Columnists
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…
The inflation scare is overdone but watch out for the price spike
‘We are seeing very substantial inflation,’ the great investor Warren Buffett told shareholders in his master company Berkshire Hathaway at…
Who regulates the regulators?
This isn’t about David Cameron and Greensillgate; it isn’t about Boris Johnson and wallpapergate or Jennifer-Arcurigate. It isn’t about Westferrygate…
What’s next for the Union?
The Union faces two simultaneous challenges in Northern Ireland and Scotland that both look set to worsen in the coming…
Britain’s mental health problem
Experts tell us that we are facing a mental health ‘time bomb’ in the UK, partly as a consequence of…
The Spectator’s Notes
There should be more ‘religious literacy’. So says the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religion in the Media, chaired by Yasmin…
The true cost of make-believe money
I like Bill Maher. He’s a rare practising left-wing comic who’s actually funny. But last week, his routine on cryptocurrency…
My truth
I heard them rowing again this morning, look you. I had just completed my first dump of the day in…
A new cottage industry
Cottagecore, not to be confused with cottaging, is an aspirational lifestyle trend. The word is relatively new —although you’ll find…
Welcome to the Office of the First Girlfriend
One of the least attractive aspects of American politics is epitomised in the ‘Office of the First Lady’. The office…
Who’s really to blame for the Post Office scandal?
The alleged frauds for which the Post Office prosecuted no fewer than 736 of its sub-postmasters has turned out in…
The Spectator’s Notes
Like almost everyone else writing on the subject, I have no idea whether Boris Johnson told colleagues in October that…
Crypto may go mainstream but it’s still a virtual Las Vegas
What should we make of the valuation of Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange listed on Nasdaq last week at $80 billion…
Putin’s on manoeuvres – are we ready?
‘What follows plague?’ I asked a medieval historian at the start of the pandemic. ‘War,’ he replied. In recent days,…
How to get a police record
I couldn’t quite believe it when first I read the newspaper subscriber’s letter. Columnists for the Times and Spectator do…
Reparations for slavery don’t add up
Last week, a bill cleared the US House Judiciary Committee that would establish a 13-person commission to consider federal reparations…
