Leading article
World disorder
The old cliché that ‘nothing happens in August’ has again been brutally disproved. From the centenary of the outbreak of…
The welfare line
George Osborne proposed an attractive idea this week: that spending on state benefits should be diverted into new infrastructure in…
Unfair welfare
With Ukip snapping at the Conservatives’ heels, it is not difficult to see why David Cameron has hit upon the…
Let the people judge
Dominic Grieve was a worthy attorney-general whose career was helped by this magazine: nine years ago, he was named Spectator…
School lessons
During his time as Education Secretary, Michael Gove would often have occasion to quote a passage of Machiavelli: ‘There is…
Climatic correctness
Listen to ‘Is climate change a factor in the recent extreme weather?’ on Audioboo It is only a matter of…
Let’s stop slavery – again
Who would have expected to find slavery on the outskirts of Cardiff? Not the locals, who were shocked when police…
Censors silenced
We have not heard much from Hugh Grant this week. Nor from Max Mosley, Steve Coogan or any of the…
What the West has lost
It would have been easy enough to imagine the 25th anniversary of the Eastern European revolutions being marked with a…
The new Iraq war
Seven weeks ago, Barack Obama proclaimed that ‘it’s time to turn the page on more than a decade of war’.…
Tory wars, contd
Modern Conservatives seem to be allergic to success. Every time things are going right, the party spasms. Sir John Major’s…
Europe’s slippery slope
This week, the European parliament took a strong lurch to the left. That is not quite the story that you…
Playing at soldiers
The Cold War was won by 26 words contained within article five of the Treaty of Washington, which founded Nato…
Doing God
‘We don’t do God,’ was Alastair Campbell’s put-down when his charge, Tony Blair, was tempted to raise the issue of…
The radical centre
In almost a decade as Conservative leader, David Cameron has tended to avoid talking about his political philosophy. He has…
Green and unpleasant
What has happened to Dame Helen Ghosh? Last October the director-general of the National Trust seemed prepared to stand against…
How to lose a country
For centuries, the possibility of Scottish independence seemed so remote as to be laughable. Until recently the nationalists seemed quixotic,…
Patriot games
Possibly because his oratory is no match for his much-displayed pectoral muscles, the speeches of Vladimir Putin are seldom reported…
Blundering on
Yet again, the Conservative party has reminded us that it is quite capable of losing the next election. The events…
French lessons
François Hollande and Ed Miliband could be political blood brothers. Neither has held down a job outside politics for any…
The price of weakness
One cannot legislate for a quiet world. When a former Princeton University college professor was elected president of the United…
Pensions revolution
It is easy to see why George Osborne seemed so confident ahead of the Budget. His radical reform of the…
Mother country
Next week’s Budget marks George Osborne’s last chance to make a game-changing reform before the next election. The Chancellor will…
Who speaks for Europe?
For the first time in many years, the eyes of the world are on Crimea. As Russian troops violated Ukrainian…
Bribing Kiev
The last time Viktor Yanukovych was removed from power in Ukraine, following a corrupt election nearly a decade ago, it…
