The Spectator’s Notes
Labour thinks that its trump card is Trump
On Wednesday morning, I was hoisted into the air of Whitehall on a cherry-picker. A century ago the proto-Cenotaph appeared…
The Tories are Boris Johnson’s Conservatives now
How much does Boris Johnson’s move to an early election resemble Mrs May’s disastrous one in 2017? In two important…
Nigel Farage had better hurry up and settle for a peerage
Last week, an angry Telegraph reader asked me why I had got through a whole column on Brexit without mentioning…
Donald Trump is key to Boris Johnson’s survival
There are so many problems confronting our polity this week that it is almost impossible to write about any of…
We selfish gits must wear the name with pride
I walked down Villiers Street to Embankment Tube station. In front of me were two Extinction Rebels, a mother and…
If Boris snogged Nick Robinson, would he be forgiven?
Manchester It could be caused by desperation, but this Tory conference is very jolly. At last there is something to…
The rule of law has become the rule of lawyers
Is that enormous silver spider that Lady Hale wore her badge of office? If so, it is appropriate. The Supreme…
Why didn’t Cameron realise the ‘strength of feeling’ about Brexit?
In his memoirs, David Cameron admits that he ‘did not fully appreciate the strength of feeling’ in favour of Brexit,…
There’s nothing wrong with Jacob Rees-Mogg lying down in the Commons
If you are a journalist covering politics this year, every moment is a bad moment to take a holiday. I…
The Amazon fires are as much a political story as an environmental one
We do not yet know which 100 citizens will make it to the ‘Citizens’ Assembly’ to be chaired by the…
The royals should embody virtue – not signal it
ONE should not be censorious if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly in private jets to their holidays, though…
Give Hong Kongers real security: a British passport
We seem to be building up to a second Tiananmen Square, 30 years after the first. This time the venue…
Were the US shootings racially motivated?
Who wrote ‘Our lifestyle is destroying the environment of our country … creating a massive burden for future generations. Corporations…
What would you save, Marmite or the planet?
In his very long letter to Jeremy Corbyn about why, after all, he will stay out of the Labour party…
The conviction of ‘Nick’ shows the evil behind McCarthyism
‘No great surprise’ headlined the BBC television news on Tuesday lunchtime. The BBC does not admit it now, but it…
What would Jane Austen say about Debrett’s going digital?
Seventy-five years ago on Saturday, the July plot failed. Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg placed a bomb in a briefcase…
Sir Kim Darroch failed to recognise Trump’s communicative genius
When I last talked to Sir Kim Darroch, he was a slim young private secretary, so it was a long…
Thankfully, the world is waking up to the threat of China
The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, is offering to meet Jeremy Corbyn about the Times story last week which reported…
Boris’s big mistake? Agreeing to the BBC debate
Boris and his team made a mistake by agreeing to take part in Tuesday’s BBC leadership debate. In such decisions,…
The silliness of ‘serious’ leaders
You would think it would be unarguable that ‘Serious times demand a serious leader’. This, with small verbal variations, is…
My profoundly impractical, unquenchably generous, thoroughly benevolent father
My father Richard, who died last month aged 88, was a profoundly impractical man. He could not drive a car,…
The strangeness of Jeremy Hunt’s leadership campaign
Jeremy Hunt’s approach is very odd. It is the first time I remember an aspirant for the top job saying:…
If you’re going to leave Notre Dame in ruins, why not set fire to Oxford University?
Almost everyone agrees it is a pity that so few pupils from ‘disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds’ get into Oxford. But no…
What would happen if the Gospels were judged in a history contest?
This week, the Wolfson History Prize announced its shortlist. It is always worth drawing attention to, precisely because it is…
Is it Islamophobic to disagree with Baroness Warsi?
In his famous speech to both Houses of Parliament in March 1960, General De Gaulle praised Britain: ‘Although, since 1940,…
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