Life
Why do ministers – and bakers – love a rollout?
I was rolling out some pastry that had been cooling its pudgy heels in the fridge when voices on the…
I rather enjoy my chemotherapy sessions
With a French health card everything is free for us cancer patients, even taxis to and from the hospital. ‘This…
Dining in nowhere: Bar des Prés reviewed
The residents of Mayfair are misnamed: they do not really live here. They live in Mayfair like I live on…
The other winner of Emma Raducanu’s stunning victory
Not many people would have seen that coming. I’m talking of course of last Saturday evening and the women’s final…
I loved prison
Memories for me are like beautifully edited copy: all cleaned up and retaining only the good parts. The wife tells…
The Battle for Britain | 18 September 2021
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My Arc de Triomphe tips
The emphasis may all be on speed horses these days, with breeders interested only in horses that struggle to get…
Dear Mary: how can I improve a friend’s appalling table manners?
Q. I recently attended a wedding which was (for me) quite ‘grand’, with a church ceremony followed by a reception.…
Bridge | 18 September 2021
‘Table presence’ is a funny old expression in bridge. You might think it means what it would in any other…
Has Boris Johnson given up on free schools?
For the founders of the West London Free School, of which I was one, last Thursday should have been a…
Our East Sussex house-hunting nightmare
The two-acre smallholding lived up to its name in being very, very small indeed. We had to squeeze around the…
Aussie Life
Do fish have feelings? And if they do, does anybody care? RSPCA Australia’s willingness to lease their logo to salmon…
Aussie Language
The New York Times has chosen a word to describe what happens to people under Covid restrictions: ‘languishing’. Under lockdown…
The Battle for Britain | 11 September 2021
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The economic case for flexible working
Is flexible working better or worse for productivity? What is the correct blend of remote and office work? Billions of…
A tale of refugees from ‘Brexit Britain’
In the New Year I was introduced to a couple who had fled Britain impulsively on New Year’s Eve with…
Why I’m going to start speaking in acronyms
‘I’ve got COPD,’ said a friend of mine, not elaborating at all as I stared at him waiting for him…
Bridge | 11 September 2021
The end to the European Championships Qualifier — from an English perspective — was one of the most dramatic ever…
Dear Mary: How should my granddaughter deal with her date’s body odour?
Q. My granddaughter Jane has been asked on a date to the Wolseley by George (both pseudonyms). Although she finds…
The stories that are too good to check
Last weekend, Rolling Stone ran a story about an interview an emergency room doctor had given to a local news…
Spain vs Italy: who would win the wine Test?
In London, the weather is a gentle sashaying mockery. An Indian summer reminds us of the sullen apology of summer…
What does Peter Quennell have to do with fish?
When Peter Quennell was sent down from Oxford for consorting with a woman called Cara (by Evelyn Waugh’s account), he…
The folly of American imperialism
Gstaad Mercedes Benz heir Mick Flick and I have been friends for more than half a century. We both married…
Spectator competition winners: In memoriam Geronimo the alpaca
In Competition No. 3215, you were -invited to supply a poem about Geronimo the alpaca. The camelid’s fate was finally…
2520: 5 4 3 2 1 - solution
The unclued lights are the names of the six principal presenters of COUNTDOWN (hence 5 4 3 2 1 as…
