The Week
Bonds of friendship
From ‘The Rome conference and bonds of alliance’, The Spectator, 13 January 1917: There may be the greatest possible good,…
Letters
Freudian slap Sir: In his Notes (7 January), Charles Moore explores the uncharacteristic reaction of Matthew Parris to the referendum…
Letters
Defund Palestinians Sir: Former prime minister Tony Abbott is clearly on the money when he argues that the Australian taxpayer…
Portrait of the week
Home Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour party, proposed a limit on incomes: ‘I would like to see some kind…
From Socrates to Osborne
Ex-chancellor George Osborne is planning a book to be titled The Age of Unreason. He says that ‘it will be…
Barometer
Village people The government announced plans for 14 ‘garden villages’. The concept of a garden city or village is attributed…
Diary
On New Year’s Day I went for a swim off Broad Haven beach in Pembrokeshire. The water was 10.3ºC: pretty…
A killing to celebrate
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 6 January 1917: The war has been crowded with romantic adventures by sea…
Sir Ivan’s exit
The wonder about Sir Ivan Rogers’s resignation as Britain’s ambassador to the EU is that he was still in the…
Letters
Meatloaf monarchy Sir: I realize that sending pro-republic letters to the Spectator Australia is akin to sending meatloaf recipes to…
Portrait of the week
Home Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, resigned; he had been expected to play an important part in…
Letters
Yet another kind of snob Sir: May I offer another definition of a ‘snob’ to the one described by Bryan…
Sir Ivan’s exit
The wonder about Sir Ivan Rogers’s resignation as Britain’s ambassador to the EU is that he was still in the…
From Socrates to Osborne
Ex-chancellor George Osborne is planning a book to be titled The Age of Unreason. He says that ‘it will be…
Barometer
Village people The government announced plans for 14 ‘garden villages’. The concept of a garden city or village is attributed…
Diary
On New Year’s Day I went for a swim off Broad Haven beach in Pembrokeshire. The water was 10.3ºC: pretty…
A killing to celebrate
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 6 January 1917: The war has been crowded with romantic adventures by sea…
Letters
Yet another kind of snob Sir: May I offer another definition of a ‘snob’ to the one described by Bryan…
Letters
Meatloaf monarchy Sir: I realize that sending pro-republic letters to the Spectator Australia is akin to sending meatloaf recipes to…
Portrait of the week
Home Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain’s ambassador to the EU, resigned; he had been expected to play an important part in…
Keep the press free
It is said that the case for freedom of expression needs to be restated in every generation, but things move…
Ovid’s post-truths
We are told we live in a ‘post-truth’ world. This appears to mean that everyone believes everything they are told…
Barometer
Supremely exciting The nation awaits with bated breath the decision of the Supreme Court on whether the government can exercise…
Diary
Every year, from mid-November to mid-January, dozens of DVDs drop through my letterbox. These are most of the movie releases…
These little islands
From ‘Engage the enemy more closely!’, The Spectator, 30 December 1916: Britain was never more vigorous than she is now:…
