The Week
Portrait of the week
Home Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo detainee who won substantial compensation after suing the British government, was arrested in Birmingham…
Niall Ferguson’s diary: Brazil is overtaking us – but it no longer feels like that
São Paolo It was back in 2001 that my good friend Jim O’Neill of Goldman Sachs coined the acronym ‘Bric’,…
A looter's guide to presidential palaces
Palace coups The people of Ukraine enjoyed a peek inside President Yanukovych’s palace, complete with petting zoo and collection of…
From Caligula to Yanukovych
Tyrants never learn, do they? From Caligula through Gadaffi to the ex-Ukrainian prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, they rule not to…
Letters
Oh, the horror! Sir: I think the enthusiasm of Dean Bertram for genre horror and sci-fi films (‘Terror Australis,’ 15…
Why America's ivory ban won't help elephants
The Duke of Cambridge deserves credit for bringing his influence to bear on the growing tragedy of the elephant, whose…
Portrait of the week
Home It would be ‘extremely difficult, if not impossible’ for an independent Scotland to join the European Union, José Manuel…
Penelope Lively’s diary: My old-age MOT
My surgery has been calling in all those over 75 for a special session with their doctor — a sort…
Hadrian on the Somerset levels
Since the Somerset Levels are a flood plain, nature will flood it. Romans had no problems with that. Much of…
Spectator letters: Wind and bias, and the Scots at war
Caution over wind Sir: While the broadcast media have assailed their audiences with simplistic yet blanket coverage of the floods…
Britain needs small government, not weak government. That means strong flood defences
There is nothing inevitable about the by now familiar sight of residents being towed away from flooded homes, of shops…
Portrait of the week: as the waters continue to rise
Home Floods grew worse in the West Country. The village of Moorland, Somerset, was abandoned. Then the Thames flooded, from…
White Dee's diary: From Benefits Street to Downing Street?
There’s no reason why you should have heard of me. No reason why you would have watched a Channel 4…
Barometer: The kamikaze pilot who retired after three missions
A kamikaze pilot at 80 The Japanese city of Minami-Kyushu was attacked for wanting to add the letters of 1,036…
Ancient Rome’s fraudulent foreign students
Foreign students getting on to courses under false pretences, overstaying their welcome and so on are nothing new. Ask the Romans.…
Australian letters
Keep the Lord’s Prayer Sir: Chris Ashton has outlined three reasons why recitation of the Lord’s Prayer should be removed…
Floods of incompetence - why Chris Smith should resign from the Environment Agency
When Prince Charles arrived in Somerset to meet some of those caught up in the disaster which in five weeks…
Portrait of the week: water, water, everywhere
Home The Somerset Levels continued to wallow in floods. The Environment Agency was widely blamed for not having dredged channels,…
Alexander McCall Smith’s diary: Meeting Babar’s creator
As any author will tell you, literary festivals differ widely. If you are invited to Willy Dalrymple’s Jaipur Festival, with…
Barometer: When Britain was good at the Winter Olympics
Our first winter Hopes will not be high for a big haul of British medals in Sochi, but we have…
Spectator letters: Bernard Jenkin and the cabbies fight back, rising school fees, Nigel Lawson on aid
Private pain Sir: A line in Alec Marsh’s article (‘Britain’s one-child policy’, 1 February) caught my eye; that school fees…
The Tory rebels have two choices: shut up or lose the election
Things could scarcely be going better for the Conservatives. Every week seems to bring more news of the recovery. High…
Portrait of the week
Home Britain’s gross domestic product grew by 1.9 per cent last year, the most since 2007, according to the Office…
Conrad Black’s diary: Why I won’t join the campaign against Rob Ford
When visiting Britain and Australia last November, I discovered that the mayor of Toronto, Robert Ford, is now the world’s…
The political lives of Walter Mitty
The political life of Walter Mitty Nigel Farage attacked the ‘Walter Mittys’ in his own party. A few of the…
