David Cameron has done nothing wrong
To paraphrase the old adage, truth can still be pulling on its boots when a misconception is already half way…
A parcel of rogues
There is a more depressing subject than the lockdown. The evening began with a bottle of 18-year-old Glenmorangie. It was…
Haute cuisine for the homeless
A year of lockdowns has certainly passed slowly. But there are topics for thought. One disappointment has been the Church…
Boris Johnson undersold his security review
It was the political equivalent of Halley’s comet. On Tuesday, Boris Johnson underestimated his own achievement. He claimed that the…
We’ll always have Paris
Some friends claim to be making marks on the wall to count the days until liberation. Ah, the forgotten delights…
Rishi Sunak is a prime minister in waiting
It is always a pleasure to see a first-rate mind in action, as we did during today’s Budget. Equally, when…
Memories of Stellenbosch
Lockdown provides time to think, and to reminisce. A South African friend, trapped in Amsterdam, phoned the other day. Had…
My palate and the plague
Later this week, on Spectator.co.uk, I will resolve a mystery that has featured in a lot of Zoom traffic around…
A toast to Lebanon
I was thinking about tragedy. Could one use the term ‘chronically tragic’? My first instinct is against. Tragedy is the…
Tales of war and lockdown
We were celebrating the end of lockdown by talking about war and deer stalking — over a business lunch, naturally.…
A Grantham statue is the least Margaret Thatcher deserves
Grantham in Lincolnshire has an interesting history. Newton went to school there. Turner produced several paintings of local scenes. During…
Ghosts of Christmas pissed
I feel like a prisoner, making daily marks on the cell wall to chart the approach of freedom. But will…
What if Thatcher won the 1990 leadership challenge?
Thirty years ago today, Margaret Thatcher was in 10 Downing Street. For almost eleven and a half years, it had…
Johnson’s turnip bogle
At least in London, midwinter spring has not been entirely vanquished, and the trees are still a couple of strong…
A toast to Tim
I am in an Eliot mood, not a Keatsian one. ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ is a surprisingly… mellow…
Covid-19 and the victory of quantitative easing
Crises often lead to new paradigms. The politicians of the day try to repair the damage, learn lessons and prevent…
Memories of Perry
I had known Perry Worsthorne for several years before I went to work for him in 1986 (horrifying how time…
Viva España
It had been a long and no doubt fractious sea voyage. The crew would have signed up for a variety…
It’s all in the timing
Three bottles, three questions that delivered three different answers. I was in Dorset — cannot keep away — enjoying the…
Diary
This is a very British story. Because we Brits are often warlike but never militaristic, we often make a balls-up…
Can Simon Case restore stability to the heart of government?
Boris Johnson does not get everything wrong. The appointment of Simon Case to be head of the civil service at…
Right up my alley
I suspect, though this may be romanticising, that if a French lorry driver with hitherto suppressed culinary tastes won France’s…
A tale of six graces
‘The Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day’: surely one of the most beautiful images…
A taste of the continent
Is it safe to visit the continent? On the one hand, abroad is likely to be less crowded this August…
Beauty, brutality, cricket and wine
In one respect, there has been a reassertion of normality, though this is nothing to do with the virus. Although…
