Columnists

The Brexit reshuffle

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

One of the Tories’ tactical successes has been to push Brexit down the news agenda. But even if it no…

The blindness of cultural Marxism

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

Words we are not allowed to use any more now include ‘cultural Marxism’. Suella Braverman, now the Attorney General, used…

How low can the BBC go?

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

Last weekend’s papers claimed that the government desires a ‘massively pruned back’ BBC. Former Conservative cabinet minister Damian Green and…

How I became an easy police target

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

Most Britons assume at the outset that any misfortune involving a cyclist is the cyclist’s fault. After all, many a…

Time for new leadership at Barclays and HSBC – and a new name at RBS

21 February 2020 10:00 pm

After a dull interlude, the big banks in their annual results season look a bit more interesting again. First to…

The Spectator’s Notes

15 February 2020 9:00 am

How depressed should one be about the HS2 go-ahead? The cost is stupefying. The offering to the north — considered…

Boris and the ticking clocks

15 February 2020 9:00 am

‘The clock is ticking.’ It is surely only a matter of time before Michel Barnier returns to his notorious catchphrase…

Citizenship is a privilege, not a right

15 February 2020 9:00 am

A couple of people in the Hornsey and Wood Green Labour party have come up with a fascinating suggestion —…

Can Bernie go the distance?

15 February 2020 9:00 am

 Manchester, New Hampshire Democrats almost all agree that Donald Trump is ruining America and must be removed from the White…

Why I’ll never become an MP

15 February 2020 9:00 am

Every now and then someone asks me if I have ever thought of becoming an MP. My response tends to…

Never mind the numbers – the gender battle has barely begun

15 February 2020 9:00 am

It’s the way the world’s going, but still it looks quite impressive that the number of women directors of FTSE100…

The Spectator’s Notes

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

Regardless of one’s views on climate change, one should welcome the fact that Boris Johnson removed Claire Perry O’Neill from…

Terror is the toughest issue facing the Tories

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

A prisoner is released early and just days later attacks people. It then emerges that he was known to still…

The insanity of terrorism

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

Sudesh Amman was singularly unsuccessful in his wish to kill kafirs, as he put it, and thereby find himself surrounded…

Does Evil really exist?

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

A week of remembrance marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz last month had me thinking hard about…

You can’t own stories

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

Readers of The Spectator who keep up with the latest literary hissy fits could have predicted (perhaps with a groan)…

From Enron to Airbus, can justice ever keep pace with corporate sin?

7 February 2020 10:00 pm

So farewell Bernie Ebbers, former chief executive of WorldCom, the long–distance phone operator that became America’s biggest-ever bankruptcy case in…

The Spectator’s Notes

1 February 2020 9:00 am

It was with regret that I read that Albert, retired King of the Belgians, has finally had to admit, following…

What will the Tories fight about now?

1 February 2020 9:00 am

Now that Britain is out of the European Union, it will be very hard to go back in. In the…

Why I’m standing by an old enemy

1 February 2020 9:00 am

Most people won’t have heard of Selina Todd. The only reason I had was because some years ago the BBC…

We’re all the worse for drink

1 February 2020 9:00 am

I’m not one of these teetotallers who frowns on people who imbibe, like an angsty ex-smoker who petulantly swats away…

How to be a man

1 February 2020 9:00 am

  The river of death has brimmed his banks And England’s far and Honour’s a name But the voice of…

The most sinister thing about Huawei may be how clean it is

1 February 2020 9:00 am

I first wrote about the risks and rumours around Huawei — and made bad jokes about its name — in…

The Spectator’s Notes

24 January 2020 10:00 pm

Despite huge public pressure, I shall not be applying to be director-general of the BBC. It was kind of Tony…

Labour must change if it is to win

24 January 2020 10:00 pm

In the past 40 years, only two leaders of the opposition have gone on to become prime minister: Tony Blair…