The Spectator’s Notes
Justin Trudeau is far more pointless than Donald Trump
‘Trudeau or Trump?’ was a choice which Theresa May, with unusually ready wit, evaded in Parliament on Monday. No doubt…
This period of British history is like the first months of the second world war
A distinguished retired EU diplomat from a small EU member state sends me a thoughtful letter. He complains that Brexit…
The EU should go the way of the British Empire
To understand how the European Union works, and how it doesn’t, it helps to think of it as an empire.…
Michael Gove’s stove ban is a direct attack on country life
Michael Gove wants to punish those who use wood-burning stoves and possibly even open fires. It would be hard to…
The royals who do best are those who restrain their personalities
The last time we had a royal wedding of comparable dynastic importance (i.e. only a bit important), Prince Andrew married…
The Iran deal is a western concession not matched by change on the other side
The point behind the argument about the Iran nuclear deal goes beyond precise nuclear facts. It is like the row…
Egalité! Liberté! Sexualité! The trivial demands behind the 1968 French ‘revolution’
This ‘Windrush’ story comes from a friend called Michael McKay, a British broadcaster based in Geneva. His father, Jeff, a…
Why is the National Trust trying to downplay its established purpose?
Hilary McGrady, the new director-general of the National Trust, sent me (and no doubt other journalists) a nice email hoping…
What the Windrush scandal reveals about Theresa May
Everyone speaks about the Windrush. The boat was actually called the Empire Windrush. The full name reveals what the story…
The Good Friday Agreement is not a peace but a truce
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, is not a peace, but a truce. This does…
Corbyn, anti-Semitism and the righteous vanity of Tony Benn
What is it, psychologically, that makes it so hard for Jeremy Corbyn to recognise that some of his supporters are…
At last, Labour’s anti-Semitism has caught up with Corbyn
At last Jeremy Corbyn is being made to pay a price for Labour’s anti-Semitism under his leadership. It has now, for…
It is the Europhiles who are the head-bangers now
For almost as long as I can remember, Eurosceptic Tory MPs have been defined by the media as ‘head-bangers’. As…
Let’s find the most idiotic Brexit headlines
Gimson’s Prime Ministers, out this week, is a crisp and stylish account of every one of them. I happened to…
The truth about Max Mosley and that leaflet
Almost eight million people have now watched Cathy Newman’s Channel 4 News interview with Jordan Peterson. This figure must be…
Tories who side with Labour on the customs union will be rebelling over a fantasy
Jeremy Corbyn wants Britain to ‘stay in a customs union’, according to the BBC. The phrase does not make sense.…
This Traveller funeral was the most emotional send-off I’ve ever been to
Bev died, aged 61. She was the wife of ‘Foxy’ John, kennel huntsman of our local hunt. Bev was the…
Oxfam is the Harvey Weinstein of aid
The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth is headquartered in London, in the splendour of Marlborough House. The…
Women’s suffrage was just part of a huge shift in the idea of who should vote
A reader writes: ‘In my last letter, I called you a numbskull. However I should have qualified this with “sometimes you…
Conservatives gave women the vote – but you won’t be reminded of this
A hundred years ago on Tuesday, King George V assented to the Representation of the People Act. Women got the…
The 300-year-old poem that perfectly sums up our drifting government
‘Dignity lost half its value yesterday’ began a news story in Saturday’s Daily Telegraph. As I read on, it turned…
Why I won’t see The Darkest Hour
The BBC programme The Coronation, on Sunday evening, was extremely interesting, principally, of course, because of the Queen’s appearance on…
Remembering Gavin Stamp, former architecture writer of The Spectator
Gavin Stamp, who died just before the year’s end, will be mourned by many Spectator readers. For years, particularly in…
Are we morally better people than our ancestors?
The doctrine of progress implies that things get better. This is clearly true in terms of scientific knowledge, though not…
The DUP is quite likely to cave in over ‘regulatory alignment’. Here’s why they should not
I’m afraid I have a deep faith in the Democratic Unionist Party’s capacity to cede an issue of principle in…
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