Columns
Politicians’ contempt for the press is contempt for the public
I was hacked by the Chinese a few years ago. Security at News UK, where I was employed on the…
How I learnt to stop worrying and love pessimism
I was on friendly terms with Rod Liddle for quite a few decades. He applied for the job I got…
Don’t blame supermarkets for your expensive shop
I’m sufficiently nostalgic for the British supermarkets I left behind in 2023 that on visits to the UK I run…
The mawkish madness of Dobby’s ‘grave’
I don’t know how many readers have visited the grave of Dobby the house-elf, but any who have should immediately…
The Keminisation of the Tory party
Since succeeding Rishi Sunak in November 2024, Kemi Badenoch has had two jobs to perform. Firstly, her constitutional obligation as…
Can I fucking swear yet?: Rod Liddle’s last column
The following column was written in 2024 for former Spectator editor Fraser Nelson when he left the magazine. This is…
Rod’s bravery made others brave too
How do you produce the type of person who cares deeply while seemingly not giving a damn? With great difficulty,…
Why is the C of E still devoted to woke?
The Church of England can always be relied upon to walk into a room just as everybody else is leaving.…
What’s so wrong about a ‘dementia tax’?
Winston Churchill had a name for it. ‘Happy thoughts’ was his description of policy proposals that gave the proposer a…
Bots for tots: welcome to the terrifying era of AI toys
In the centre of Durham last week, at the far end of the old indoor market, my son and I…
No election? Don’t bet on it
When Dwight D. Eisenhower had to decide whether to launch the D-Day armada he kept a close eye on the…
I wish more people had imposter syndrome
I have spent part of the past week thinking about imposter syndrome, and how we might be able to give…
Tax the poor
A sanctimonious liberal like any other respectable 16-year-old, I made a seminal lurch to the right the first time I…
It’s the ideology, stupid
What do Nigel Farage, gender-critical feminism, masculinity, generalised homophobia and GB News have in common? All have been blamed in…
How Reform and the Tories plan to fight Andy Burnham
Kemi Badenoch was in an upbeat mood when she addressed her troops last week. ‘This time last year,’ she said…
The problem with the Widdecombe suspect’s ‘fair trial’
It’s hard to hold anyone responsible for anything today in British politics. That’s because no sooner have the facts emerged…
Kemi needs her centrists
Every time I begin to see Kemi Badenoch as a plausible leader not of the Conservative party alone, but of…
Put on a suit and tie, Prime Minister
A brass fanfare; a wide establishing shot of five men in three-piece suits, seated in a library of leather-bound tomes…
The hijacking of Ann Widdecombe’s death
I don’t know if you remember that old saw: ‘Always speak ill of the dead.’ I don’t recall being brought…
I was targeted by a killer – but I’m still against more security for MPs
Reason, David Hume noted, is a slave of the passions. Arguments, especially political crusades, are often rooted in emotional responses,…
It’s time the Tory party got properly nasty again
In the 2024 American and British national elections, it was no mystery why the incumbents lost. Both the Democratic and…
Labour politicians make the pilgrimage to St Andy
Warm wine, small talk and curling canapés have long defined the Westminster summer scene. But regime change has added a…
How can we de-programme the police?
I’m not sure why I started following the photographer Alastair Hilton on X. He’s right-ish politically, so perhaps the algorithm…
What Farage can learn from the anti-Trump playbook
In January this year Dominic Cummings – once of this parish – warned The Spectator’s editor and assistant editor that…
We should fear drones, not invasion
A stray thought of my own while watching Iranian drones tracing fiery paths over the Gulf, a stray quote from…
