Columnists
The Queen and Prince Philip’s 70th anniversary party sounds glorious
Windsor Castle on Monday night sounds like a children’s party magnified. The rooms were filled with golden-leaved trees. A giant…
The Irish stance against Brexit is a dangerous gamble
Never has a European Council been so important to a British prime minister as this December’s is to Theresa May.…
Divorce destroys society. Don’t let’s make it easier
I went to Relate once, the counselling service formerly known as the National Marriage Guidance Council. I wasn’t married at…
The era when you could love a car is over
There are four of us in this relationship: my partner and I, his horse and my truck. His horse is…
Dear Chancellor, we can’t make the bricks to build your homes
The Chancellor sounded purposeful when he declared that he’ll do ‘whatever it takes’ to boost the rate of housebuilding —…
Let’s hear more of Parliament and less of pundits
Although we all see rather too much of the present Mr Speaker, it was a good innovation that he and…
The Tories urgently need a boost from Philip Hammond’s Budget
The Budget this Wednesday represents this government’s best, and perhaps its last, chance to regain the political initiative. Ever since…
Security overkill is terror’s real triumph
The moment the news broke on Halloween that an Uzbek in a rental truck had just killed eight people on…
Why oh why didn’t I buy more Bitcoin?
Every time I write about Bitcoin you can probably take it as a major sell signal. The last time I…
Armageddon is coming – how real-life employers are preparing for life under Corbyn
Numerous readers told me they liked my recent tale — offered as an antidote to ‘media sniping at corporate capitalism’…
If the Duchy of Lancaster has been so bad, why didn’t Labour notice before?
Let us assume — which we shouldn’t — that it is automatically wrong for the Queen to benefit financially from…
Why can’t Theresa May get a grip on Westminster scandals?
How much longer can things go on like this? That is the question on the lips of Tory ministers and…
The Westminster sex scandal is what psychologists call ‘displacement activity’
There are three reasons why Britain’s political and media world finds itself in the present ludicrous uproar over sexual misbehaviour…
When the liberal media omit a crucial fact, it’s always worth dwelling on
News programmes are as interesting, these days, for what they don’t tell you as for what they do. So, the…
The iciness behind the heart of the #metoo movement
On rolls the Harvey Weinstein horror show with no finale in sight. The next episode looks likely to star Uma…
Yes, Jay Powell is the compromise candidate for the Federal Reserve – but not a bad one at that
Perhaps we should be relieved that Donald Trump has made a dull appointment to succeed Janet Yellen as chairman of…
Women used to forgive men their defects, but the quality of mercy is under strain
Poor Gordon Brown. He embodies the problem traditionally associated with being male, which is that our sex finds it difficult…
What to do about the returning jihadis
In normal times, the reported return of 400 Isis fighters to Britain would be the biggest story out there. But…
It’s not victim shaming to suggest there might be two sides to every story
Somewhere towards the end of the 1980s I was suddenly promoted three grades upwards in my job at the BBC;…
When did fiction become so dangerous?
The assignment of books for review has always been haphazard. Fellow fiction writers can be tempted either to undermine the…
Ignore the Twitter cry-bully brigade – on social media, you reap what you sow
The nastiest person on Twitter has quit Twitter. Because I’m so generous I shan’t mention his name. All I’ll say…
The City needs to make new friends but is becoming pals with Putin a step too far?
In connection with the receding possibility of a London Stock Exchange listing for Saudi Aramco, I wrote that the City…
The Spectator’s notes
Theresa May’s style of negotiating with the European Union is coming spookily to resemble David Cameron’s. She is in the…
Up the Zambezi: why Rio Tinto’s colossal coal cock-up is going to court
Another week, another blue-chip in the dock. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has brought fraud charges against London-based mining…
Hammond can build his way out of trouble
Sometimes in life the biggest risk you can take is to play it safe. This is the predicament of Philip…
