Columnists
The Spectator’s notes
Those of us who want a referendum on the European Union need to be cautious in our approach to the…
Neknominations – this is what the internet is for
Wouldn’t it be boring if everyone behaved much as you behave? If everyone expressed themselves similarly? Let a thousand flowers…
Back in time to a childhood discovery in Africa
About 55 years ago, when I was about ten, my younger brother Roger and I discovered a slave pit in…
Time for posh Scotland to break its silence
I took part in a documentary about Scottishness a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t bad at all. I mused,…
Sochi’s spotlight reveals the rottenness at the heart of the Russian body politic
Imagine if the BBC’s excitable commentators had been asked to cover the building of Sochi’s facilities, rather than the Winter…
Terminal news for bookies
Hands up: who knows what a FOBT is? It stands for fixed odds betting terminal. No? Well, you should, because…
Time for posh Scotland to break its silence
I took part in a documentary about Scottishness a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t bad at all. I mused,…
Back in time to a childhood discovery in Africa
About 55 years ago, when I was about ten, my younger brother Roger and I discovered a slave pit in…
Terminal news for bookies
Hands up: who knows what a FOBT is? It stands for fixed odds betting terminal. No? Well, you should, because…
Terminal news for bookies
Hands up: who knows what a FOBT is? It stands for fixed odds betting terminal. No? Well, you should, because…
Cameron’s watershed moment
It is all hands to the pump in Downing Street. The entire No. 10 operation from the Prime Minister down…
The Spectator’s Notes
Last week, David Cameron said that we have ‘seven months to save the most extraordinary country in history’. He meant…
We buy dogs to reflect ourselves. So who’s buying all these killer pitbulls?
I’ve called the doggie hospital three times now to find out how Jessie’s getting on. She’s just come round, at…
Why was my homeless friend deported?
I’ve heard some excellent things about our Home Secretary, Theresa May. People who work in her department say she’s bright…
The martyrdom of Mark Steyn
When I first read, many months ago, that the notorious US climate scientist Michael Mann was suing the notorious right-wing…
We optimists aren’t always wrong but I’m keeping watch for black swans
A reader likens me to Dr Pangloss, the quack philosopher in Voltaire’s Candide who insisted that ‘all is for the…
The martyrdom of Mark Steyn
When I first read, many months ago, that the notorious US climate scientist Michael Mann was suing the notorious right-wing…
Why was my homeless friend deported?
I’ve heard some excellent things about our Home Secretary, Theresa May. People who work in her department say she’s bright…
He’s reforming Labour. But can Ed change the country too?
Ed Miliband has his legacy. Or, at least, what he hopes will be the first part of it. He has…
The Spectator’s Notes
The accusation that the Tories have been installing their people in public appointments should evoke only a hollow laugh. They…
Won’t some other quango come to the rescue of poor Sally Morgan?
Can someone please explain to me why the BBC newsreaders were not wearing black armbands last weekend when reporting the…
Warning: ‘no’ won’t be Scotland’s final answer
From a kind of torpor about this year’s Scottish referendum, Lord Lang of Monkton has roused me. You may remember…
If Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t happy, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Celebrity deaths have no decorum. From Elvis on his toilet to Whitney face down in her bathtub, their last moments…
A man who creates 1,000 rewarding jobs out of a £1 bet deserves to win a fortune
At a charity lunch in Manchester, I meet a cheerful ‘engagement manager’ from AO.com, formerly Appliances Online, a fast-growing internet…
If Philip Seymour Hoffman wasn’t happy, what hope is there for the rest of us?
Celebrity deaths have no decorum. From Elvis on his toilet to Whitney face down in her bathtub, their last moments…
