My finely balanced solution to Britain’s ‘statue problem’ - March 2021 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - March 14th, 2021

As a Bafta- and Olivier-winning cultural innovator, described by the Times as “the world’s greatest living standup” and by the Scotsman as having helped set “the new gold standard for rockumentaries”, I was invited last week to address a parliamentary select committee meeting on “the statue problem”. The culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, dabbed his two…

FROM THE METRO-LIB-ELITE DESK OF Stewart Lee – March 21 - February 2021 February 23rd, 2021

King Rocker Now TV Thanks for watching our documentary KING ROCKER last Saturday on Sky Arts, and spreading the word, and crowd-funding it, if you did. Our labour of love really landed. I arrogantly think it knocks most rockumentaries into a cocked hat and will cheer you up no end in the awful times. “I…

There’s something fishy going on at Tory HQ… - February 2021 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - February 21st, 2021

Before Brexit, 44% of British musicians, including my showbusiness friend Fish from Marillion, earned up to half their income from now inaccessible European audiences. But, should Fish find some way around the government’s failure to preserve artists’ touring opportunities, his unfortunate choice of stage name could mean he was still subject to time-consuming delays at…

Oh see how the Tories now run from Donald Trump - January 2021 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - January 17th, 2021

In 2019, Jeremy Hunt, who once hid behind a tree to avoid the press on the way to a party, said politicians boycotting Donald Trump’s state visit were exhibiting “virtue signalling of the worst kind”. Was Hunt also virtue signalling last week, then, when he conceded that Trump “shames American democracy”? Or have the goalposts,…

This deal is enough to make an eel squeal - January 2021 The Observer - By Stewart Lee - January 3rd, 2021

An eel farmer in Gloucestershire who exports eels to continental Europe, and who voted for Brexit, may lose his business because of eel paperwork incurred by the red-tape-removing Brexit he voted for. One can only pity him, and his eels. The time for filthy Remainer schadenfreude has passed. But regular readers will remember that I…