Features
Orban and Salvini are redefining democracy in Europe
By 25 May the world was learning of the Italian populist parties’ plans to form a coalition government. This would…
Let’s get real. Kindness is not going to save you – or the world
I originally thought of calling this piece: ‘Kindness is the New Rock ’n’ Roll’ — but only as a joke.…
Are Trump’s tariffs a good idea? The arguments for and against
Yes Supporters of the global free-trade regime that has been built up over the past 25 years like to think…
The jihadi sisterhood: meet the new breed of Islamist fanatics
‘Does the pin make me go ?’ Like most 16-year-old British schoolgirls, Safaa Boular was adept at using emojis. She…
The age of incivility: how social media amplifies our differences
How long ago it now seems that the big political worry was apathy. Today, wherever you look — Brexit negotiations,…
Notes on… Nucleus, the shiny new slightly secret nuclear archive
Doubtless Spectator readers based in Caithness will scoff when I say that the old fishing port of Wick (top right…
Europe has a democracy problem
This week the EU revealed its true nature. Rather than hand power to a Eurosceptic, the Italian President Sergio Mattarella…
Trump has turned the Mueller investigation on its head
Donald Trump got bad reviews in the press — no surprise — when he announced that Rudy Giuliani, the former…
Twenty20 is making cricket great again
Blame it on a marketing survey. In 2001, the England and Wales Cricket Board commissioned the biggest piece of market…
Pope Francis raises the white flag
Just before Ireland voted overwhelmingly to end the country’s constitutional ban on abortion, Catholics in the fishing village of Clogherhead…
The countryside’s immigration problem
One day there won’t be anyone to deliver the mail any more, and then what will the City types do?…
What on earth’s happened to Waitrose?
A few years ago, some friends came to stay with us on Exmoor. After they unfurled from their Volvo, they…
Only the south of France could silence Henry James
‘Saint-Tropez?’ said the French mother of a friend. ‘C’est un peu… “tacky”.’ She was distressed to think of our taking…
£350 million for the NHS: How the Brexit bus pledge is coming true
A fortnight before Philip Hammond delivered his last Budget, the chief executive of the NHS gave a speech making the…
Britain and Islam – the real special relationship
In all the agonising about Islamism, and what to do about it, it would be a mistake to forget a…
Putin’s World Cup is the most political tournament ever
Politics and sport should never mix is the hoary old chestnut — but they always do. It’s a thrilling concoction.…
Bernard-Henri Lévy: ‘Brexit will not happen’
I meet Bernard-Henri Lévy in a colossally luxurious hotel on a tree-lined avenue just behind the Elysée Palace. The French…
The adoption waiting game
When my husband, John, was born in 1946, doctors were the chief agents of adoption. His mother was young, single,…
Why old bangers beat shiny new cars hands down
I was collecting my daughter from school when my path was blocked by an enormous black Range Rover sitting in…
Why are so many women obsessed with horses?
When asked to describe in three words what it means to win Badminton, the world’s most challenging and prestigious equestrian…
Asterix and the sheer brilliance of his creators
A sterix, te amamus! For those not lucky enough to learn their Latin from the dazzling René Goscinny and Albert…
Will Italy become the first country to fall to populism?
It looks indeed as if Italy — the beating pulse of European civilisation — will be the first country in…
Macron can see that the EU must change or die
It was a moment to cherish, not to spoil. But I wasn’t the only one at the grand Charlemagne prize…
What does friendship with Israel really mean?
Harold Macmillan once remarked that: ‘There are three bodies no sensible man ever directly challenges: the Roman Catholic Church, the…
The eradication of South Georgia’s rats proves we can do anything – even Brexit
The extermination of every single one of South Georgia’s rats, for the sake of its birds, was confirmed at a…
