Diary
In defence of Olly Robbins
After reading Christopher Isherwood’s Lions and Shadows, Somerset Maugham remarked: ‘That young man holds the future of the English novel…
Enoch Powell wasn’t racist – he just craved attention
Dining in splendour beneath Van Dycks as we forked in the delicious venison, it was hard not to agree with…
Racism and the RSC: why I was a sitting duck for the arts mob
Our ducks are back. Two wild mallard have spent the last five springs on the brook which gurgles past us…
Can fiction really cure cancer?
If you write a book, even a novel, about Shakespeare you must at least consider the theory that Will of…
Warner and Smith are paying for the sins of a generation of Australian cricket players
When the much-admired (and very tall) literary agent Gillon Aitken died in October 2016, he left most of his estate…
Tristram Hunt’s diary: Work and play on the Persian Gulf
On the gently lapping shores of the Persian Gulf, in the steely shadow of the Burj Khalifa, I bump into…
Brexit saved my marriage. Could Putin wreck it?
I went to a dinner for Toby Young, who has had some troubles of late, at this magazine’s gracious HQ,…
California is the unexpected antidote to censorious liberalism
If I needed a safe space, I would nominate California. Against most odds this seedbed of censorious liberalism has thrown…
Paul Mason: In a parallel universe, Cameron is delivering Brexit
At the BBC early doors for the Today programme, to preview Corbyn’s speech advocating membership of a customs union. I…
Andrew Marr: It’s volunteers, not the state, who are tackling London’s stabbing epidemic
Of all the villages of London, it seems to me, most of the time, that I live in the happiest:…
Steven Pinker’s Diary: my advice to the new president of Harvard
Everyone’s mood is affected by the news, especially bad news. A recent review found that heavy news-watchers show ‘misperception of…
My trip to Pakistan’s ‘Jihadi Disneyland’
Not so long ago, Barack Obama called Waziristan ‘the most dangerous place in the world’. It was the losing front…
Joan Collins: Want to know why all the Oscar films are boring? I’ll tell you
I’ve been meaning to write a Spectator diary since the summer but as a Gemini with Aries rising I find…
Why women are still fuming over my Desert Island slips
It never occurred to me, when I was interviewed for Desert Island Discs back in November, that I’d actually be…
George Osborne: Davos diary
We Citizens of Nowhere have made our home in Davos this week. Where else? Those who think we’re a remote…
Justin Webb: the day I was forced to hide from John Humphrys
My friend John Humphrys has managed to get on to the front pages again. We first met in the 1980s…
Trump may be stupid or crazy, but the people enabling him are neither
Like every journalist in Washington, I’m enthralled by the new Michael Wolff book, Fire and Fury, which depicts Donald Trump…
Sarah Vine: Why Jeremy Corbyn is the new Oliver Cromwell
Owing to the spectacular uselessness of Ticketmaster, my son missed out on his birthday treat, seats for Hamilton at the…
Why I’m bombarded with ads for funeral insurance and knitted animals
This year began badly with the death of Alexander Chancellor, former editor of this magazine. He was the most fun…
Max Hastings’ Diary: Historian Sir Michael Howard and a tale of E.M. Forster and sardines
Lunch with the great Sir Michael Howard, 95 last week. During a conversation about BBC1’s Howards End, he said: ‘I…
It’s not just the Queen who approves of Meghan – the corgis do, too
Meghan Markle certainly knows how to impress the in-laws. She has announced that she and Prince Harry are going to…
I once worshipped ‘freedom fighters’ but Mugabe just looked like a teacher
At the top of Machu Picchu last week, I saw two wide-winged condors swoop over Sacred Valley through a rainbow…
Rachel Johnson: The trouble with today’s porn? Older men are terrified by it
Long letter from the High Mistress of St Paul’s Girls’ School, addressing me as ‘Dear Old Paulina’ (I thought we…
Between Trump and Harvey Weinstein, America is fast approaching outrage overload
It’s remarkable how fast the unthinkable becomes the expected. It felt almost routine to pick up the New York Post…
Peter Hitchens: Why I climbed on my soapbox after refusing to sign a university’s ‘free speech’ contract
Where better to be than in Liverpool on a crisp autumn evening, haranguing an open-air meeting of students? I hadn’t…
