Features
Why are there suddenly so many dessert cafés in London?
Fifteen years ago, if you were eating at 239 Brompton Road in Kensington, just over from the Oratory, you may…
Who’s who in Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s revolutionary guard
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the riots’ chief instigator and leader of the far-left La France Insoumise (LFI), is currently ranked second in…
Revolting France: The riots are driving the country’s politics to its extremes
Paris The wonderful thing about electric bikes, if you are fighting with French riot police, is the way they burn.…
‘Boring does not prevent it from being dangerous’: What to expect from Burnham’s first Budget
Don’t tell John Healey this is a boring Budget. ‘We have to get people out of this frame of mind…
Lucy Powell’s ‘oracy’ plans are meaningless
Whenever a government minister cites the advent of artificial intelligence as the justification for a policy, you can be certain…
What Spinoza got right – and wrong
The scrupulously maintained traditions of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish congregation in London, where I worship, still forbid the rabbi…
Generals must not dictate our foreign policy
Is Britain becoming an army with a country, instead of a country with an army? Who is actually making national…
You can thank The Spectator for the letter box
A detail of daily life – scarcely noticed because it is taken for granted – was added to our houses…
Does Andy Burnham actually have a foreign policy?
It often takes an outsider to see us most clearly. When I had breakfast with the ambassador of an EU…
The growing rebellion against screens in schools
In the late 17th century, Europe’s greatest intellectuals were consumed by the quarrel of the ancients and the modern, satirised…
Meet Jared Cooney Horvath, the neuroscientist taking on screens in schools
‘I’ve been here a week, and I can’t figure it out,’ says Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, neuroscientist, teacher and now…
Why are people surprised when animals defend themselves?
Should Altai the tiger be euthanised? Hardly the cheeriest way to start, I know, but since he mauled a man…
Has Trump changed sides?
Has Donald Trump effectively changed sides in the Ukraine war? Over just a few tumultuous days, Trump’s already rocky relations…
We cannot trust our AI overlords
It is no longer an exaggeration to say that the digital apocalypse is at our door. The advance of artificial…
After years of socialism, is Spain about to turn to the far-right?
Good-looking and always smartly dressed, Vito Quiles sports a wristband with the red and gold of the Spanish flag. It…
In defence of Staines
Ten years ago I moved to Staines and my mate Kwasi Kwarteng took me on a pub crawl. Kwasi was…
How Swindon became Britain’s drone hub
In July 2021, the Honda factory in Swindon closed after 36 years. Three thousand jobs were lost. One young apprentice…
The anti-Semitic alliance between Restore and the Greens
Johann von Leers was one of Goebbels’s most industrious propagandists: 27 books in 12 years, among them Jews Are Looking…
Andy Burnham’s concerning links to Abu Dhabi
Last month at the UN general assembly, Andy Burnham spoke movingly about Manchester’s statue of Abraham Lincoln, which stands outside…
Don’t take Britain’s cathedrals for granted
Everywhere I hear voices complaining about charges being imposed on those who wish to visit our great cathedrals. Everywhere, I…
Am I a fashion icon?
Ever since I met Omi (one half of the fashion design duo Vin + Omi) on a train, I have…
Up next… Yookay Street, a refreshing new soap opera
The idea of TV soap operas was originally, at least in part, to reflect the nation as a whole. This…
Whatever happened to the midlife crisis?
‘You’re probably just having a midlife crisis,’ says Scarlett Johansson to Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003). ‘Did you…
Do France’s pupil protestors have a point?
On 21 September, pupils at the Lycée Saint-Exupéry in Créteil, south-east of Paris, staged a protest. They had a list…
