A trio of gems
Jewels is everything a George Balanchine admirer could ask for. The sumptuous triptych, set to scores by Fauré, Stravinsky and…
Born to rule
Depending on how you look at it, the Chinese Communist Party is either the last non-ridiculous bastion of Marxism, an…
House prices are going up again. I fear this is not going to end well
It’s senseless to ask how things are going to end, because things as a general rule don’t. They rumble on,…
Ukip are playing it safe – so they’ve rejected me
So farewell then £80,000 salary, £150,000 expense account, secretary, team of assistants, constituency office, first-class travel, immunity from prosecution, Brussels…
Causes and effects
When spending money is declared to be a good in itself, it is certain that much of it will be…
Portrait of the week
Home Retail sales enjoyed their fastest July growth in seven years, thanks to demand for beer, sun cream, swimwear and…
Diary
Hay-making was easy this year, and over in good time for a holiday. I am opposed to holidays, having worked…
Epictetus on Twitter
One definition of addiction is repetition of a behaviour despite adverse consequences. Twitter users will know all about it, especially…
Barometer
Other people’s rocks Spain threatened to introduce a €40 border-crossing charge and find other ways of making life difficult for…
Is the EU stopping Britain’s shale revolution?
A few months after the last election, Oliver Letwin warned Cabinet colleagues that a chunk of Britain’s income would be…
It’s not hate that Caitlin Moran can’t stand. It’s being disagreed with
Hell, it’s been tough, but I think I’ve pulled through. I went out this morning to buy some cigarettes and…
Must we celebrate gay weddings twice?
Apparently I’ve proposed to my civil partner. He claims that on BBC Radio 2, on the Jeremy Vine show (he…
Every little helps as the big banks continue to clean up their act
By and large it was a good week for the big banks — underpinned by encouraging news from the wider…
Welcome to Big Venice
Our capital risks becoming a dull collection of second homes for the international rich
History’s great success story
The Tudors, England’s most glamorous ruling dynasty, were self-invented parvenus, with ‘vile and barbarous’ origins, Anne Somerset reminds us
My companion for life
There are books we read for pleasure and there are books we are paid to review. However enjoyable the books…
Loved and lost
Author has late-blossoming romance with authoress, both divorcees, and they live together in a cramped house in Harrogate full of…
The urban peasant diet
You know that something’s afoot when Lakeland says so. Lakeland is the kitchenware company which has more of a finger…
Set in a silver sea
‘Tom Island’ — that was the name I was given once by a girl I met on an island in…
Letters
In defence of bats Sir: I am saddened by the ‘us versus them’ stance taken by Melissa Kite (‘Bats vs…