The Critics
A novel collector
The legacy left by art collector and novelist Hugh Walpole
Back to Blackstuff
The Boys from the Blackstuff hit the stage in Liverpool
My war stories
The role of the war film in British cinema
Haunting Ghosts
Two timely dramatisations of espionage in the Middle East
Tove Jansson’s humane vision
A major Paris exhibition highlights timeless themes of the Finnish artist’s ouvre
Forever stuck in the nineties
Sarah Lucas and the sexual revolution that wasn’t
Frans Hals’ sense of fun
A delightful display of portraiture at the National Gallery
A maverick medic
A theatrical biography of a life saver
Is the party over for festivals?
Why music festivals have lost their purpose
Content warning
On triggering opera and Arts Council England
Most Read
The martyrdom of Young Bob
On ebbing power of the political influencer
Grooming gangs and the truth
We should not give ammunition to deniers of the grooming gangs scandal
Babies need women
Leaving children with only men who are not their parents is foolish and dangerous
Stop ignoring the Islamisation of our democracy
The British state is bending to Islamism, not attempting to defeat it
Why has Keir Starmer been so unpopular?
He was the perfect embodiment of a failing system
Britain needs a moral core
The UK’s greatest vulnerability isn’t its weakened military but its lack of spiritual depth
Symphonies have life
John McCabe: 2 symphonies and cello concerto (Signum Classics)
Chopping The Onion
It is neither brave nor clever to portray dissenting women as insane
Dumbed-down democracy
“Public opinion” is useless when the public is largely ignorant
The BBC needs competition
The scandal-ridden Beeb is doomed if it is not held to higher standards
Confessions of an aging pop queen
Madonna once assured us that being an adult woman was something to aspire to
How religion shapes football fandom
The meaning of football is intertwined with the meaning of faith
Europe should defend itself
European states should invest more in their own defence, and the US should let them
The intractable problems pulling modern Britain apart
When does upholding free speech become an act of self-sabotage?
Illuminating shady corners of the soul
Chilling accounts of how men can be destroyed from within
The right does need religion
Christianity is politically valuable as well as, you know, true