Where the young rich flee to
If Elon Musk gets his way, and Mars becomes our newest New World, I had always assumed that the people…
Why it might be best if US stock markets go on falling
It gives me no pleasure to say I told you so. ‘If [Donald Trump] is prepared to cause mayhem in…
Why the Japanese flock to Battersea Park
They weren’t familiar park visitors, but a couple with a specific purpose, laden down with camera equipment. They unpacked carefully,…
Van Morrison is sounding better than ever
There is a website called setlist.fm which allows its users to vicariously attend pretty much any concert. Search the name…
Sunny Schubert and iridescent Ravel: album of the week
Grade: A Maurice Ravel was tougher than he looked. True, he dressed like a dandy and wrote an opera about…
Saviour complex: Jonathan Powell is still trying to change the world
In 2011, the Hampstead theatre put on an autobiographical play about a marriage strained by lies, betrayal and, as the…
The Premier League is rubbish
Of the 73,738 benighted souls who pitched up at Old Trafford on Sunday for the Manchester derby – presumably even…
Surprisingly good: Amazon Prime’s Last One Laughing reviewed
‘What will it take to make Richard Ayoade laugh?’ If you find this question about as enticing as ‘Whose turn…
The Mullins men are a force to be reckoned with
Where would racing be without Willie Mullins? Even for a man who regularly rewrites the record books, who has 17…
Impeccable history of the free market – and from the BBC too
The launch of Radio 4’s Invisible Hands series has been both blessed and cursed by timing. It tells the story…
‘Trillions’ doesn’t add up
‘Oh no, darling’ said my husband, stirring from torpor in his armchair, ‘only about seven ounces of you is bacteria…
Heaven is an oeuf en gelée
The cherry blossom was at its finest as I made my last early morning trip through Regent’s Park to Broadcasting…
How Starmer plans to weather Trump’s storm
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Keir Starmer has struggled to set the agenda. The latest attempt came…
Portrait of the week: Trump’s tariffs, a theme park for Bedford and a big bill for Big Macs
Home In response to President Donald Trump’s global tariffs, Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: ‘This is not just…
Labour has once again betrayed grooming gang victims
Parliament’s last day before recess is usually a dull affair. A one-line whip allows MPs to return to their constituencies…
Dear Mary: Should weddings be ‘no ring no bring’?
Q. An old friend who is extremely generous and loyal has the most infuriating habit. Despite being efficient in other…
Who’d be a bishop today?
In his recent interview with our American edition, The Spectator World, Donald Trump is reported to be faced by a…
What did John Lennon, Jacques Cousteau, Simon Wiesenthal and Freddie Mercury have in common?
They were all stamp collectors, and feature among Robert Irwin’s oddball fraternity caught up in a collecting mania spanning centuries
Bring back gory book covers!
Looking for a light, breezy read? If you happened to be browsing the bestseller bookshelves this summer your eye might…
A gruesome bohemian upbringing: Days of Light, by Megan Hunter, reviewed
With clear parallels to Angelica Bell at Charleston, young Ivy believes herself a constant disappointment to her family of avant-garde writers and artists
How Birmingham became the epicentre of Britain’s opioid crisis
Rats grown fat on refuse prowl the streets of Birmingham. Mounds of rubbish pile up outside houses. Desperate to avoid…
The secret to great friendships
A few years back, a friend from Newcastle was down in London and I was giving him a tour of…
Confessions of a middle-class jobseeker
Having been made redundant from a job in the City, I could have afforded not to sign on at all.…
Has the Kremlin talked Trump out of sanctions?
After a two-hour phone call last month, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin announced that an improved bilateral relationship between the…
