A need for abasement
We sometimes forget how much opera provides a captivating alternative to classic drama but this was written all over Opera…
Aussie life
Of all the Gospel parables, I’ve always thought the one that would be hardest to pitch to Hollywood would be…
Language
The New York Times has coined the expression ‘dark Woke’ to describe the current strategy being used by the Democratic…
It’s trust in English kindness that keeps the migrants coming
More than 12 million Brits engage in some form of voluntary work, many of whom have dropped everything to help those arriving in small boats
Everything Ottolenghi should be but isn’t: Delamina Townhouse reviewed
Delamina Townhouse is on Tavistock Street in Covent Garden. It is an Israeli restaurant, and a very fine and subtle…
The glorious sporting spectacle of snooker
I’m not sure quite what Sir G. Boycott would have made of it, but the People’s Republic of Yorkshire was…
Dear Mary: What is the etiquette of responding to save-the-dates?
Q. I have a problem with a much older friend who is slightly insecure and super-sensitive to criticism and I…
How do you pronounce ‘mayoralty’?
‘Six!’ cried my husband, waving his notebook as he monitored the by-elections. He wasn’t counting Reform wins but the ways…
Kemi shouldn’t play the Trump card
I doubt I’m alone among Spectator readers in feeling a certain slight but nagging discomfort when I hear those on…
My foolproof plan to avoid speeding fines
The online speed awareness course cost £101, or a few pounds less if you didn’t want to book ‘flexible’ so…
We’re spending the children’s inheritance on the dog
After we bought a place on my father’s hill farm in 2000, I’d study the notices pinned to boards in…
Delightful nostalgia for political wonks: The Gang of Three, at the King’s Head Theatre, reviewed
The Gang of Three gets into the nitty-gritty of Labour politics in the 1970s. It opens with the resignation of…
The conservatism of Thomas the Tank Engine
Ringo Starr is mostly known as the second or third best drummer in the Beatles. But for me – as…
How tech ruined theatre
Poor John Dennis. In 1709, the playwright devised a novel technology to simulate thunder to accompany his drama Appius and…
The repetitiveness made me cry with boredom: Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke’s Tall Tales reviewed
Grade: B+ You are in the wrong hands here for what is a homage to this duo’s favourite electronic music.…
Who could persuade you to fight for Britain today?
This week we celebrated VE Day. When Pericles remembered the dead from the war against Sparta in his famous Funeral…
Why don’t men ask questions?
I’ll bet most women under 50 in relationships with men have found themselves wondering when on earth the man is…
Who stamped out the postal service?
Tried to send a parcel lately? Or a letter? If it involves a trip to a post office, all I…
How to bring down Britain’s power grid
At the end of last month, a fire at an electrical substation in Maida Vale caused chaos in west London.…
Is Poland’s revival a mirage?
In 1988, when I was six months old, my British father and Polish mother took me to meet my family…
How Pakistan’s most powerful man provoked India’s missile attack
From a western perspective, memorising all 114 chapters of the Quran might seem an unusual qualification for a national leader.…
Britain’s decline is a threat to democracy
Democracy was born in the public square. The Athenian agora was the central meeting place of an engaged citizenry where…
