The Spectator’s Notes
Starmer’s double standards
Sir Keir Starmer’s readiness to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Ukraine seems to be qualified by his fear of…
Starmer’s specs appeal
No doubt Lord Alli should not have been given a 10 Downing Street pass, but that is true of most…
Who will stand up for France’s aristocrats?
When it was recently announced that 40,000 people, the great majority civilians, have been killed in the Gaza conflict, I…
Joe Biden was never quite all there
As President Biden sank more deeply into the mire this month, kind friends kept urging me to write in his…
In praise of Pat McFadden
There is a small section of the Labour party which I greatly admire – those on the party’s right, often…
What the Tories got wrong on housing
Sir Keir Starmer may be our first atheist prime minister, but his manner in parliament resembles that of what, in…
I will miss my vote
I feel as if I first took part in a general election even before I was born. My father was…
The problem with flexible working
Lots and lots and lots of fuss about betting on the general election. Less attention is paid to the biggest…
Ukraine’s greatest, yet least publicised success
Odessa Our conference here is about Black Sea security, where I am the guest of UK Friends of Ukraine. Its…
What tax rises are Labour planning?
The Tory manifesto is ‘a clear plan’ promising ‘bold action’. Rishi Sunak uses the word ‘bold’ three times in two…
Sunak seemed the challenger; Starmer the establishment figure
I watched Tuesday night’s leaders’ election debate with fellow guests at a party to launch Conservative Revolution, a book to…
Could Michael Gove support Labour?
Now that Sir Keir Starmer has reaffirmed he is a socialist, interviewers are asking other leading Labour figures if they…
Cyclists are the Jeremy Corbyns of the road
Three years ago next month, the journalist Andy Webb put in a Freedom of Information request to the BBC. He…
What makes MPs special
On Monday, the House of Commons passed, by one vote, a motion to allow MPs to be suspended from parliament…
The science behind Olivia Colman’s left-wing face
The new hunting year formally began last week. Should I resubscribe? Politically, the outlook is bleak. In February, Steve Reed,…
Europe has no answer to its immigration problem
Pulling off the rhetorical trick that Brexit would undermine the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement, Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator,…
A helpful suggestion for Taylor Swift’s boyfriends
Sir Mark Rowley should not resign. We must try to break our habit of getting rid of each Metropolitan Police…
My letter from Chris Packham
I do not know Chris Packham, the BBC nature broadcaster, personally, but he wrote me a letter last month, enclosing…
Why do MPs send nude pictures of themselves?
Adam Dyster has gone to work for the shadow Defra secretary Steve Reed. I admit this is not an appointment…
The London Library should leave us in peace
Reading only slightly between the lines of US foreign policy on Israel/Gaza, I detect that its most urgent aim is…
