The Week
From the archive: On compelling shirkers to do their duty
From ‘The Position of the Government’, The Spectator, 15 January 1916: Any man who knew the nature of Englishmen, or…
Spectator Letters: Hope for the Scottish Tories, policing charities after Kids Company
Borderline case Sir: Alex Massie (‘The painful truth for Ruth’, 9 January) correctly identifies the challenges facing the Scottish Conservatives.…
Pickets of privilege
Treatment for that once-virulent condition, the British disease of strikes, has largely been successful. The number of working days lost…
The mercenaries of IS and ancient Greece
Last week we read that Isis was crumbling, but still a force to be reckoned with. That is true, but…
Diary
Whatever you do, don’t allow your six-year-old to be caught short at Crewkerne station. With the rain pouring and the…
Compelling evidence
From ‘The Position of the Government’, The Spectator, 15 January 1916: Any man who knew the nature of Englishmen, or…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that, on Britain’s place in the European Union, ‘what I would like to…
George Osborne has made his own 'dangerous cocktail' of economic risk
When David Cameron said this week that he is worried his children would not be able to afford to buy…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, decided to allow ministers to campaign for either side in the referendum on membership…
Amanda Foreman’s diary: My inspiration as a Man Booker prize judge
So far my responsibilities as the 2016 chair of the Man Booker prize have been rather light. We’ve had our…
Is EU referendum rebellion career suicide? Ask Harold Wilson’s cabinet...
The outsiders Did the seven members of Harold Wilson’s cabinet who campaigned to leave the Common Market in the 1975…
For a true moral lesson, Rugby School, get your pupils drunk
Rugby and Ampleforth schools have decided to give their charges experience of sensible drinking by introducing a little alcohol, under…
Church service
From ‘A Mobilisation of the Church’, The Spectator, 8 January 1916: Suppose the Church were mobilised so that the majority of…
Australian letters
Rule of law Sir: A few days ago former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert, was sentenced to an 18…
Through the roof
When David Cameron said this week that he is worried his children would not be able to afford to buy…
Drinking at school with Plato
Rugby and Ampleforth schools have decided to give their charges experience of sensible drinking by introducing a little alcohol, under…
Barometer
The outsiders Did the seven members of Harold Wilson’s cabinet who campaigned to leave the Common Market in the 1975…
Diary
So far my responsibilities as the 2016 chair of the Man Booker prize have been rather light. We’ve had our…
Church service
From ‘A Mobilisation of the Church’, The Spectator, 8 January 1916: Suppose the Church were mobilised so that the majority of…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, decided to allow ministers to campaign for either side in the referendum on membership…
Why can’t we go Dutch on flood defence?
As the chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben, observed this week, there is a bizarre dislocation between…
Portrait of the week
Home Thousands of houses were flooded in York, Leeds, Manchester and other parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, after weeks of…
Miriam Gross’s Diary: the problem with Steve Jobs
Disappointingly, the recent film about Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, does not include the thing about him which most struck…
What to expect in 2016 (less mercy from the taxman)
In with the new How the new year is being celebrated around the world. From 1 January… BRITAIN: Annual Investment…
Ancient and Modern
In Living with Difference, a think-tank report on the problems raised by a multi-faith UK, the chair Baroness Butler-Sloss says…
