Status anxiety
Beware left-wing fake news
We hear a lot from the lanyard class about the harm that mis- and disinformation causes, from anti-migration protests to…
Why we shouldn’t try to ‘kill’ AI
When the late Robert Maxwell threatened to sue me for using the IT system of the European to help produce…
Are we in a global whisky recession?
Is demand for the water of life running dry? I’ve just returned from a trip to Islay in Scotland, which…
Children will always get around a social media ban
Back in January, I voted for a Conservative amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to restrict social media…
Happiness is a warm rifle
Earlier this week, I made my annual pilgrimage to the Cairngorms National Park to go deer stalking, an activity I…
My valiant attempt to defend the monarchy in Scotland
One of the drawbacks of being a Tory peer is that when I’m asked to give a talk or participate…
Are you the next Glenda Slagg?
Thirty-five years ago this month, I launched a magazine with Julie Burchill and Cosmo Landesman that, despite going belly up…
The Jason Arday review already knows who to blame
In case you were in any doubt that Cambridge University’s ‘independent review’ into the Jason Arday affair will blame the…
What Zanzibar could teach the C of E about slavery
I have a suggestion for those opposed to Project Spire, the Church of England’s plan to put £100 million into…
Bring back the privileged class
It has become a summer ritual for the Young family to attend the annual tennis tournament in Hunstanton, a Victorian…
The horror of when your own side turns on you
Should I regret writing a satirical piece for this magazine about Jason Arday? Yes, according to those who blame the…
Is it time for a hair transplant?
My father, Michael, who was a sociologist among other things, was once asked by a drug company to do some…
I could never dislike Rod – even when he threatened to punch me
I remember being in The Spectator’s offices on a Tuesday afternoon not long ago when I noticed a group of…
Won’t someone please think of the French wine?
There was something surreal about my visit to La Cité du Vin, Bordeaux’s wine museum, last Saturday. From the top…
The dangers of policing misinformation
When Steve Reed, the now ex-communities secretary, unveiled his social cohesion ‘action plan’ earlier this year, he promised to publish…
I’m sick of ‘plastic’ football fans
Last week I watched a clip of Ian Wright explaining why it meant so much to him, as a black…
Confronting the climate Jeremiahs
The problem with being a well-known climate sceptic is that whenever there’s a heatwave, you get buttonholed by eco-zealots who…
Labour’s mad media protectionism
Just when you think this government cannot get any madder, it publishes a truly mental green paper. Called ‘Watch this…
Farewell to the school I founded
My son Charlie sat his final A-level paper last week and the significance of this has only just sunk in.…
Whoops, I’ve given my children a gambling problem
The problem with my gambling, Caroline has always maintained, is not the fact that I nearly always lose. I only…
Was I too right-wing for MI6?
Like many people, I’ve been bemoaning the woke capture of our security services for some time. In 2024, Sir Richard…
Why does Farage care if he’s on Desert Island Discs?
The big revelation in Lord Ashcroft’s forthcoming biography of Nigel Farage is that he’s been banned from Desert Island Discs.…
Labour is secretly desperate to keep children on social media
I’ve spent the last few days composing a response to the government’s consultation on whether to introduce a statutory minimum…
AI Armageddon has replaced climate change hysteria
How worried should we be about AI? Absolutely petrified, according to a new documentary called Chasing Utopia. Billed as the…
