Columnists
Father Paolo’s personal peace process
As Syria’s second peace conference looms, and we prepare ourselves for a lot of hot air drifting over from Geneva,…
By the book – The perils of snooping
The continuing drip-feed of stories about governments and friendly-seeming internet giants sifting through our data has left some citizens feeling…
By the book – The perils of snooping
The continuing drip-feed of stories about governments and friendly-seeming internet giants sifting through our data has left some citizens feeling…
Labour’s immigration nightmares
Victor Spirescu came to Britain last week looking for work washing cars, but seems to have landed himself with a…
The Spectator’s Notes
Who owns Scotland? The people who most commonly ask this question believe that the land has been wrested from ordinary…
Once more, the spectre of Enoch Powell is raised to stop debate about immigration
One of the genuine seasonal pleasures to be enjoyed as 2013 slipped around the U-bend was Enoch Powell making his…
It’s gay men who contribute most to society
A gay friend phones over the New Year break. A lovely chap (let us call him Richard) and long retired,…
The only way to end the war on drugs is to stop fighting it
It’s surprisingly boring, legalising weed. In Colorado, where recreational doobie has been utterly without censure for, ooh, about a week…
Brand loyalty, or lack of it: why I’d rather run Marks & Spencer than Tesco
This first working week of January is apparently the time when we’re most likely to think about a change of…
The only way to end the war on drugs is to stop fighting it
It’s surprisingly boring, legalising weed. In Colorado, where recreational doobie has been utterly without censure for, ooh, about a week…
It’s gay men who contribute most to society
A gay friend phones over the New Year break. A lovely chap (let us call him Richard) and long retired,…
The Lib Dems’ fight to keep facing both ways
This will be the coalition’s last full year, and it is remarkable how few people are talking about how it…
Try my resolution for 2014: ignore the internet
At last, it has been scientifically proved that Jesus Christ is better than Muhammad. We’d always known that our lad…
Those bitcoin weirdos might just be right
Here’s a thought to kindle a lovely warm glow of smugness and schadenfreude as we enter a new year: you…
Why isn’t eating meat as bad as bestiality?
So what I’ve found myself wondering over the festive period, again and again, is whether it would ever be OK…
Making the best of an imperfect world: a vision of the future from my hospital bed
I blamed the pheasant casserole, but I did it an injustice. Its only contribution to the drama behind my disappearance…
Why isn’t eating meat as bad as bestiality?
So what I’ve found myself wondering over the festive period, again and again, is whether it would ever be OK…
Those bitcoin weirdos might just be right
Here’s a thought to kindle a lovely warm glow of smugness and schadenfreude as we enter a new year: you…
The Spectator’s Notes
In Dublin, where I am writing this column, people are watching the Scottish referendum campaign more closely than in London.…
If no one makes the case for the Union, how can we win?
Next year will decide the fate of the United Kingdom. The Scottish independence referendum on the 18th of September could…
The strange disappearance of Gordon Brown
It may come as a grave surprise to you that, when it was offered as a prize in a charity…
If you love gold, shouldn’t you love the euro too?
Bitcoins have been in the news, after a story about an unfortunate fellow who jettisoned his computer’s hard drive that…
Eat, drink, snort and be merry
‘Is anyone here even remotely shocked that Nigella Lawson has done cocaine?’ I asked. Everyone shook their heads. Well of…
Why did I agree to appear on University Challenge?
The worst thing about going on University Challenge, I now know, is when you interrupt a question and get the…
The ghosts of crises past – and the gambler’s strategy for crises to come
Top of my Christmas reading pile is Saving the City by Richard Roberts, a new account of the largely forgotten…
