Columnists
The Spectator’s Notes
This week’s issue is dated 2 August. On that date 100 years ago, my great-grandfather, Norman Moore (always known as…
We need better MPs, not younger ones
The House of Commons is off for the summer. But few MPs and ministers expect to make it through to…
The Spectator’s notes
Peter Clarke’s powerful report on the Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham schools is confirmation of the weakness of David Cameron…
Not even Turing deserves a posthumous pardon
Ross Clark is a columnist I try to read because he is never trite. So I was sorry to miss…
The freedom of the heat
Those of us who have been struggling to endure the recent heat should turn to L.P. Hartley’s classic coming-of-age novel The…
I’m celebrating Glasgow’s Games as my forecast comes true at last
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
Not even Turing deserves a posthumous pardon
Ross Clark is a columnist I try to read because he is never trite. So I was sorry to miss…
The Spectator’s notes
Peter Clarke’s powerful report on the Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham schools is confirmation of the weakness of David Cameron…
The freedom of the heat
Those of us who have been struggling to endure the recent heat should turn to L.P. Hartley’s classic coming-of-age novel The…
The freedom of the heat
Those of us who have been struggling to endure the recent heat should turn to L.P. Hartley’s classic coming-of-age novel The…
If the Tories win the election, the Gove gamble will have paid off
‘There’s no shame in a cabinet to win the next election,’ declared an exasperated senior No. 10 figure on Tuesday…
The Spectator’s Notes
This must be the worst reshuffle since Mrs Thatcher demoted Geoffrey Howe in 1989. Unlike that one, its errors are…
The NHS ‘wellbeing’ monkey deserves to die
My young daughter has a furry beaver — lifelike in all but its eyes, which to me seem cold and dead.…
The ambulance service is in a state of emergency
Tom leant back against the bathroom wall, his face streaked with blood from the nosebleed, eyes half shut like an…
Fear and libertarianism in Las Vegas
Great God, Vegas is an awful place. I realised this the moment I arrived. My cab driver — who’d been…
Day by day, we should keep an eye on the trouble spots of European banking
‘1914: Day by Day’, the Radio 4 series by the historian Margaret MacMillan, is a gripping reminder that significant global…
Fear and libertarianism in Las Vegas
Great God, Vegas is an awful place. I realised this the moment I arrived. My cab driver — who’d been…
The ambulance service is in a state of emergency
Tom leant back against the bathroom wall, his face streaked with blood from the nosebleed, eyes half shut like an…
The Spectator’s Notes
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_17_July_2014_v4.mp3 This must be the worst reshuffle since Mrs Thatcher demoted Geoffrey Howe in 1989. Unlike that one, its…
In search of the Eurosceptic Nick Clegg
In recent weeks British government visitors to Berlin have been confronted with a persistent question: when will David Cameron make…
The Spectator’s Notes
Like almost everyone else, I have no idea whether the accusations about paedophilia in Parliament in the 1980s are true.…
There’s no fighting paedophile panic. But I’ll try
As essay titles go, ‘On losing an argument with Tim Loughton MP’ may fail to catch the imagination; but there…
When did Israel start to seem so bafflingly foreign?
Glaring, the ennui over Israel. The way we drag our eyes to the page, and sigh, and want to read…
Gold-fixing was never like match-fixing but its days must surely be numbered
In a season obsessed with sport and personal misbehaviour — separately or in combination — the word ‘fixing’ immediately brings…
When did Israel start to seem so bafflingly foreign?
Glaring, the ennui over Israel. The way we drag our eyes to the page, and sigh, and want to read…
