Columnists
At least BP and Shell tried to teach Russia true capitalism
BP will offload the 20 per cent stake in Rosneft, the Kremlin-controlled energy giant, that is the residue of 25…
Women-only train carriages help no one
Sooner or later, somewhere in the UK, we’ll have trains with women-only coaches. It’s an idea which keeps rolling around,…
Trudeau’s tyranny
Early in the corona era the historian David Starkey gave some thoughts on Covid. ‘We’ve got a Chinese virus,’ he…
Pipeline politics: what happens if Putin cuts off Europe’s gas?
The price of Brent Crude oil was hovering at $100 a barrel as Germany halted approval of the controversial Nord…
All’s not well that ends not well
My most important new year’s resolution was cast aside this week. I had vowed that in 2022 I would eschew…
The Spectator’s Notes
We are always cautioned against comparing a modern political event with those that led up to the second world war.…
The true cost of reining in Russia
No British soldiers will go to fight in Ukraine. The UK’s military involvement will be limited to weapons shipments and…
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…
