Columnists
This lockdown is much riskier
Keir Starmer has his first attack line of the next general election campaign. He will say that England’s second lockdown…
There is no Santa Claus, Sir Patrick
It seems, then, that this latest lockdown has been instigated simply to protect two very questionable institutions — the National…
America sails into the unknown
Washington, DC On election day in the capital there is no thrill in the air, but there is a sound:…
Why I’m ducking the Rashford debate
Moments arrive when it becomes clear you’re losing the zeitgeist. Whatever might be the spirit of the era, you don’t…
The Spectator’s Notes
As time passes, there is — blessedly — ever less need to pay attention to ‘untold’ stories about Diana, Princess…
Make America boring again
I just spent £2.50 in postage to bring about one of the last things I want. Specifically, the next-to-last thing…
What’s the point of trying to break up ‘big tech’?
The ‘antitrust’ law suit launched by US authorities against Google has been reported as a potential turning point in the…
The morality of free school meals
The main problem with the government giving in over free school meals during the holidays — other than that it…
What will post-pandemic politics look like?
A few days ago, I came across a group of Tory MPs in a House of Commons corridor looking rather…
Who’d want the job of vaccinating the nation?
Is that a light at the end of the tunnel — or a second lockdown thundering unstoppably towards us? News…
The Hay festival’s uneasy dance with the UAE
The Hay Festival, memorably described by Bill Clinton as ‘the Woodstock of the mind’, has, over the past couple of…
A crazy game of chicken
There’s a reason why No. 10 is always so inclined to ratchet up the tension in any given scenario. Downing…
The Spectator’s Notes
You have to give it to Donald Trump: he never stops trying. In a letter dated 25 September, he wrote…
Does anyone recognise David Hare’s Britain?
Having not watched television for nine months and already growing bored of the 1,000-piece jigsaw of General Alfredo Stroessner (part…
My week with the baying mob
Portland, Oregon In the days when you could still watch a nature documentary without feeling as if you were sitting…
What would negative rates mean for personal savers?
The Bank of England has told commercial banks to prepare for the possibility of negative interest rates. This last hypothetical…
There are no good choices for Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson used to be defined by his commitment to having his cake and eating it. But now he isn’t…
Covid has killed off our civil liberties
It started with smoking. The 1960s and 1970s saw little popular objection to legislation restricting advertisements by private companies purveying…
The Spectator’s Notes
In this column (26 September), I pointed out that the National Trust’s new ‘Gazetteer’ of its 93 properties linked with…
Get yourself to Sweden – while you still can
An idea gains ground that we shouldn’t go abroad any more: that the very act of travelling without urgent reason…
What I got wrong about lockdown
The news that residents of Liverpool are not allowed to visit any other cities in the UK is a hammer…
Veeps shall inherit the earth
In Pence and Harris, we are looking at the future of the Republican Party
The transatlantic mask divide
Should we wear our masks? The question has been on my mind as I have been battered that way and…
The Blackburn brothers who are bringing Asda home
What a triumph of entrepreneurial empire-building — if that’s still an acceptable phrase — is the £6.8 billion acquisition of…
My pick for BBC chairman
There are two striking things about the new book, 100 Great Black Britons, which was compiled to celebrate the achievements…
