Columnists
Ukip has turned itself into a confidence trick
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_16_Oct_2014_v4.mp3 I think I’ve cracked it. If you want to springboard your minor political party into the mainstream and…
Online comments help me understand the Nazis
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_16_Oct_2014_v4.mp3 Like many, I’ve always been a bit baffled by the story of the rise of Nazism. The Germans…
Why are the Lib Dems duffing up the Tories? To ensure another coalition
The last Liberal Democrat conference before the general election has been dominated by denunciations of the ‘nasty’ Tories. Lib Dems…
Mondeo Man votes Ukip now
An opinion poll to be published next week will reveal that Labour leader Ed Miliband is slightly less popular with…
There’s no such thing as an Etonian
Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…
Stoptober makes me sick
Say what you like about the French Revolutionaries but at least they had a poetic imagination. When they wanted a…
Wonga lent too easily at shocking rates, but it was often the borrowers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Stoptober makes me sick
Say what you like about the French Revolutionaries but at least they had a poetic imagination. When they wanted a…
There’s no such thing as an Etonian
Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…
Why are the Tories so happy?
Two things have been puzzling Tory high-ups in Birmingham this week: does Nigel Farage have another defector in his back…
A third way to war
Jesse Norman was permitted three minutes for his speech to the Commons in last Friday’s debate. But the contribution from…
Why my friends love the idea of a nasty, stupid mansion tax
I see all the flaws with a mansion tax, I really do. And yet some little piece of me, some…
Will Osborne’s tilt against Double Dutch tax dodgers play into Farage’s hands?
George Osborne’s promise to crack down on multinational companies’ avoidance of UK taxes by the use of impenetrable devices such…
Why my friends love the idea of a nasty, stupid mansion tax
I see all the flaws with a mansion tax, I really do. And yet some little piece of me, some…
A third way to war
Jesse Norman was permitted three minutes for his speech to the Commons in last Friday’s debate. But the contribution from…
Cameron must reunite the Tories or lose next year’s election
No one goes to Birmingham to revive a marriage. But that is what David Cameron and the Conservative party must…
Why gaming remains the last redoubt of political incorrectness
The last — and only — time I had sex with a whore she was so impressed by my performance…
Is the US using bank fines to bring allies into line against Russia?
Here’s one for all you conspiracy nuts out there, prompted by readers’ comments on my recent item about whether BP…
We always end up talking to terrorists, one way or another
It is a horrible thing to say, but I suspect that sooner or later we will begin to get irritated…
Can brutalised jihadis be saved?
Could you ever torture someone? Could you, under different circumstances, in a different world (I hope) than the one which…
Why gaming remains the last redoubt of political incorrectness
The last — and only — time I had sex with a whore she was so impressed by my performance…
Can brutalised jihadis be saved?
Could you ever torture someone? Could you, under different circumstances, in a different world (I hope) than the one which…
It’s hard to refute stereotypes about British people being a bit disgusting
‘No Jews, No Jews!’ the children were told when they attempted to enter the Sports Direct store in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire.…
I’ll never feel the same about the Scots
I doubt I’m alone among English readers of this magazine in having felt uncomfortable with our last issue. ‘Please stay…
The ‘no’ campaign’s problem was that it sounded like me
Journalistically speaking, it’s been a good year to be Scottish and Jewish. Had I been a Welsh Zoroastrian, say, I…
