Columnists
The Spectator’s Notes
When Sir Tony Brenton writes a letter to the Times, as he frequently does, it always says at the bottom…
Boris’s surprising saviour
Boris Johnson has a lot of people to thank for his survival in 10 Downing Street, but Keir Starmer should…
Work is no place for your ‘whole self’
One of the few things I have learned in this life is that Dante Alighieri was wrong. In the Inferno…
What Russia really wants
You have the advantage over me. It may be that you are reading this now in your makeshift fallout shelter,…
Why should we save Putin from himself?
‘Never interrupt your enemy,’ said Napoleon, ‘when he is making a mistake.’ A Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine would…
Bad news, Governor: the wage-rise spiral is already raging
I’ve had the opportunity recently to take part in wage-rise discussions for several small entities in which I’m involved. The…
Money is in trouble
OK, I finally watched Netflix’s Don’t Look Up. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it — especially before its effective subtitle for us…
It couldn’t happen here – or could it?
Almost everyone here that I’ve spoken to about it assumes that the opioid crisis in the United States won’t ever…
In defence of bad jokes
I was once at a terrific Shabbat dinner where late in the evening one of the other guests suddenly said:…
The battle for the Tory party’s soul
When news broke over the weekend that former minister Nick Gibb had become the 14th Tory MP to publicly call…
Nicola Sturgeon’s last laugh
I was delighted to discover that the University of Bristol has been advising students how to address those who identify…
Guess who set the most dangerous precedent for windfall taxes?
Annual profits of £9.5 billion at BP this week followed a £20 billion jackpot at Shell last week, thanks to…
The Spectator’s Notes
In a lecture I recently gave to mark the approaching 40th anniversary of the Falklands War, one of the questions…
Crisis? What crisis?
When a political party is hit by a crisis, the tendency these days is for both the politicians and their…
Rishi has a horrible task ahead
Whether Rishi Sunak is prime minister or still chancellor this spring, fate is handing him a poisoned chalice. Looking back,…
Oh ambassador, you’re spoiling us
I know the following sentence is going to get me into trouble. Still, there are times when you wonder whether…
Biden’s obnoxious promise
In lauding Joe Biden’s promise to fill the upcoming vacancy on the US Supreme Court with a black woman, last…
Boris’s existential drift
Tory MPs only have one topic of conversation: the fate of Boris Johnson. They huddle together in offices in Portcullis…
The Spectator’s Notes
In answers to questions following his statement in the Commons on Monday, Boris Johnson let drop an interesting statistic. He…
Two reasons not to let Sir Tony rest on his Garter laurels
I’m picturing Sir Tony Blair enjoying a fitting of his Garter robes after watching Boris Johnson stagger through PMQs. ‘I’m…
Crypto crash explained: what goes up must come down
‘Market turmoil’ looks set as the theme of the week, so let’s take a close look at a trading arena…
Get out of my way, Lycra warriors
I know that all must have prizes in the Victimisation Olympics these days, but when I heard a bicycle-rider on…
The blame games are about to begin
‘The main job of a government is to ensure that the economics don’t go wrong.’ So argued an economist friend…
The freedom to be wrong
I must offer my support to Luke Main and Dr Joanna Brunker, who as a consequence of their fervent Christian…
The Spectator’s Notes
Justin Webb is normally one of the least self-righteous BBC presenters, but he was out-Maitlising rivals on the Today programme…
