Features
Our big fat problem
The good news is that Theresa May has dropped the threat to withdraw universal free school meals. Thank God (and…
Greater Oxbridge
Oxbridge is an ivory-tower state of mind, perhaps, or at least two ancient rival universities, but how about this: in…
Why is the National Trust hounding hunters?
For the sound of his horn brought me from my bed/ And the cry of his hounds which he oft…
Lessons from Houston
The numbers are awesome. In a matter of hours, Hurricane Harvey dumped nine trillion gallons of rainfall on Houston and…
‘Kill! Kill!’ yelled the mob
Laikipia, Kenya Following Kenya’s recently concluded elections, I took a walk on my Laikipia farm and lit up a cigar,…
Iran is our natural ally
The Saudi town of Awamiya — like so many countless cities across Iraq, Syria and Yemen that are witnessing an…
Too Indian to adopt
I am not surprised that the mother of a white Christian girl should be upset that her daughter was placed…
Let’s redo lunch
As a young sub-editor on the Times in 1926, Graham Greene, future author of The Quiet American and Brighton Rock,…
Forgive and forget
To begin with, Theresa May was not planning to take a three-week holiday — but she was subtly advised that,…
University challenge
In a few weeks, a new intake of students will arrive, all fresh-faced and excited, at universities around the country.…
Passage from India
It is not fashionable to feel sympathy for the men and women who lived and served in the British colonies…
Unsafe spaces
As a child in Glasgow, I learned that sticks and stones might break my bones but words didn’t really hurt.…
The dice men
‘I have a slight bone to pick with you,’ I tell Ian Livingstone as he makes me a cup of…
Macron marches on
The rentrée politique in France next month promises to be the most exciting in decades as the dynamic superstar president…
Puppy love
There have been times since the break-up when I’ve felt so low I’ve opened a bottle of Shiraz and spent…
Saltburn-by-the-Sea
When towns are on the up, there is a brief period when they inhabit what I would call the Goldilocks…
The ‘sex worker’ myth
In the midst of all the outrage about modern-day slavery, usually vulnerable men forced into manual labour, there is actually…
Varsity blues
A vast cohort of bright young things have secured their university places with A-level success this week. But things are…
The true Trump scandal
Washington DC The National Enquirer presented Trump watchers with a mystery last week. Why did it print an attack on…
Hostile climate
The subtitle of Al Gore’s new film is ‘Truth to Power’, which is supposed to give the impression of brave…
Frater, ave atque vale
As his obituaries pointed out, my brother David made a name for himself with his unrideable bicycle; his ‘perpetual motion’…
Beyond the pale
Setting off to spend a year teaching English in Zhejiang province in south-eastern China, I expected plenty of surprises. But…
Boxer shorts
Chaps, be honest. Have you achieved nether-region nirvana? Twenty years ago I had reached the summit of underwear style and…
Going nuclear
Wednesday marked the 72nd anniversary of the dropping of the bomb on Nagasaki. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted…
The joy of sex
Your typical Trollope-loving, Brahms-bothering Spectator reader probably won’t be aware that the most recent winner of Big Brother was a…
