Diary Australia
Australia is a long way from the US. I left Washington on 4 July of all dates for Melbourne, there…
Australian Notes
Forget about a double dissolution. Tony Abbott knows it would not only help Clive Palmer. It would help Billy Shorten…
Unfair and unbalanced
The thesis of this book is that there is something wrong with politics in Australia. Bryant is right, but not…
You read it here first
In the digital age, weekly print magazines are not supposed to break stories, especially before the actual events have taken…
Sicilian Diary
Most of my dealings with the mafia — to the best of my knowledge — have been pleasant ones. Visiting…
‘Dabbling’ in poetry
A fellow festival-goer at the recent Calabash literary festival in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, enjoyed chatting to a gentle Irish poet…
Great Scots
Since spring this year, art venues across Scotland have been dedicating themselves to a gigantic project called Generation. Involving more…
A toast to all bottles
Where two or three British males are gathered together, the agenda often includes a glass or two. One thing can…
How good laws change our ways
What would happen, I wonder, were we to rescind the smoking ban as Nigel Farage wants? My guess is not…
Wild life
Kenya Highlands I’ve just descended Mount Kenya with Eve, my 13-year-old daughter, and her class of school leavers from Pembroke…
‘Dabbling’ in poetry
A fellow festival-goer at the recent Calabash literary festival in Treasure Beach, Jamaica, enjoyed chatting to a gentle Irish poet…
Great Scots
Since spring this year, art venues across Scotland have been dedicating themselves to a gigantic project called Generation. Involving more…
Handling Handel
The Hallelujah Chorus crops up in the most unexpected places, says Michael Marissen in his new book about Handel’s Messiah.…
Handling Handel
The Hallelujah Chorus crops up in the most unexpected places, says Michael Marissen in his new book about Handel’s Messiah.…
Fear and libertarianism in Las Vegas
Great God, Vegas is an awful place. I realised this the moment I arrived. My cab driver — who’d been…
The ambulance service is in a state of emergency
Tom leant back against the bathroom wall, his face streaked with blood from the nosebleed, eyes half shut like an…
The Spectator’s Notes
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_17_July_2014_v4.mp3 This must be the worst reshuffle since Mrs Thatcher demoted Geoffrey Howe in 1989. Unlike that one, its…
Australian Notes
Forget about a double dissolution. Tony Abbott knows it would not only help Clive Palmer. It would help Billy Shorten…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Home Secretary, ordered a review, taking perhaps ten weeks, by Peter Wanless, the head of the…
Letters
Real help for those in pain Sir: The fickleness of existence is exemplified by the fact that being Tony Blair’s…
