Portrait of the week: US strikes Venezuela, China taxes contraceptives and happy anniversary to the Birmingham bin-strikers
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said Britain was not involved ‘in any way’ in the US strikes on…
Jack Rankin: No to Reform
No to Reform Sir: Perhaps because I have been candid about the Conservative party’s failures in office, I am mooted…
What went up – and down – in 2025?
Erasmus in England The government is to rejoin the Erasmus scheme, which allows students at British universities to spend time…
Who’s up to the challenge of restoring Britain’s prosperity?
In 1956, Malta held a referendum on joining the United Kingdom. Since the islands were economically reliant on the Royal…
Portrait of the week: Farm tax backdown, trail hunting crackdown and anti-misogyny courses for 11-year-olds
Home The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans to criminalise trail hunting ‘amid concerns it is being…
Letters: Don’t let Labour kill off trail hunting
Man with man to dwell Sir: Your editorial (‘All ye faithful’, 13-27 December) suggests that scepticism about Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s (Tommy…
Portrait of the year
January For three weeks wildfires raged around Los Angeles. Perhaps 30 people were killed but 200,000 were evacuated, 18,000 homes…
Who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh?
Pooh-pooh Christmas Eve marks the 100th birthday of Winnie-the-Pooh, which first appeared in a short story in the Evening News…
The radical message of Christianity
A meeting planned in secret. A message deemed subversive. The authorities both antagonised and confused. The gatherings of the early…
Portrait of the year: Trump’s tariffs, the definition of biological sex and the fall of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
January Downing Street said Rachel Reeves would remain in her role as Chancellor of the Exchequer ‘for the whole of…
Letters: Why I quit Your Party
Party’s over Sir: My departure from Your Party, described as ‘disputed’ by Douglas Murray (‘Where was my invitation to Your…
Should a two-bedroom flat worth £2m be called a ‘mansion’?
Many mansions Does a two-bedroom flat worth £2 million deserve to be called a ‘mansion’? — The word ‘mansion’ is…
Labour’s dereliction of duty over defence
Last week, our political editor, Tim Shipman, revealed a recent meeting between Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief…
Portrait of the week: ‘Misleading’ Reeves, trial without jury and Great Yarmouth First
Home What Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, told voters about the economy in a special press conference on…
Letters: How to clear the courts backlog – without scrapping juries
Tried and tested Sir: Your otherwise excellent leading article opposing proposed restrictions on jury trials (‘Judge not’, 29 November) misses…
A Spectator poll: What is the greatest artwork of the century so far?
Slavoj Zizek Hegel thought that, in the movement of history, the world spirit passes from one country to another, from…
Could ‘Your party’ become the shortest-lived political party in British history?
Party poopers ‘Your party’ holds its inaugural conference this weekend in a state of internal wrangling. Could it become the…
Portrait of the week: a shambolic Budget, Ukrainian plan and justice overhaul
Home Before Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered the Budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility accidentally released its…
What is a ‘fair’ trial, Mr Lammy?
Why are jury trials so precious? According to one prominent alumnus of Harvard Law School, who was writing in protest…
