.…
Tim Davie shouldn’t quit over Glastonbury
There probably never has been a time when a governing party much liked its MPs. If you are on a…
Can Keir Starmer fend off Labour’s big beasts?
It was the chronicle of a death foretold. Last year Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, drafted a memo…
A book signing – or a mental breakdown?
The late John Updike once wrote an amusing article about signing books. This wasn’t at some literary event with a…
Farage is the pacesetter of British politics
For the past year, Nigel Farage has served as the great pacesetter of British politics. Reform UK has shot to…
For the NHS, it’s Wes or bust
Labour swept to power on a pledge to ‘save the NHS’. As shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting said he would…
I’ve become a slave to my Airbnb star rating
‘Right, we’re going to book into Pauline’s B&B and give her a four-star rating and that will drop her down…
No amount of discourse will make a good pop song into a great one
There is no higher calling than making great pop music, and no mechanism by which such an achievement can be…
Labour should look to Andy Burnham for inspiration
For Keir Starmer, it seems everything is going south. His MPs are openly rebelling, his advisers are mutinous and it…
The political climate at Glastonbury was not especially febrile
Everyone who wasn’t at Glastonbury this year knows exactly what it was like: a seething mass of hatred and rabid…
And now let’s bomb Glastonbury
A small yield nuclear weapon, such as the American W89, dropped on Glastonbury in late June would immediately remove from…
My memories of the royal train
It is the most civilised way to travel anywhere in the kingdom. Which is why I am so distraught that…
Letters: What public inquiries get wrong
Movers and shakers Sir: As a parish priest of 35 years, I read Francis Pike’s account of his supernatural experiences…
Who really built this country?
Anyone who has visited Canada or Australia in recent years might have noticed an interesting new tradition. This is the…
Brave and beautiful: Longborough’s Pelléas et Mélisande reviewed
King Arkel, in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, is almost blind, and he rules over a kingdom of darkness. Debussy’s score…
Public libraries deserve to shut – they’ve forgotten why they exist
The usual piece about public libraries runs like this. Public libraries are for ‘more than just books’. They are in…
Dear Mary: How can I get enough champagne at a party?
Q. I had the same Spanish housekeeper for 25 years and was devoted to her, and she to me. She…
A Spartan’s guide to body shaming
Now that new drugs have allowed the government’s Fat Controller to celebrate a nation of skinnies – let us hope…
The Simpsons may be genius – but it’s also evil
Marge Simpson is dead. But does anyone care? I’ve written loads of pieces over the years about the genius of…
Masculinity in crisis – portrayed by Michael Douglas
As the Manhattan attorney in 1987’s Fatal Attraction, Douglas epitomises the alarm many men felt for women’s new-found openness about sexuality
Scooby-Doo has better plots: Almeida’s A Moon for the Misbegotten reviewed
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a dream-like tragedy by Eugene O’Neill set on a barren farm in Connecticut. Phil…
