Columnists

What Scott Bessent’s appointment means for Trump 2.0

30 November 2024 9:00 am

How rare it is to be given a second chance. That’s what the American people have handed Donald Trump. His…

How to get on the housing ladder

30 November 2024 9:00 am

It is always interesting to watch the debates that roil a nation. So far as I can see, the current…

Why Reform has Wales in its sights

30 November 2024 9:00 am

A spectre is haunting Wales. Fresh from Reform’s election victories in Westminster, Nigel Farage is turning his attention westwards, to…

Am I alone in thinking?

23 November 2024 9:00 am

‘Et remarquant que cette vérité, je pense, donc je suis, était si ferme et si assurée, que toutes les plus…

What does the City really think of the Chancellor?

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Regular invitations to Mansion House banquets petered out after I asked a shifty-looking waiter for a glass of champagne and…

Farmers aren’t miners

23 November 2024 9:00 am

A parallel is being drawn between the Tories and the miners in the 1980s and Labour and the farmers today.…

Musical chairs at Mar-a-Lago

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Welcome to the United States of Disruption. From his ‘Winter White House’ in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, Donald Trump has been busy…

Labour’s Chinese takeaway

23 November 2024 9:00 am

I was thrilled to learn that our government intends to enjoy an ‘open’ relationship with China – one of my…

The true meaning of free speech

23 November 2024 9:00 am

Right after Donald Trump’s landslide, I opined on YouTube that this turning point could sound the death knell for Woke…

Britain’s failing statecraft

23 November 2024 9:00 am

I mentioned some weeks ago that one of the great points of interest – not to say enjoyment – in…

Justin Welby shouldn’t have resigned

16 November 2024 9:00 am

There is no proper reason for the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. No iniquity was proved against…

Assisted dying is becoming Starmer’s mess

16 November 2024 9:00 am

In the months before the general election, the Labour party had an internal debate about starting a ‘national conversation’ on…

Europe’s blind spot over anti-Semitism

16 November 2024 9:00 am

You would think that we Europeans might have learned a thing or two about anti-Semitism over the past century or…

Why Trump changed his tune on crypto

16 November 2024 9:00 am

This column comes to you from Atlanta, Georgia, where but for one giant ‘Trump Stands Up For Families’ billboard and…

How to process your Trump trauma (with orange soup)

16 November 2024 9:00 am

It’s amazing how many people have responded to what they think of as the shattering catastrophe of Donald Trump’s victory…

The problem with Dawn Butler

9 November 2024 9:00 am

We hear a lot about white supremacy these days. But for some reason we rarely hear about black supremacy. I…

Does being right-wing make you violent?

9 November 2024 9:00 am

I notice that the police are not treating the killings of those children in Southport as a terrorist attack. While…

Inside Kemi Badenoch’s first shadow cabinet

9 November 2024 9:00 am

At her first shadow cabinet as Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch walked into the room and declared that there were ‘still…

The fascinating life of Sir Henry Keswick

9 November 2024 9:00 am

Sir Henry Keswick died on Tuesday, aged 86. Under his proprietorship, from 1975 to 1981, The Spectator recovered, and began…

The real test for the republic

9 November 2024 9:00 am

It’s always intimidating to write for a readership more clued up than you are. I file this on the very…

In defence of the liberal elite

9 November 2024 9:00 am

You can hear it already. Rising from the tents of the dejected Democrat camp comes the whimper of self-reproach. It’s…

Is No. 10 coming for game shooting next?

9 November 2024 9:00 am

I confess I was lunching at L’Escargot in Greek Street as Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget. My excuse was that…

The reparations racket

2 November 2024 9:00 am

I have been trying to interest MPs of all parties in joining my call to persuade Barbados to say ‘thank…

The strange silence around the Southport attacks

2 November 2024 9:00 am

There are certain rules in British public life that are worth noting. Such as this one: if someone is killed…

Has the assisted dying lobby considered the guillotine?

2 November 2024 9:00 am

My young friend Dr Cajetan Skowkronski has helped me resolve a question that has been worrying me. Why do supporters…