Status anxiety
My approach to wine? Wishful drinking
I fancy myself as a bit of an oenophile and during the lockdowns, when my local branch of Majestic was…
Beware the wrath of middle-class homeowners
‘Apocalyptic’ food shortages, gas and electricity bills soaring, wages not keeping pace with inflation… it’s beginning to look like we’re…
The courage of Katharine Birbalsingh
Five years ago, I put my friend Nell Butler in touch with Katharine Birbalsingh, Britain’s most outspoken headmistress. I was…
How not to understand the Brexit referendum
Simon Kuper’s Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK is a wonderful compendium of anecdotes…
A bonfire of the quangos should start with the College of Policing
I welcome Jacob Rees-Mogg’s recent announcement that he intends to reignite David Cameron’s ‘bonfire of the quangos’ in his capacity…
There’s no one better than Boris
Eighteen months ago, I wrote a column for this magazine saying I regretted having been such a Boris enthusiast for…
The tragedy of being a QPR fan
Normal families spend the Easter holidays by the seaside or in the Mediterranean. But not the Youngs. My three boys…
Is this Premier Inn all I’ll be remembered for?
It’s fairly commonplace for people to wonder what, if anything, they’ll be remembered for. I’m going to be 59 later…
The most disadvantaged group in Britain? White working-class men
I’m not sure what to think about the BBC’s announcement that it wants a quarter of its staff to be…
My £50-a-week chocolate habit
As I’ve got older my tastes have generally become less refined. During my youth I dutifully slogged through Kafka, Camus…
How to save the Oscars
This Sunday’s Academy Awards will be a litmus test of whether Hollywood can uncouple itself from the political agenda of…
My football analogy for the free speech debate
By the time you read this the new draft of the Online Safety Bill should be on the DCMS website.…
What really happened when my wife left me in charge
I’m currently standing at the top of Brownie Point Mountain, having spent the past two weeks looking after our three…
Nuclear war, magic mushrooms and a teenage trip I’ll never forget
Vladimir Putin’s decision on Sunday to put his ‘deterrence forces’ – code for nuclear weapons – in a high state…
Mexico is no country for journalists
I’m writing this on my last day in Mexico City, having accompanied my 18-year-old daughter here for the first week…
When does ‘middle age’ end and ‘old age’ begin?
I was a bit irritated by all the millennials saying the Superbowl half-time show made them feel old. The 15-minute…
The day Boris tried to bribe me
It’s not every day that a future prime minister offers you a bribe, but that’s what happened to me 38…
Why don't I come with a trigger warning?
Last week brought the news that some universities have attached more ‘trigger warnings’ to certain books, concerned that students may…
The Highway Code to hell
I did a speed awareness course on Monday. For the uninitiated, you have the option of doing one of these…
I got Covid (again) – is it time I got jabbed?
I got Covid a couple of weeks ago. Second time for me, which was annoying because I’d told Caroline that…
The unexpected brilliance of Don’t Look Up
I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Don’t Look Up, the new satirical film on Netflix. It’s about a couple of…
Where are all the Turners in the Turner Contemporary?
I learnt a horrible new word during the holidays: Twixmas. It refers to the 27-30 December period and has its…
Some (tentative) reasons to be cheerful in 2022
Someone sent me a job advert recently for a Junior Research Fellowship at Queen’s College, Oxford. It states: ‘The Queen’s…
Let’s not become Scotland
The Law Commission has published a string of recommendations following its recent consultation on changes to hate-crime laws in England…
Why punish a scientist for defending science?
As a defender of free speech, I sometimes feel like a man falling through a collapsing building. Just when you…
