The Spectator’s Notes
Although Stephen Toope, vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, is committed to openness, it is a struggle to get information out of…
The Spectator’s notes
I think Anne Applebaum is a friend of mine. I certainly hope so, since I have always admired her writing,…
The ruthlessness of Huawei
Huawei’s 5G path is blocked. In a few months’ time, Huawei may no longer see the point of paying six-figure…
The Spectator’s Notes
‘Just rejoice’, as Mrs Thatcher once said about something else. The government’s decision to debug our national security by getting…
Will Cambridge stand up for free speech in China?
Last month, Dr Priyamvada Gopal, of Churchill College, Cambridge University, tweeted ‘White Lives Don’t Matter’. She was abused online and…
The Spectator’s Notes
There are far more Chinese students in British universities than there are from the entire Commonwealth. Many universities have been…
The Spectator’s Notes
‘White Lives Matter Burnley’ said the plane’s banner as it circled the club’s stadium just after the teams had ‘taken…
The Spectator’s Notes
Why is it wrong, some ask, for senior British businessmen, former civil servants etc to work for Huawei UK? After…
The Spectator’s Notes
The government’s promised ‘pathway to citizenship’ to Hong Kong people is wonderful, but has the Foreign Office arranged a get-out…
What is it about Chinese totalitarianism that makes clever people so silly?
There is something about Chinese totalitarianism which brings out the silliness of many clever people. I suspect it is to…
The Spectator’s notes
This week in 1989, the Chinese authorities massacred protestors in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. I was editing this paper. It struck…
The Spectator’s notes
At Dominic Cummings’s press conference on Monday, reporters tried two lines of attack. One was to behave like local detectives,…
The Spectator’s Notes
Last month, writing elsewhere, I quoted the website of the China Centre at Jesus College, Cambridge: ‘Under the leadership of…
The Spectator’s Notes
A friend, a senior retired mandarin, emails. He complains that rural lockdown means that he and his wife have ‘got…
We should heed the world’s warnings about China
Mathias Döpfner is that still rare thing — an outspoken German. I have known him slightly for many years and…
The Spectator’s notes
Mathias Döpfner is that still rare thing — an outspoken German. I have known him slightly for many years and…
The Spectator’s Notes
During the second world war, the collection of the National Gallery had to be hidden in a mountain in Wales…
The Spectator’s notes
Although I once edited this paper, and have written for it for almost 40 years, I did not know that…
Should medics be hassling old people with ‘do not resuscitate’ forms?
A neighbour of ours, self-isolating and with poor lung function, has twice been telephoned recently by the medical authorities. After pleasant…
The Spectator’s Notes
We know, because of the lack of widespread testing, that incidences of Covid-19 are under-reported. What is less well known…
The Spectator’s Notes
It is good of President Trump to offer Boris Johnson his best wishes and the best American pharmaceuticals (though no…
The Spectator’s Notes
‘I am a columnist for the Daily Telegraph,’ I began a text message to an NHS executive last week. Due…
The Spectator’s Notes
‘Lourdes shrine closes healing pools as precaution against coronavirus,’ says a discouraging headline in the Catholic Herald. Jesus ‘made the…
The Spectator’s Notes
When we left this Britain on Thursday last week, life was almost as usual. Shops and restaurants were open. The…
Coronavirus might not be all bad news for the stock market
There cannot be many positive aspects to the coronavirus outbreak, but I wonder if it carries one for stock markets.…
