My failed attempts to be a good Samaritan
Being a good Samaritan is harder than it seems
We’ve become a nation of armchair psychiatrists
Let’s leave mental health diagnoses to the professionals
The agony of watching friends succeed
The agony of literary envy
The joy of drinking alone
Thanks to a combination of night-time curfews, social-distancing rules, pubs closing, restaurants failing, the ‘rule of six’ and compulsory mask-wearing,…
I spent Christmas Day helping the homeless – and I was bored out of my mind
When I told friends that I would be spending Christmas Day helping the homeless at a Crisis at Christmas centre…
OK zoomer, is that really the best you’ve got?
Every generation and teen subculture likes to put the boot into baby boomers like me. I’ve been physically attacked by…
In praise of cultural elitism
At present we have a series of ‘culture wars’ over a wide range of issues — race, gender, sexuality, power…
The dad revolution hasn’t helped our children – or us
When I was growing up in the late 1960s, boys like me craved the admiration and approval of our dads;…
Hands free: I’ve joined a new kind of abstinence movement
Eight years ago, I had an erotic epiphany. It was around midnight: I had sex on the brain and porn…
Charity muggers are no longer on the streets — they’re your friends
There was a time when you couldn’t walk down your local high street and not be set upon by a…
How Eddie Davenport rebranded middle-class swingers parties as ‘posh’ orgies
The English love a story of posh people behaving badly, especially one that involves sex, drugs or drink — preferably…
Are you a politically correct pervert?
It hasn’t always been easy being a progressive-minded man who prides himself on his sensitivity to issues of race, gender,…
Stop calling me ‘a privileged white man’ – I’m more than that
I got some bad news this week. I discovered that I’m a ‘privileged, white male’. It was my agent who…
What do women really want? A man with a beautiful house
Freud famously asked: what do women want? And I think that after two marriages, a dozen long-term relationships and a…
Children are everywhere – and they’re spoiling everything
There was a time when middle-class liberals used to complain that the English were a nation of child haters. They…
The #MeToo movement could be the saviour of sex
Sexual intercourse, Philip Larkin famously wrote, began in 1963. And listening to contemporary commentators, you’d think that it came to…
Let’s get real. Kindness is not going to save you – or the world
I originally thought of calling this piece: ‘Kindness is the New Rock ’n’ Roll’ — but only as a joke.…
The Spice Girls sang about empowerment – better than the #MeToo whinging
The recent news of a Spice Girls reunion will, I suspect, be greeted by some former fans with nostalgic longing…
Can I be taught how to become a #MeToo Man?
These are tough times for what I call the #MeToo Men — those white, liberal, high-minded men who pride themselves…
Riot chic
Last weekend, I got into a conversation with the son of an old friend. He’s a nice middle-class boy, mid-twenties,…
My public trans sport with a flirty stranger on the bus
My top-deck encounter with a flamboyant stranger
Women’s issues are for everyone now, not just feminists
‘Women’s issues’ are for everyone. So feminism is obsolete
Sorry, but I don’t think feminists can fight the male gaze by baring their breasts
Can you really fight the male gaze by exposing your breasts?
Straight white males are the winners in the sexual counter-revolution
Forget the culture war rhetoric. We straight white males have won
What Julie Burchill's ex-husband thinks of her new memoir
Unchosen is the journalist Julie Burchill’s account of how she — a bright and bratty working-class girl from Bristol —…
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