John Sturgis

Can you tell if he’s dead yet? The secret life and death of Rolf Harris

24 May 2023 9:59 pm

Rolf Harris, the disgraced entertainer and sex offender, is dead. Harris’s death was confirmed yesterday – but his death certificate…

In defence of cycling on the pavement

14 March 2023 1:55 am

It’s a statement that’s guaranteed to raise hackles, but I admit: I cycle on pavements. This has become a controversial thing…

The sweet and sour sides of growing up in a Chinese takeaway

23 July 2022 9:00 am

Angela Hui was born into a life of service: Chinese takeaway service. Her parents had fled mainland China, where they…

Where's our world cup?

2 June 2022 10:57 pm

There was that frenetic drama of the last day of the Premier League just a fortnight ago – City down,…

The simple pleasures of sloe gin

23 October 2021 9:00 am

The gin craze of recent years has reached a scale that would have horrified Hogarth. You can now buy strawberry,…

Jess Phillips is wrong about football’s double-barrelled surnames

11 July 2021 6:23 pm

As the nation went football mad last week, nowhere was there a more stark expression of the ‘I’m-new-to-this performative fandom’…

Confessions of a failed royal reporter

26 December 2020 6:00 pm

Half a lifetime ago, I was, briefly, an occasional royal reporter – and watching The Crown, season four has revived…

Robins have earned their cultural perch on Christmas cards

28 November 2020 9:00 am

At the risk of sounding like Sid James in some late period Carry On, I currently have two birds on…

A vicious cycle: the problem with tokenistic bike lanes

22 November 2020 6:30 pm

There’s an old joke from the nineties: The A1 walks into a bar. The barman says ‘Are you with him?’…

Wishful drinking: pubs have always been good at bending the rules

14 November 2020 9:00 am

Pubs have always been good at bending the rules