Life
The Battle for Britain | 3 October 2020
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Laurence Fox is a political force to be reckoned with
From the moment I started criticising the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis people have been urging me to start…
The finest Rioja in all of Spain
It had been a long and no doubt fractious sea voyage. The crew would have signed up for a variety…
The case for road rationing
Here’s the quandary. How in future can we make the kind of rapid advances we have made during the Covid…
Dear Mary: How should I handle my bitchy friend’s birthday cards?
Q. Many years ago I was asked to officiate at a funeral for a family I did not know. As…
Ask Jeeves: who first came out with ‘What ho’?
In the First Act of Othello, just as things are getting interesting, the audience hears someone calling from offstage: ‘What…
Kiwi Life
What has happened to the West, ignoring the lessons of history? Sweden, for example, long regarded as one of the…
My Aunt Beryl’s zinc-lined trunk revealed extraordinary family secrets
Bexhill-on-Sea My Aunt Beryl taught me to love books and paintings. When I’m at a loose end in London, lonely,…
This was not your usual entitled Surrey trespasser
The Volkswagen Passat was parked next to my field gate, sticking out into the lane, blocking larger vehicles from getting…
Is my phobia of upmarket restaurants misplaced?
Scotching my bright idea of a stiff gin for Dutch courage in the bar across the road, Catriona bounded straight…
The creep of internet censorship
Kristie Higgs, a 44-year-old school assistant, didn’t realise that criticising the sex education curriculum at her son’s school on Facebook…
The Battle for Britain | 26 September 2020
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Bridge | 26 September 2020
When I first learnt bridge, my teacher (not known as bossy boots for nothing) would thump the table when dummy…
What I would do if I were in charge of the BBC
Gstaad I’ve been wrestling all week with indecision, the kind that tests one’s soul, and the uncertainty is killing me.…
No. 623
White to play. Areshchenko–Koch, Bundesliga 2020. White has won rook for bishop, but the queen is offside and his Rf2…
When Garry met Fabi
Send in haste, repent at leisure. It is a cruel certainty that you will sooner or later text your intimate…
Spectator competition winners: the pleasures of bad poetry
In Competition No. 3167 you were invited to submit a rhymed poem that is leadenly prosaic in tone and content.…
2476: Playtime
The ten unclued lights (one of two words and hyphened) consist of two themes which can be resolved into five…
2473: May solution
The unclued lights, along with Peter MAY in the title, are England cricket captains. First prize Harry Hyman, Streatley, West…
DeChambeau’s the one to watch in the Masters
José Mourinho, it was surprising to read, recently said how relieved he was that the Amazon Prime cameras were out…
Social distancing in Soho: The French House reviewed
London is gasping — so where to go but Soho, which is so good at despair? It is often necrotic…
Dear Mary: How do I stop people assuming I’m a billionaire?
Q. My husband and I have spent many happy weekends in the seaside cottage of long-standing friends. Knowing how much…
Where did ‘herd immunity’ come from?
‘It was the pyres,’ said my husband. He meant the effect of television pictures of cattle, hooves silhouetted against the…
Aussie Life
Simon Collins ‘That’s 6 in a row. #Melbourne is, once again, the world’s most liveable city!’ So tweeted a proud…
Have big cities had their day?
About 15 years ago I noticed a few surviving chattel houses in Barbados and wondered what they were. As it…
