The Week
Letters: Jeff Jarvis defends internet companies, Royal Society fellows defend Lord Lawson
A net gain Sir: Jamie Bartlett tries to balance plus and minus, and ends with zero (‘Little Brothers are watching…
Christmas past in Spectator letters
This is a selection of seasonal letters from The Spectator’s 185-year archive, now online at archive.spectator.co.uk. The emblem to the…
George Osborne has seen the light on tax cuts. Now he needs to implement some more
George Osborne has not been a complete disappointment as Chancellor. He has, it is depressing to note, ended up giving…
Portrait of the week
Home George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that average energy bills would be brought £50 lower through government…
Steve Punt's diary: Britain is now living in a middle-class parody of itself
One of the most dispiriting experiences currently available is any commercial break during a televised football match. In a Champions…
Master charlatans at work
To watch the Revd Paul Flowers being grilled by the Treasury Select Committee on his role in the demise of…
Barometer: Who snorts more cocaine — the rich or the poor?
The darkest day Several people were injured on ‘Black Friday’, a day of retail discounting imported from the US, where…
Letters
Climate scientists write… Sir: Lord Lawson has written in his diary (30 November) under the online summary headline ‘my secret…
Our enemy is not global warming. In Britain, people are dying of the cold
Fanciful predictions of all the deaths that will result from climate change, decades into the future, are regularly thrown into…
Portrait of the week
Home Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland, outlined Scottish National Party plans for independence, which included keeping the pound…
Nigel Lawson's diary: My secret showdown with the Royal Society over global warming
The long-discussed meeting between a group of climate scientists and Fellows of the Royal Society on the one side, and…
Barometer
Third-class thinking A report by the Institute of Economic Affairs recommended standing-room-only third-class carriages as an alternative to longer trains…
Barometer: How the new 'third class' would be worse than the Victorian version
The grim tales of ‘modern slavery’ that are currently emerging across the UK make one wonder whether ancient Roman slavery…
Alex Salmond's economic policies would drive an independent Scotland into the ground
Within the white paper on economic policy in an independent Scotland that was published by Alex Salmond’s government this week…
Portrait of the week
Home The government announced proposals for the National Health Service, including a law to criminalise wilful neglect by doctors and…
Mishal Husain's diary: Sachin, women secret agents, shipbuilding .. and telling the time.
I’ve worked for the BBC for years and have been listening to the Today programme all my adult life, but…
Barometer: How many of today's Ukippers voted Tory in 2010?
Brave new words ‘Selfie’ was declared to be Oxford Dictionaries’ ‘word of the year’. It hasn’t, however, yet been added…
The age of consent according to Aristotle
Prime Minister Cameron has rejected the proposal that the age of sexual consent be reduced from 16 to 15, arguing…
Letters
No middle way Sir: Ask not whether Iran wants to negotiate with us; ask whether we want to negotiate with…
Vive la France! Everyone else, led by Obama, is capitulating to Iran
President Obama’s flagship foreign policy of ‘leading from behind’ has had some surprising consequences. Not least among them is that…
Portrait of the week
Home EDF Energy said it would put up prices by 3.9 per cent. BT Sport spent £897 million on the rights…
Celia Walden's diary: Have I finally caught my husband in an affair?
For a minute I just stood there with my back against the wall, staring at the credit card receipt. Then…
Barometer: David Dimbleby is not alone (unfortunately)
Whose tattoos? David Dimbleby, 75, has had a scorpion tattooed on his right shoulder. Some more tattoo-wearers who perhaps ought…
Letters: Cyclists reply to Rod Liddle, and an MP replies to Hugo Rifkind
Rod rage Sir: Like most cyclists, who also own a car and pay road tax, I enjoy a pedal along…
We are not 'tired of war'. We are tired of lack of leadership to win one
One remarkable fact of recent years is that even as the veterans of the first world war have died and…
