Features
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…
The joy of rummaging through Gladstone’s annotated books
Gladstone’s Library began as that most English of things: a great man’s visionary idea. William Gladstone, at the age of…
The mesmerising mediocrity of Trump’s opponents
If you believe the headlines, President Donald Trump is in deep trouble. The great impeachment saga is gathering pace. House…
Hero or double agent? An encounter with Lech Walesa
Lech Walesa is probably the most famous of all the thousands — actually millions — who struggled against the oppression…
‘Utterly betrayed’: Britain’s Jews are now politically homeless
We Jews have evolved to be neurotic; so neurotic that, in certain circumstances, the Syrian border feels slightly safer than…
Franco’s exhumation could help decide the Spanish election
I was no sooner in Madrid than General Franco was exhumed from his mausoleum not far from El Escorial. An…
George Eliot was much more radical than we give her credit for
It’s easy to forget, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of her birth, how radical George Eliot actually was. The…
The war heroes of Northolt Airport
At 6.50 p.m. on 31 August 1997 a plane touched down at Northolt Airport. It was a lamentable and dismal…
General election 2019: can Boris Johnson succeed where Theresa May failed?
This general election isn’t the most important in a generation, it is the most significant in the lifetime of anyone…
Election 2019: how the Tories plan to break Labour’s ‘red wall’
Of all those fighting this general election, the Conservatives are the only ones who need a majority. Labour just needs…
The story behind Donald Trump’s fake withdrawal from Syria
That noise you can hear is Donald Trump flip–flopping in the sand. Last week, American troops and dozens of tanks…
Maro Itoje is a national hero for our time
Sport is a paradox. It’s supposed to be. Sport divides, but then again, sport unites. The England rugby union team…
The family that helped Maro Itoje become a sports star
‘Education, education, education.’ At the time when Tony Blair was repeating this phrase after Labour’s victory in 1997, a Nigerian…
Children’s literature has become horribly right-on
There was a spat the other week about a children’s book, Equal to Everything: Judge Brenda and the Supreme Court,…
Toxic regulations, not the fire brigade, are to blame for the Grenfell deaths
It has been bizarre to hear the London Fire Brigade taking the brunt of the blame for the deaths of…
Rachel Johnson: everyone in my family is getting quince paste for Christmas
Brrring! Freddy Gray of this parish is on the blower. ‘How about a piece for this week saying he’s won,…
The long death of South Africa’s political centre
Cape Town Last Sunday, when South Africa beat Wales to go through to the rugby World Cup final against England,…
The unlikely beauty of urinals
In 1966, just as he was becoming famous, Michael Caine met John Wayne. The Holly-wood veteran offered him some advice:…
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has changed everything
Ever since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister his opponents — both inside and outside his party — have been convinced…
Caroline Flint: why I’m backing this Brexit deal
Nothing in Caroline Flint’s CV would have marked her out as someone who would end up marshalling 19 of her…
A Halloween short story: by The Woman in Black’s Susan Hill
‘This is a true story…’ Right. Only this time, it really is. There are no wails, whistling winds or taps…
An ‘I’ for a ‘my’: why we’re terrified of getting our grammar wrong
Jonathan Agnew recently described off-the-record interviews as those where you agree that it’s ‘between you and I’. Last month, Jess…
Bomb attacks are now a normal part of Swedish life
Stockholm One night last week, explosions took place in three different locations in and around Stockholm. There were no injuries…
Joan Collins: why I love London taxi drivers
Percy and I have seen quite a few movies recently and enjoyed many of them, which is rare. But the…
The Grand Union Canal, a serene sanctuary amid the urban sprawl
It was a Saturday afternoon in September, the end of summer, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I’d gone…
