Best of the Spectator Spectator Out Loud: Angus Colwell, Paul Wood, Andrew Rule & Jonathan Meades
Mar 2, 2026
Angus Colwell, journalist and commentator, explores why young Brits are adopting Australian fashion, slang and lifestyle. Short segments dive into a bold plan to resettle the Chagos islands, gritty life on Peros Banhos, why reading can feel like love through avant-garde fiction, and Jonathan Meades on John Vanbrugh’s unclassifiable architecture.
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British Youth Adopting Australian Aesthetic
- Young Brits are imitating an Australian aesthetic as a cultural escape from stagnation and gloom.
- Angus Colwell links mullets, ‘‘beers’’ vocabulary, flat whites, and avo toast to a performative yearning for sunny, energetic Australian life.
Australia Fandom As Resignation Not Aspiration
- Colwell argues the Australia craze signals resignation rather than economic aspiration, a wish to make life feel like a permanent holiday.
- He contrasts UK stagnation (low productivity, welfare dependence) with Australia’s higher GDP per capita and sunnier lifestyle.
Secret Expedition To Reclaim Peros Banhos
- Adam Holloway secretly bought a boat, loaded supplies in Sri Lanka, switched off electronics and led a small party to resettle Peros Banhos in the Chagos archipelago.
- Paul Wood describes the voyage, the settlement's primitive conditions, and Holloway's shift from security fears to personal reparations.