Specpolitics
Who would lead the Tories into a snap election?
After Theresa May’s deal was defeated in the House of Commons for a third time, there’s heightened speculation that we…
Real life
They are building the bonfire already. In the dip where winter flooding sometimes creates a small lake, the wood and…
High life
I smell a rat when it comes to Harvey Weinstein. Let’s take it from the start. The telephone rang very…
Low life
Early on Friday morning I flew from the north of Iceland to Reykjavik, from Reykjavik to Heathrow, then I hopped…
Low life
The temperature gauge needle heeled hard over into the red. ‘Not again,’ I said to Oscar, sitting beside me on…
Real life
How reassuringly like old times it is, going to a God-forsaken retail park with Stefano. We mooch about the DIY…
High life
The death of the richest woman on this planet, as the tabloids dubbed Liliane Bettencourt, brought back some vivid memories,…
High life
I think this week marks my 40th anniversary as a Spectator columnist, but I’m not 100 per cent certain. All…
Low life
As is traditional in this village, the Chapel congregation had walked the 100 yards up the hill to unite with…
Real life
BT have just put the phone down on me for asking them to stop sending me junk mail, which is…
High life
As everyone who stands up when a lady enters the room knows, the once sacrosanct rules of civility throughout the…
Low life
I got off the plane at Changi still pleasantly sedated by Xanax, passed through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel, and…
Real life
Stefano and his boys got to work with gusto and within a few days the upstairs of my house started…
High life
I’m in Venice for the film festival that just ended and, as an American humorist once wired his paper: ‘Streets…
Low life
The army patrols at Nice airport go around three abreast, steely-eyed, fingers on the trigger. They walk slowly and scrutinise…
Real life
Stefano the Albanian turned up in a brand new Audi off-roader, cutting quite the dash. He looked older, with some…
Low life
‘Have you ever thought of having some colour put in, love?’ said Julian as he shaved my neck with a…
High life
After the heat in Greece, the Alps are cool and green and very comfortable. My sensei Richard Amos is over…
High life
I was appalled. She had asked Lord John Somerset to ask me to join her, and I rose rather unsteadily…
Low life
I arrived for lunch a bit late and was led to the dining table. Our hostess disappeared back into the…
Real life
My friendly neighbourhood Lib Dems have put some campaign literature through my door. In a covering note, they intimate that…
Spare me the encomiums for John le Carré
In Absolute Friends, one of John le Carré’s lesser works, the central character explains his rebirth as a left-wing firebrand,…
We’re losing the cat-and-mouse terror game
I wonder how Mohammad Khan is getting on in his legal action against Virgin Atlantic. Mo — a Muslim, the…
High life
When the Germans smuggled arguably the world’s most evil man into Russia 100 years ago, they did not imagine the…
Low life
My mother has various chronic illnesses and finds it almost impossible to remain both immobile and awake during the day.…
