Columnists
Advice to StanChart’s new chief: reputation is even tougher to manage than financial risk
One day you’re an elder statesman, chairing top committees and pontificating on Question Time, and the next you’re out in…
Did Cameron ever really want to be nice?
I have a friend who was a Young Conservative. Just the one, I promise, and he’s grown out of it…
Yes, skunk has changed me. But so have Zoran Mušic’s drawings
Two recent preoccupations have led me to the same reflection. The first is a Channel 4 programme on the effects…
The not-very-general election
There’s normally an easy way to tell which party is losing a general election campaign. Whenever one side starts telling…
That’ll teach you to attempt a joke, Sean
What a pleasure it is to see the Hollywood actor Sean Penn neck deep in PC ordure. The rodentine thespian…
Why do bright schoolgirls run away to Syria?
How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…
A tale of two shops – and two philosophies
Are you Lush or are you Aldi? Me, I’m Aldi all the way. So much so that when someone —…
Just in time, Osborne answers Labour’s 50p tax trick with a bumper monthly surplus
Last week’s public borrowing and tax-receipt figures, headlined ‘Chancellor hails biggest monthly surplus in seven years’, received considerably less attention…
The not-very-general election
Listen http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/the-snp-threat-to-westminster/media.mp3 There’s normally an easy way to tell which party is losing a general election campaign. Whenever one side…
A tale of two shops – and two philosophies
Are you Lush or are you Aldi? Me, I’m Aldi all the way. So much so that when someone —…
Why do bright schoolgirls run away to Syria?
How could they? How could girls brought up in the wealthy West abandon their families and their own bright futures…
That’ll teach you to attempt a joke, Sean
What a pleasure it is to see the Hollywood actor Sean Penn neck deep in PC ordure. The rodentine thespian…
The Lib Dems aren’t scared of this election. But they should be
One of the most remarkable features of this parliament has been the sangfroid of the Liberal Democrats. Nothing seems to…
It’s not Netanyahu’s fault that Jews in Europe are afraid
Have you seen the prices for houses in Israel? Astronomical, mate. You wouldn’t believe it. An arid and perpetually embattled…
Woke up late? Don’t blame your genes
‘Oh, I’m an owl,’ said my friend Nick. ‘You’re probably a lark.’ I raised an eyebrow. He explained. Apparently all…
Put the water cannons on standby and your money on a swift Grexit
‘Will Greece exit the eurozone in 2015?’ Paddy Power was pricing ‘yes’ at 3-to-1 on Tuesday, with 5-to-2 on another…
Woke up late? Don’t blame your genes
‘Oh, I’m an owl,’ said my friend Nick. ‘You’re probably a lark.’ I raised an eyebrow. He explained. Apparently all…
The Lib Dems aren’t scared of this election. But they should be
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/Viewfrom22-19Feb2015.mp3 One of the most remarkable features of this parliament has been the sangfroid of the Liberal Democrats. Nothing…
It’s not Netanyahu’s fault that Jews in Europe are afraid
Have you seen the prices for houses in Israel? Astronomical, mate. You wouldn’t believe it. An arid and perpetually embattled…
Where is the Tories’ secret weapon?
‘You did this,’ David Cameron repeatedly declared to Tory donors as he reeled off a list of the government’s achievements…
Why I may bail out the Guardian
One of the highlights of my week comes on a Saturday morning, when I make myself a cup of fair-trade…
A life-changing lunch with an old acquaintance
God it’s nauseating when an exact university contemporary of yours turns out to have become a hugely successful investor with…
Green must answer for HSBC’s faults — but he’s another victim of big banking’s perils
Stephen Green — the former trade minister Lord Green of Hurstpier-point, who became this week’s political punchbag— was always a…
A life-changing lunch with an old acquaintance
God it’s nauseating when an exact university contemporary of yours turns out to have become a hugely successful investor with…
Where is the Tories’ secret weapon?
‘You did this,’ David Cameron repeatedly declared to Tory donors as he reeled off a list of the government’s achievements…
