Features
Andrew Adonis, a master of social media – and a model of social mobility
The news over Easter that Lord Adonis, the counterweight to nominative determinism, was standing as a Labour Remain MEP was…
We all have servants now
Montego Bay, Jamaica When the Kennedy clan were children, JFK and his siblings would tear off their clothes before leaping…
As a QC, I believe the time has come to legalise drugs
I have been a defence lawyer for more than 25 years. I have defended clients charged with almost every crime…
Romanticising Northern Ireland’s history is a deadly mistake
For those of us who grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, there is a pungent but negative sense…
Moby: My vegan brunch with Leo DiCaprio and Jane Goodall
Los Angeles has its shortcomings. Some are shared with almost all big cities (traffic, more traffic), while others are unique…
Scilly season: Shipwrecks, seclusion and Harold Wilson’s house
‘You can get away from everything,’ said Harold Wilson of the Isles of Scilly, ‘not only in distance but also…
The Scruton tapes: an anatomy of a modern hit job
Sometimes a scandal is not just a scandal, but a biopsy of a society. So it is with the assault…
Rory Stewart: Why I’d make a good prime minister
Almost nobody in Westminster admits to wanting to be prime minister. Rory Stewart is a cheerful exception. Most leadership hopefuls…
Is anything creepier than a ‘male feminist’?
Over a drink recently I sat next to a man who announced, barely before he’d taken his first sip, that…
Our churches aren’t perfect, but if we lose them we will all be worse off
After hearing about the massacre in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, I went to church, happily sang the word God…
How Ireland became a back door to Britain
I was working in Johannesburg when I first got wind of the fact that Ireland has become an illegal back…
Stop going through the motions – committees are a waste of time
God save us from committees. They’re an increasingly outdated way of getting things done. But there’s a certain sort of…
The weird and wacky world of Goop
The other day, as I walked with my partner through Notting Hill, we came across a shop which deserves to…
Thank God for western values
Declarations of hope that Notre Dame can be resurrected have been much in evidence this Holy Week. Such is the…
It’s not anti-Irish to criticise Leo Varadkar
The relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland has ‘reached a hunger-strike low’, says a new study by…
How Philip Larkin f****d me up
I first came across Philip Larkin’s poem ‘This Be the Verse’ when I was 18 in the late 1970s. You…
What made the Two Fat Ladies great
Mary Berry’s dependable The Aga Book — a book of the last century and part of my kitchen library —…
A Spectator debate: should euthanasia be legalised? Douglas Murray vs Sam Leith
Four years ago, the Assisted Dying Bill was overwhelmingly defeated in parliament. The euthanasia debate hasn’t disappeared, however. One recent…
Thank God for hymns!
Before embarking on this hymn to hymns, I’ll admit that hymn-enthusiasts feel a slight sense of anticlimax on Easter Sunday,…
The holy pedigree of cats
It is claimed that the prophet Muhammad loved cats. His favourite was called Muezza and he would do without his…
Emmanuel Macron has united his country – against him
Montpellier An embattled, incompetent leader distrusted and disliked by a vast majority of voters. A wobbly economy that might be…
Down with kissing!
It’s out of control! If I play doubles first thing, have a lunch, then go to perhaps two parties in…
Liz Truss: the Tories can win over the Boohoo generation
‘Get some boomerangs,’ Liz Truss says to her aides. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury isn’t looking for something to…
Our moaning MPs say they’re suffering. What about the rest of us?
A famous actor looks tearfully into the camera. It is Michael Sheen, or possibly Ewan McGregor. His voice cracks as…
iPlod: Sajid Javid’s new internet rules will have a chilling effect on free speech
Monday wasn’t the best day for the government to launch Online Harms, its white paper on internet regulation. As Sajid…
