The Week
Letters
Don’t write off Assad Sir: Ahmed Rashid refers to our ‘Arab allies’ supporting al-Qaeda (‘The plan to back al-Qaeda against…
Giving up the fight
“Whether it’s in Iraq, Syria, Libya or elsewhere — as Prime Minister, if I believe there is a specific threat…
Vespasian vs Islamic State
As Ahmed Rashid argued last week, it is hard to see what the West is doing in the Middle East,…
Barometer
Gesture politics A royal home movie from 1933 apparently showed the future Queen, aged seven, and her mother giving a…
Diary
There’s nothing quite like a First Night — and last Friday we launched the Proms, the most celebrated classical music…
Profiteering in the pits
From ‘Coal and its problems’, The Spectator, 24 July 1915: Instead of attempting to regulate prices, the government ought to have…
Portrait of the week
Home Parents would be able to have their children’s passports removed if they were suspected of planning to travel abroad…
Gambling on Iran
Iran is, beyond doubt, a sponsor of terrorism and this week it has been made much stronger. It has (again)…
Portrait of the week
Home The government postponed a Commons vote on relaxing the Hunting Act in England and Wales after the Scottish National…
Diary
I witnessed what was almost a violent fight to the death on Hampstead Heath the other morning. Broad flawless sunlight,…
Barometer
Ties that bind Lewis Hamilton was ejected from the royal box at Wimbledon for not wearing a tie. Some places…
On Wimbledon grunters
What a pleasure it was to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon contested with a minimum of grunting, exclaiming and…
Answering the call of duty
From ‘Education and Honour’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915: The young man who has been to a Public School or…
Letters
Greek cowboys Sir: In the leading article in The Spectator Australia of 11 July 2015, the editor says: “Like the…
Gambling on Iran
Iran is, beyond doubt, a sponsor of terrorism and this week it has been made much stronger. It has (again)…
On Wimbledon grunters
What a pleasure it was to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon contested with a minimum of grunting, exclaiming and…
Barometer
Ties that bind Lewis Hamilton was ejected from the royal box at Wimbledon for not wearing a tie. Some places…
Diary
I witnessed what was almost a violent fight to the death on Hampstead Heath the other morning. Broad flawless sunlight,…
Answering the call of duty
From ‘Education and Honour’, The Spectator, 17 July 1915: The young man who has been to a Public School or…
Portrait of the week
Home The government postponed a Commons vote on relaxing the Hunting Act in England and Wales after the Scottish National…
One-nation economics
In his hastily scripted victory speech, David Cameron hit upon a mission that he wanted to define his remaining years…
Portrait of the week
Home In his Budget, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, slowed the planned rate of bringing in £12 billion…
Diary
One strange consequence of my job as a foreign correspondent is discovering beautiful places when terrible things happen in them.…
Barometer
Naming terror David Cameron and the BBC argued over what to call the terror group most papers refer to as…
Tsipras vs hubris
The EU finds it difficult to understand what drives the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Quite simply, he is a…
