The Week
Portrait of the week
Home A storm passed over England, with plenty of warning. The strongest gust, of 99mph, was recorded at Needles Old…
Alexander Waugh's diary: Shakespeare was a nom de plume — get over it
Researching a new book on Shakespeare’s sonnets, I stumbled upon an astonishing piece of hitherto unnoticed evidence in a 16th-century…
Which NHS staff have enjoyed the biggest salary increases?
What can they do? Saudi women took to the wheel in defiance of laws preventing them from driving. Some recent…
Grayson Perry thinks democracy has bad taste. Is that why he sells luxury goods to the rich?
‘Democracy has bad taste’, declared potter Grayson Perry in his Reith Lectures on the BBC about art. Tell that to…
Letters
Not fair on cops Sir: Nick Cohen (‘PCs gone mad’, 26 October) claims that the police are deliberately attacking the press…
How the Spectator helped blow the whistle on health tourism
In February, an NHS surgeon came to The Spectator’s offices to discuss a piece he felt it was time to…
Portrait of the week
Home The government agreed a guaranteed price for electricity that persuaded a consortium led by the French-owned EDF Energy and…
Jonathan Aitken's diary: My life as a Christian outreach speaker
The last time I wrote for The Spectator I was sitting in a prison cell. I sent the then editor…
Letters to the Editor
Ridley’s wrong Sir: In last week’s issue the former Northern Rock chairman rejoiced in the ‘good news’ that climate change…
Why did Athenians resort to arbitration by hedgehog?
Since trial by jury is so expensive, government is keen to cut costs on legal aid by ‘alternative dispute resolutions’…
Barometer: How is the National Theatre like Tesco?
National statistics Some lesser-known facts about the National Theatre: — 26 per cent of its income comes from box office…
Global race? Lack of air routes means we're already on the slow boat to China
Trade missions are almost comically pointless nowadays, as George Osborne’s visit demonstrated this week in Beijing. He is right that…
The week: Property price record; Lampedusa drownings; 'basically' banned
Home Shares in Royal Mail, floated on the stock market at 330p, began trading at 475p. SSE, the energy supplier,…
Tristram Hunt's diary: Why has Gove allowed a school that makes women wear the hijab?
ONE OF THE MINOR sociological treats of being appointed shadow education secretary is a frontbench view of David Cameron’s crimson…
Should 'Union Jack' just be used at sea?
Union dispute Pedants suffered a blow as the chief vexillologist of the Flag Institute declared that the Union Jack and…
Gaddafi and the greatest sex tyrants in classical history
A new book about Colonel Gaddafi goes into shocking detail about his monstrous sexual appetites. He used rape as a…
Letters
A fat lot of good Sir: Max Pemberton is right that obesity is a terrible problem in western society (‘The…
George Osborne is blowing bubbles
In opposition, George Osborne said that you cannot borrow your way out of a debt crisis. In government, he has…
The week: Royal Mail shares; American shutdown; Afghan cricket
Home An issue of shares in Royal Mail was oversubscribed, pushing valuation well above initial forecasts of £3.3 billion. The…
Billy Bragg's diary: The right does not own freedom
A great night to be in Pittsburgh. The local baseball team, the Pirates, were attempting to reach their first play-offs…
Livy on Ed Miliband
What should we make of Ed’s support for his father Ralph against the Daily Mail? Livy’s life of Torquatus suggests…
Barometer: How many ghost towns are there in Britain?
Lost property The second-to-last surviving resident of St Kilda — a small archipelago 40 miles off the Outer Hebrides which…
Letters: Nurses reply to Mary Dejevsky, and Iggy Pop’s sherry habit
Nursing standards Sir: I share Mary Dejevsky’s concern regarding the impact of tired, overworked nurses on the quality of patient…
Miliband's la-la lurch to the left has revived the right
Every opposition leader sometimes needs to act as a saboteur. Ed Miliband showed his wrecking skills this week, picking a…
The week: 'Land of opportunity'; Obama phones Iran; glow-in-the-dark robber
Home Shares in Royal Mail are to be sold by the middle of this month, before postmen can go on…
