The Week
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told the Conservative party conference in Manchester: ‘We need a national crusade to get…
This is the Tories’ golden chance to seize the centre ground
Political party conferences have, in recent years, felt like an empty ritual. They used to be convened in seaside towns,…
John McDonnell’s true economic guru: the emperor Nero
John McDonnell, shadow chancellor in the Corbynite splinter-group, has announced that £120 billion is waiting to be reclaimed from tax…
Australian letters
Conspiracy theory Sir: What happened to the Letters page in this week’s issue? What was the reason for its non-appearance?…
This is the Tories’ golden chance to seize the centre ground
Political party conferences have, in recent years, felt like an empty ritual. They used to be convened in seaside towns,…
John McDonnell’s true economic guru: the emperor Nero
John McDonnell, shadow chancellor in the Corbynite splinter-group, has announced that £120 billion is waiting to be reclaimed from tax…
Edmund de Waal’s diary: Selling nothing, and why writers need ping-pong
On the top landing of the Royal Academy is the Sackler Sculpture Corridor, a long stony shelf of torsos of…
Bulgarian tragedy
From ‘Bulgaria and Greece’, The Spectator, 9 October 1915: The fact that the British people will in all probability soon be…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told the Conservative party conference in Manchester: ‘We need a national crusade to get…
Diary
Party conference season is the most pointless waste of money, time and liver quality ever devised. I attended these sweaty,…
Will Spain learn?
One of the unforeseen consequences of the reunification of Europe after the Cold War has been a resurgence of independence…
Portrait of the week
Home In his speech at the Labour party conference, much of it taken from material that had been on the…
Cicero on Labour taxes
Heidi Alexander, Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow health secretary, has emphasised how important it is ‘to weave into [Labour’s] language, our narrative…
Slow march to victory
From ‘The western victories’, The Spectator, 2 October 1915: As this is a war of heavy artillery, masses of slow-moving guns…
Letters
Cold-calling ET Sir: Alexander Chancellor has called for Spectator readers to suggest a message to send into space on behalf…
Will Spain learn?
One of the unforeseen consequences of the reunification of Europe after the Cold War has been a resurgence of independence…
Cicero on Labour taxes
Heidi Alexander, Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow health secretary, has emphasised how important it is ‘to weave into [Labour’s] language, our narrative…
Diary
Party conference season is the most pointless waste of money, time and liver quality ever devised. I attended these sweaty,…
Slow march to victory
From ‘The western victories’, The Spectator, 2 October 1915: As this is a war of heavy artillery, masses of slow-moving guns…
Portrait of the week
Home In his speech at the Labour party conference, much of it taken from material that had been on the…
Australian letters
Tur(n)bulence ahead Sir: I find I disagree with the sentiments expressed in your cover article (Turnbull’s Treachery) of 19 September.…
The Pope’s moment
On Tuesday, Pope Francis set foot in the United States for the first time in his life. His plane touched…




















