Features
Are driverless cars really the future?
Philip Hammond’s last Budget focused on driverless cars as an example of the brave new technological world. But should we…
Mission impossible? The C of E’s attempt to woo new members
If you work for the Church of England in any capacity, from Archbishop of Canterbury to parish flower-arranger, how do…
How to date without getting sued: Dear Mary’s modern guide
For the young heterosexual Spectator male, the dating world is beset with perplexities. It was all so different in his…
I’m teaching my kids about money – by searching for buried treasure
At the end of each year I pull out most of the New Year’s resolutions I’ve ever made — I…
We all suffer ‘old age’ ailments – that doesn’t mean we all need a scan
Memory, neuroscientists tell us, is fallible. It is a dynamic process whereby each time we remember something, it will be…
Ruth Davidson on politics, power and a possible move south
‘You wouldn’t make good spies, would you,’ chuckles Ruth Davidson as she finds us sitting with our backs to the…
Sarah Vine, Prue Leith and Jilly Cooper on their most convincing ghost story
Anthony Horowitz Novelist I have never really believed in ghosts, but I actually had a personal experience which…
China’s new way to drown out the Christmas message? A sea of tat
If you think capitalism has blinged up Christmas, you should see what the Communists are doing to it. At this…
Even if we could create genius ‘designer’ babies, there’s no demand for them
Christmas Day marks the birthday of one of the most gifted human beings ever born. His brilliance was of a…
Rolling tanks, plastic flowers and madness on parade: A visit to North Korea
As Kim Jong-un might blow up the world next year, if not this, and people are forever trying to work…
Field Marshal Lord Bramall on why we should use force for peace
It is always a delight to drive the country roads of Hampshire to see the man known throughout the army…
Order, order! In the Commons, you are where you sit
Diet nannies will spend Christmas telling us ‘you are what you eat’ but in the House of Commons ‘you are…
Prue Leith: Everyone’s waiting for me to make another Bake Off gaffe
Edinburgh is a peach of a city, is it not? Last week, I walked up to the castle on a…
Why smoked salmon doesn’t taste anything like it should
I’m just about old enough to remember when smoked salmon was a rare treat. Then, around 1986 or 1987, suddenly…
A Christmas ghost story: Here We Come A-Wassailing by Andrew Michael Hurley
Andrew Michael Hurley’s debut novel, The Loney, is an unsettling gothic horror story set on a bleak stretch of the…
The Brexit Breakdown
Theresa May’s Brexit challenge is truly Herculean. Every time she believes she has done enough to finally move the Brexit…
Does Brexit mean anything anymore?
Emma Bridgewater has, since 1985, produced pottery acceptable in tasteful middle-class kitchens. Some jars had Coffee on and some Biscuits.…
Harry, Meghan and the irresistible rise of the glamocracy
The world may be dazzled by Prince Harry marrying a divorced, mixed-race American TV star. But his grand friends and…
Welcome to the age of media feeding frenzies
Tony Blair once remarked, during one of the periodic feeding frenzies that engulf British politics, that public life was becoming…
‘The first 100 days will be radical’ – John McDonnell on the Corbyn coup and its consequences
John McDonnell looks exhausted, slumped in his parliamentary office chair. Nobody said the revolution would be easy. Do he and…
Why is China sending aid money to Surrey?
When I first hear that my well-heeled Surrey neighbourhood is receiving aid from China, I assume it must be a…
Meet the anti-immigrant federalist who could well be Italy’s next prime minister
The man who could become Italy’s next prime minister is sat just opposite the entrance to the huge US and…
The truth about The Watford Gap
In a shallow dip between two unremarkable Northamptonshire hills you will find a road, a motorway, a railway and a…
Why marriage is increasingly for the royals – and the rich
Whatever their views about the monarchy, most people will warm to the news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement.…
Is a Princess Meghan really such good news?
‘The thing is,’ said my friend, after the broadcast of the engagement interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, ‘you…
