The Spectator’s Notes

If May’s deal falls, there may be enough Labour MPs to gain a majority for ‘Norway plus’

8 December 2018 9:00 am

Inside the Dominic Grieve amendment carried on Tuesday is the embryo of a new political party. Any parliamentary majority for what…

Britain is making the same mistake it always does in negotiations with Europe

1 December 2018 9:00 am

Theresa May, William Hague and others say that the EU will not want to trap Britain in the backstop because…

Will the Daily Mail’s volte-face on Brexit make the slightest difference?

24 November 2018 9:00 am

It will be interesting to see whether the about-face of the Daily Mail on Brexit makes the slightest difference to…

If Corbyn’s PM, expect him to wear a white poppy and Frida Kahlo T-shirt

17 November 2018 9:00 am

‘It’s time for Bond — Basildon Bond,’ is the joke among pro-Leave MPs as Theresa May serves up her mess…

My great-grandfather’s personal remembrance day

10 November 2018 9:00 am

The sixth of November 1918 was remembrance day for my great-grandfather, Norman Moore. It was the fourth anniversary of the…

Bring on the next Black Wednesday

3 November 2018 9:00 am

At the Brexit-related cabinet last week — as revealed by James Forsyth in these pages — David Lidington made an…

George Orwell’s legacy has been monopolised by the left

27 October 2018 9:00 am

Mrs May says she is taking her stand on the issue of Northern Ireland and the integrity of the United…

The civil service’s anti-Brexit bias

20 October 2018 9:00 am

Can you think of a serious crime which does not involve hate or, at the very least, contempt? You must…

Why I wanted to be called C.H. Moore

6 October 2018 9:00 am

There are, one must admit, things to be said against Boris Johnson, but his leading critics do not understand that…

Why do we support the Iran regime when it is bitterly hostile to our way of life?

11 August 2018 9:00 am

President Trump has ended US participation in the Iran deal and imposed sanctions. No doubt this is annoying to the…

The attempt to deselect Frank Field tells you all you need to know about Corbyn’s Labour

4 August 2018 9:00 am

Early in his career — and mine — I got to know Frank Field. Then, as now, he was being…

Is it unchristian to support Brexit?

28 July 2018 9:00 am

At a speaker luncheon last week, someone I didn’t know passed me a note asking ‘Have you stopped supporting capital…

The sense of betrayal feeds the demand for a no-deal Brexit. Watch this space

21 July 2018 9:00 am

The collapse of Mrs May’s Chequers plan, followed by Tuesday’s failure of the Tory Remainers to defeat the government, creates…

Why did Theresa May ‘clear’ the EU deal with Merkel before consulting her colleagues?

14 July 2018 9:00 am

Why do the British turn to the Germans in their moments of European trouble? It never works. When Jacques Delors…

Does anyone know how we can entice our house martins back?

7 July 2018 9:00 am

Newsmax, the magazine of the eponymous US conservative multiplatform network, carries a full page advertisement for ‘The Presidential 1911 Pistol’,…

The internal logic of the NHS makes it ruthlessly cold-hearted

30 June 2018 9:00 am

Gordon Brown, echoing Aneurin Bevan, says that the greatest gift that the NHS brings to people is ‘serenity’. He is…

The government’s pledge to increase NHS spending is disgusting

23 June 2018 9:00 am

Seen from almost any point of view, the government’s decision to increase spending on the NHS is disgusting. It is…

Justin Trudeau is far more pointless than Donald Trump

16 June 2018 9:00 am

‘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

9 June 2018 9:00 am

A distinguished retired EU diplomat from a small EU member state sends me a thoughtful letter. He complains that Brexit…

It’s time for the EU to change its ways (Photo: Getty)

The EU should go the way of the British Empire

2 June 2018 9:00 am

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

26 May 2018 9:00 am

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

19 May 2018 9:00 am

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

12 May 2018 9:00 am

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’

5 May 2018 9:00 am

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?

28 April 2018 9:00 am

Hilary McGrady, the new director-general of the National Trust, sent me (and no doubt other journalists) a nice email hoping…