In Mel and Sue, the true spirit of punk lives on - September 2016 The Observer - September 18th, 2016

Paul Hollywood is named after a stupid place. And Mary Berry changed her surname to that of a popular cake ingredient in 1970, in a self-abasing quest for self-raising fame. We expect little moral guidance from either Hollywood or Berry, and we receive none in return. But in refusing to follow The Great British Bake…

All Corbyn needs now is a krautrock endorsement - September 2016 The Observer - September 11th, 2016

Last week Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the endorsement of the 80s Birmingham band UB40, in front of a room of baffled journalists. But then a rival version of UB40 declined to endorse the Labour leader. The Corbyn narrative became collateral damage in the titanic battle of two warring factions of the once mighty pop-reggae pioneers, supposedly…

Where was Putin when Corbyn needed him? - August 2016 The Observer - August 28th, 2016

In Edinburgh, where I write this, there is concern that the city’s newly opened branch of the Kremlin-backed news agency Sputnik is intended specifically to destabilise post-Brexit English-Scottish relations. Message to Putin: “Don’t worry, Vladimir baby! We can handle this one ourselves!!” Nonetheless, let us compare the contrasting media manipulation strategies of Putin’s Russia and,…

Poor Rudolf Bing must be spinning in his grave - August 2016 The Observer - August 21st, 2016

As the third most consistently critically acclaimed British standup comedian of the 21st century, I usually spend my summers at the Edinburgh fringe, trying to intimidate younger comedians into quitting while simultaneously manicuring my own legend. I have attended the metrosexual arts event every August since 1987, except for 2001, when I was too broke…

I’m not saying Michael Gove is a bit of an animal… - June 2016 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - June 19th, 2016

The so-called EU Referendum debate on so-called ITV (let us not dignify either by naming them) filled me and all my ABC1 liberal friends with despair. Oh! The humanity!! Drunk on Belgian wine, I watched the Barrier Reef of the Britain I know bleach to nothing in the twin glare of Brexit’s burning certainties and…

Here’s a piece about the BBC recipes fiasco that I prepared too early - May 2016 The Observer - May 22nd, 2016

Six days ago, this week’s column looked like it would be a piece of cake so basic it wouldn’t bother a BBC Bake Off reject. It was the sort of column I could knock out in a cafe in a couple of hours, I imagined, on the back of an old G2, after the morning…