The Week
How ancient Rome turned immigrants into citizens
In the migration crisis, the EU is currently acting just like the ancients, as if border controls did not exist,…
A Russian revolution
From ‘The situation in Russia’, The Spectator, 11 September 1915: A new Russia has been arising within the old while the war has…
Australian letters
Mistaken identity Sir: Taki is mistaken in his column of 29 August 2015. Louis XVIII was not a ‘fat Napoleonic…
The fog of law
Not even Jeremy Corbyn lamented the death of Reyaad Khan, who was killed by an RAF drone in Syria after…
Livy on immigration policy
In the migration crisis, the EU is currently acting just like the ancients, as if border controls did not exist,…
Barometer
Old bags The government announced details of a compulsory 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in shops. Plastic bags have…
Diary
During our annual odyssey around the Scottish Highlands, I read Tears of the Rajas, Ferdinand Mount’s eloquent indictment of imperial…
A Russian revolution
From ‘The situation in Russia’, The Spectator, 11 September 1915: A new Russia has been arising within the old while the war has…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told Parliament that he had authorised the killing, on 21 August, by means of…
Queen Elizabeth the great
That the Queen has lived to become our longest-reigning monarch — a milestone which she will mark quietly with a…
Portrait of the week
Home The Government decided after all to retain the rules preventing ministers and their departments from publishing campaign material, ‘with…
Tristram Hunt’s diary: The rainy glories of Devon – and a cold political climate
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
Does anyone else have an upper house as undemocratic as the Lords?
Peers’ peers Forty-five new peers were created. Are we alone in having an upper house of parliament made up of…
Jeremy Corbyn and what a real plebeian revolt looks like
Last week, guru Corbyn was invited to reflect on the 2,500-year-old Roman origins of the republicanism to which he is…
Muscular economics
From ‘War bonuses’, The Spectator, 4 September 1915: War means a demand for human muscle… At the moment the brain-worker is…
Spectator letters: Mental health and assisted dying
Suicide and assisted dying Sir: As a mental health practitioner, I am grateful to Douglas Murray (‘Death watch’, 29 August)…
Elizabeth the Great
That the Queen has lived to become our longest-reigning monarch — a milestone which she will mark quietly with a…
Corbyn and the plebs
Last week, guru Corbyn was invited to reflect on the 2,500-year-old Roman origins of the republicanism to which he is…
Barometer
Peers’ peers Forty-five new peers were created. Are we alone in having an upper house of parliament made up of…
Diary
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
Muscular economics
From ‘War bonuses’, The Spectator, 4 September 1915: War means a demand for human muscle… At the moment the brain-worker is…
Portrait of the week
Home The Government decided after all to retain the rules preventing ministers and their departments from publishing campaign material, ‘with…
George Osborne has bet the house (and other people's houses) on there being no new crash
When George Osborne visited Sweden, Finland and Denmark the stock markets of each country promptly fell by about 5 per…
Portrait of the week
Home Harriet Harman, the acting leader of the Labour party, said that 3,000 people had had any votes they cast…
Val McDermid’s Diary: Facing 3,000 choices at the Edinburgh festival
There are many good reasons for being in Edinburgh in August, when the population doubles and nobody looks twice if…
