Ian McKellen
Afternoon delights
Alexander Larman reports from a half-liberated, half-imprisoned world
The undiscovered country
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet meets impossibly high expectations
Why I “took the knee”
Following a brief loss of balance in a London watering hole I ‘took the knee’ – but that doesn’t detract from the symbolism
The gossip must go on
Lockdown tales from our showbusiness mole
Not everyone has a novel in them
Literature is the only art in which, it seems, every neophyte is convinced they can succeed
The age of the news influencer
TikTok reveals a broader existential crisis facing the media and our consumption of the news
A matter of National concern
This year’s race will come close to destroying its magic
Taking on the right-on with cold, hard facts
A practical manual for anyone who has no choice but to sit on committees with idealistic intellectuals
Is a guaranteed sale fair?
Auction house practices may be distorting the picture
The Rwanda Bill and the rule of law
Our constitutional tradition strictly separates international law from domestic law
The spectre of the past
The “Great English Ghost Story” offers a form of comfort and is rooted in the ache of nostalgia for a more elegant era
Newsnight and the rapist
The BBC should be embarrassed by its careless coverage of a man who has now been convicted of rape
Why not the Taliban Line?
These new overground lines are not sufficiently progressive
Religious freedom is back on the agenda
The International Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill, currently before parliament, is an important step for securing Britain’s role in promoting religious liberty
Operettas for the apocalypse
As we career merrily ever deeper into the end-times, what is the appropriate soundtrack for civilisational collapse?
