The real problem with Surrey’s cat-calling crackdown
When I was young, the song ‘The Laughing Policeman’ always spooked me a bit; I’ve grown out of most fears,…
Why I don’t pity short men
I couldn’t help sniggering when I read in the Guardian that Tony Robinson, the diminutive (5’4) droll most famous for being…
Is Hollywood’s woke era ending?
On reading that Dean Cain (the actor who played the television Superman) had become an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…
Nurses deserve more credit
When I was recently in hospital for almost six months, one of my closest and most impish friends – who…
What is the point of Emma Watson?
I’ve been musing recently how people in the public eye can go ‘downhill’ in two main ways. One can make…
Wimbledon’s Royal Box has become naff
As Wimbledon reaches its climax this weekend, those of us neither interested in tennis, nor in taking a fortnight off…
Have the Gallaghers suffered from ‘naked classism’?
Their biographer thinks so. But if 1980s Britain had been less class-ridden, the brilliant Noel might have been drawn to further education, got a ‘good’ job and been lost to music forever
Tom Skinner and the triumph of Essex Man
As a teenager, my first husband was an Essex Man. It ended badly – all my fault – but I…
The real reason J.K. Rowling’s critics hate her
It’s weird to think there was a time when I disliked J.K. Rowling; it seems as odd to me now…
Reform’s soap opera won’t turn off voters
The last week has been a rare cheery one for the Left; not only did Elon Musk and Donald Trump…
Greta Thunberg’s pathetic Gaza voyage
When we consider child stars through the ages, the girls generally age better than the boys; Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor,…
Should we feel sorry for nepo babies like Ella Mills?
Is sympathy finite? The Rolling Stones suggested that we might extend this tenderest of emotions towards ‘Old Nick’ himself, but…
No, James Corden: London doesn’t want a mayor like you
Clown. It’s a great word, and I use it often. Though not a great fan of emojis, the clown face…
Gary Lineker is a joke
After a lifetime of being irritated by too many public figures to name, a few years back I discovered a…
A David Bowie devotee with the air of Adrian Mole
Plodding through suburbia in Bowie’s footsteps, Peter Carpenter might be Sue Townsend’s hero incarnate – and there’s even an omnipresent friend called Nigel
Why the Germans don’t do it better
When I was a girl – shortly after the repeal of the Corn Laws – a common rhetorical question was…
The march of the trans mob is over
I wake up in a good humour most mornings, but today I started the day feeling that this country –…
The pain of being a Bangle – despite sunshine through the rain
The more successful the female rock band became, the unhappier they seemed, with in-fighting and ‘suicidal thoughts’ leading to break up shortly after their greatest hit
Aimee Lou Wood should stop moaning about her teeth
Back in the twentieth century, there was a trend for beautiful female film stars to compare themselves to comical or…
Who cares if Elon Musk has fourteen kids?
Historically, the richest and poorest men on the planet tend to father a lot more children than the men in…
Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’ is surreally dull
My experience of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex and Muchness of Montecito, has I imagine been quite a common one.…
What went wrong with The Archers?
I was once a fan of The Archers, to the extent that the Guardian quoted me in 2007 outlining how…
The doomed union of Stormzy and Jeremy Corbyn
It’s been a lovely month so far for us free-thinkers, with the wokescreen tumbling down big-time. First the predicted winner…
The spectacular implosion of the Oscars’ first trans nominee
There are some Rude Awokening moments – when the whole damn #BeKind shebang collapses in on itself – that are…
Rory Stewart is no match for JD Vance
I was highly amused to see that JD Vance has administered a right old ‘fagging’ – or whatever public school…
