Leading article
Royal standard
Fourteen prime ministers; 18 general elections; seven changes of government. Even in a stable country like Britain it is remarkable…
On the cards
‘The government would love to put issues such as these beyond the bounds of debate by creating an air of…
Minority report
Almost 20 years ago, Michael Howard spoke about the ‘British dream’: that immigrant families like his could come to this…
Friends in need
During the referendum campaign five years ago, the pro-Brexit side argued that by freeing ourselves from the EU’s native protectionism…
A fight on our hands
The power wielded by Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish government means it’s hard to hold her to account for basic…
Touching distance
Since the start of this year, cases of Covid-19 have been in decline. Hospital admissions have fallen 80 per cent…
A democratic deficit
The campaign for a Scottish parliament was rooted in the notion of a ‘democratic deficit’. Scotland kept voting Labour but…
No offence
At a time when resources are scarce, the Merseyside Constabulary must have thought long and hard about its recent advertising…
On life and liberty
When the Prime Minister sets out his ‘roadmap’ for easing Covid restrictions on Monday, it will be against a backdrop…
Rebuilding welfare
Amid the many failures of public policy during the Covid crisis, one success has gone largely unnoticed. The Universal Credit…
The Scottish play
Scottish politics tends to go through long bouts of single-party dominance. In the 19th century, the Liberals were in charge.…
The freedom paradox
Who would have thought, this time last year, that the British government would be planning to detain British nationals at…
A lost generation
At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Chris Whitty often made the point that a pandemic kills in two ways:…
The right balance
When lockdown was first proposed in March, one of the many arguments against it was that people would tolerate being…
Sir David Barclay, 1934-2021
When Sir David Barclay, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, bought The Spectator in 2004, the magazine came as…
What have we learnt?
So great have been the government’s failures over Covid that it would be easy to forget to give credit where…
Ring out, wild bells
Save for those old enough to have lived through the second world war and its immediate austere aftermath, it would…
A shot of optimism
At the beginning of the Covid crisis, some expressed the hope that a pandemic might at least bring a divided…
High and dry
Does it matter that Debenhams and the Arcadia group have gone under this week, taking 25,000 jobs with them and…
Comfort spending
Every country was blindsided by the pandemic; few governments responded to it by borrowing as much as Britain. The figures…
The wrong reset
The psychodrama in No. 10 is badly timed. The government has used emergency powers to ban meetings, church services and…
A deal to be done
It now looks increasingly likely that lockdown will end on 2 December, after all. The decision to impose further restrictions…
A lockdown too far
The benefit of having a lockdown announced some days in advance is the ability to savour what is about to…
What America needs
It is remarkably uncommon for a US president to fail to be re-elected. It has happened just twice in the…
End the Sage secrecy
At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis it was easy to see why the Prime Minister was so keen to…
