Columnists
How the MPs’ expenses scandal proves the wisdom of Alain de Botton
Whenever I’m tempted to pretend to be nicer so that fewer people hate me, I remember my old friend Alain…
Unravelling the mysteries of the printed heart
I have seen the future — your future if you’re rich enough or brave enough to embrace it — and…
Transparency is the Tories’ greatest legacy to the NHS
Pinned to the wall of Jeremy Hunt’s office in the Department of Health is an A1 piece of paper detailing…
The Spectator’s Notes
Now that the economic statistics are looking better, people are beginning to rediscover the once-fashionable thought that George Osborne is…
If Lord Rennard looked more like Orlando Bloom, none of this would have happened
When I was promoted to being editor of a programme at the BBC, back in the late 1990s, my line…
Is a new art form being born on Woman’s Hour?
In a comic-strip cartoon, beads of water apparently radiating outward from the head of one of the characters indicate embarrassment.…
How being assaulted nearly put me on trial
Way back in the late 1990s, I spent a lot of time in court. What happened, see, was that in…
The hapless stationmaster watches France’s future prosperity depart
I’ve always respected stationmasters, but that sentiment is not universally shared. A distinguished friend of mine across the Channel described…
How being assaulted nearly put me on trial
Way back in the late 1990s, I spent a lot of time in court. What happened, see, was that in…
Is a new art form being born on Woman’s Hour?
In a comic-strip cartoon, beads of water apparently radiating outward from the head of one of the characters indicate embarrassment.…
Cameron’s mission for 2014: stay out of third place
European elections are normally an afterthought in British politics. As even David Cameron admits, most of us struggle to remember…
The Spectator’s Notes
When I interviewed Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former president of France, for my biography of Margaret Thatcher, I asked him…
What would Dawkins and de Botton do?
Two years ago this week the philosopher Alain de Botton unveiled his proposals for a giant gilded tower in central…
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…
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,…
When scaremongering stops being funny
My grandmother, Nanny Nancy, is 99 and going strong. But it can’t be denied that while she’s all there mentally,…
If a bank looks dull, it probably isn’t: so what’s new at Standard Chartered?
The cautionary tale of the Co-operative Bank, its black hole and its naughty chairman has recently taught us that if…
When scaremongering stops being funny
My grandmother, Nanny Nancy, is 99 and going strong. But it can’t be denied that while she’s all there mentally,…
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,…
