Columnists
My advice to Gareth Southgate
This is a difficult issue to raise on the eve of a major football tournament, but as a progressive individual…
Our great blanket of doubt
Now that the government has kindly allowed us to go out again, I wonder if anyone has discovered the same…
I miss my messy, unpredictable life
If you ask people what they’ve missed out on since the pandemic, they’ll probably lament their cancelled plans. Weddings postponed,…
Give the people what they think they want
I have a mean streak. Perhaps my cruellest urge is to give people what they claim to want. When political…
The new breed of retail investors look like ducks ready for stuffing
‘Feed the ducks when they’re quacking’ sounds like advice from a foie gras farmer — but let’s leave gastronomy till…
Big Tech is turning into Big Brother
The Big Tech social media giants are having to rethink their policy of censoring anybody who suggests that Covid originated…
The struggle to contain China
The theory that the pandemic began with a leak from a research laboratory in Wuhan is rapidly gaining currency. Since…
What the Prime Misfit got right
Should the name of Dominic Cummings ever make it into the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, there’s one Cummings phrase…
Bay Area Woman needs to man up
A few weeks ago, more than 2,000 employees of Apple Inc. signed a petition that led to the sacking of…
Tales of the mild West
A terrible thing, to be torn. Last Sunday was International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, a very painful condition affecting…
The Dom bomb
The more anticipated a parliamentary appearance, the less it tends to live up to its billing. But Dominic Cummings’s testimony…
How harpsichords became racist
It’s a dangerous thing when you import the worst aspects of another culture. And an even worse thing when you…
Who cares if rail is public or private? Just make the trains run on time
The long-awaited review of the railways by former British Airways executive Keith Williams chugged past the platform of public debate…
The Spectator’s Notes
It is poetically fitting that the resignation of the chairman of the National Trust, Tim Parker, was announced on the…
My fears about an Irish border poll
Last week, Edwin Poots was elected leader of the DUP. You will have read all about him. I have. You…
Will the 21 June easing go ahead?
The roadmap out of lockdown is the signature document of Boris Johnson’s new team in No. 10. It’s intended to…
The Spectator’s Notes
We are being urged — and, in some cases, paid — by the government to plant more trees. Actually, this…
It’s time to face the truth about masks
However surreal and dystopian the pandemic landscape seemed at first, no enduring vista feels ‘surreal’ and ‘dystopian’ indefinitely. Citizenries uniformly…
Clinging to optimism as revival collides with fear
The happiest thing that happens in May is the coming into leaf of my long beech hedge. The shift from…
The Spectator’s Notes
This week, the Church of England issued its document ‘Contested Heritage in Cathedrals and Churches’. It is guidance for what…
The writing’s on the wall
Towards the end of April, my mum sent me a letter. She doesn’t write as a rule — we speak…
Top pay restraint may persist over here – but not in the US
‘Consider a temporary cut in executive salaries’ was the Confederation of British Industry’s advice to members at the start of…
Why I spoilt my ballot paper
The headline ‘Government to allow people to hug’ one might have expected to hear on early evening news bulletins in…
Keir Starmer isn’t Labour’s biggest problem
Keir Starmer has turned a drama into a crisis. The local elections were always going to be difficult for Labour.…
The wrath of Nicola Sturgeon
I can’t seem to find the Oracle of Delphi’s complete works. The libraries remain shut and when I go to…
