Dark and stormy
The opening gala of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this year with the renowned pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet seems in every way congruent…
Aussie life
In Queensland, Victoria or New South Wales the cancellation of a writers’ festival would be an inconvenience. ‘Bummer,’ some people…
Language
Sometimes words are invented just because people wish there were such words – and (I suppose) wish that what they…
The secret to a good marriage is drink
Many years ago, when entertaining my then girlfriend (now wife) for our first Valentine’s Day, I spent a considerable amount…
The horror of the male wig
Horrible injuries are commonplace in boxing but none, surely, has been quite so devastating as that sustained by the heavyweight…
The hellish side of Bumble
Valentine’s Day is upon us. I’ve never liked it. As an ugly ginger kid with a beautiful – much older…
To understand pure stupidity, watch The News Agents
There have been numerous surveys over the years intended to prove that conservatives are more stupid than liberals and vice…
Peter Mandelson’s secret crush
Back in the mists, early 1980s I suppose, I was asked to decorate a penthouse apartment in London for a…
‘Authority is like virginity. Once it’s gone, it’s gone’: Inside Keir Starmer’s downfall
Years ago, Peter Mandelson shared a key lesson with his protégé Morgan McSweeney. Reminiscing about his involvement in Labour’s 1987…
How Jeff Bezos destroyed the Washington Post
The debacle of the Washington Post’s hara-kiri last week dispatched the myth that a tech billionaire could save journalism. Jeff…
How Keir Starmer might still hang on
A government minister and I dined just after the fiasco of the 2017 general election, with Theresa May clinging to…
Keir Starmer can only delay the inevitable for so long
Wes Streeting is known to be a Spectator reader. Pinned on the Health Secretary’s office wall, as he revealed in…
Apart from Mandelson, who is Labour’s biggest freebie lover?
Keir Starmer is Labour’s king of freebies. He promised to clean up politics, but has accepted more free stuff than…
‘We know where the bodies are buried’: How Kemi put Keir on the ropes
What does a dying government sound like? At 12.08 p.m. on 4 February we got an answer. Keir Starmer admitted…
Portrait of the week: McSweeney resigns, Starmer hangs on and Streeting plots
Home Morgan McSweeney, the helmsman of Labour, walked the plank by resigning as chief of staff to Sir Keir Starmer,…
‘Yes, it’s that bad’: inside Oxford’s Saïd Business School
How do you get into the University of Oxford? It is a question asked by thousands of young people every…
