Leading article
Labour’s dereliction of duty over defence
Last week, our political editor, Tim Shipman, revealed a recent meeting between Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the Chief…
What is a ‘fair’ trial, Mr Lammy?
Why are jury trials so precious? According to one prominent alumnus of Harvard Law School, who was writing in protest…
It’s not science if you can’t question it
Follow the Science. The Science is settled. Two phrases which invoke the power of open inquiry to close down open…
Labour isn’t working
Labour: the clue should be in the name. In March, Keir Starmer branded Labour the ‘party of work’. If ‘you…
Stench of failure: Britain’s shameful surrender in the war on drugs
The New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was that rare figure in politics – a progressive who followed the facts.…
Mystic Milei proves ‘austerity’ needn’t be a dirty word
Javier Milei’s election in 2023 was a repudiation of decades of Peronist turmoil, corruption and inflation. Milei offered shock therapy,…
Sir Keir, Emperor of Inertia
In Silicon Valley there is a simple mantra that drives innovation: You Can Just Do Things. Wait for permission from…
The questions the government must answer over the China spying case
Exactly a year ago, this magazine warned that ministers were showing a dangerous naivety towards China. We revealed that the…
What we need from our new Archbishop of Canterbury
There have been 106 Archbishops of Canterbury since Gregory the Great declared Augustine his ‘Apostle to the English’ in 597.…
ID cards are Labour’s alibi for its failure
Questions of identity permeate our politics. What is it to be English, to be British? The Prime Minister sought to…
This is Shabana Mahmood’s moment
What is the point of Keir Starmer? He was the means by which the Labour party could suffocate the hard…
The failure of Britain’s elite universities
Politicians, authors, priests and the occasional Spectator editor have all served as the Oxford Union’s president over its 200-year history.…
Starmer’s survival depends on going against his instincts
Athelstan has long faded from public imagination, despite being the king who, in 927 ad, first united England. But thanks…
The high price of Britain’s misguided energy policy
Britain’s energy policy is a mess. We have the highest energy prices in the developed world, which is damaging competitiveness,…
The risks of Reform
In 1979, XTC sang: ‘We’re only making plans for Nigel/ We only want what’s best for him.’ The song is…
Rachel Reeves’s self-defeating attack on British racing
Few British traditions can claim as long a history as racing. The first races thought to have taken place in…
Britain is broke – and we all need to face it
Sometimes when I go to bed, I think that if I were a young man I would emigrate,’ said James…
Hiroshima and the continuing urgency of the atomic age
In August 1945, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was stationed on the Pacific island of Tinian as an official British observer…
The cult of safetyism harms us all
Last month, the government announced that 16-year-olds would be able to vote at the next general election. If these new…
Recognising Palestine isn’t a path to peace
The children of Gaza are enduring horrendous suffering. The control of aid has been restricted. Innocent lives have been set…
The Afghan asylum leak cover-up saved lives
The United Kingdom’s immigration system is broken. Tens of thousands have entered the country who should not, and the bureaucracy…
Norman Tebbit was the symbol of an age
Norman Tebbit, who died this week aged 94, was a self-made man who shouldered his way to the top of…
For the NHS, it’s Wes or bust
Labour swept to power on a pledge to ‘save the NHS’. As shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting said he would…
Let Kneecap play
During the Troubles, some 2,500 people were victims of kneecappings – punishment shootings, dished out by paramilitaries, for perceived crimes…
The unvarnished truth about rape gangs
Some crimes are so horrific that our instinct is to look away. And there can be few as appalling as…
