The Week
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, resisted calls for Parliament to be recalled to debate the crisis in Iraq. Philip Hammond,…
Diary
I made a welcome escape from sweltering Warsaw to the cloudy cool of Bodø, halfway up the coast of Norway,…
Demosthenes on Johnson and Salmond
The ancient Greek word for ‘ambition’ was philotimia: ‘love of high esteem in others’ eyes’. Both Boris and Alex Salmond…
Barometer
Ministerial needs Home Office minister Mark Simmonds resigned, complaining he couldn’t afford to live in London on his junior minister’s…
From the archives
From ‘The Call to Arms’, The Spectator, 15 August 1914: At this moment it is the duty of all employers,…
Australian Letters
Debating Israel Sir: I want to respond to Alan Gold’s article ‘Betraying Israel for the Muslim Vote’ in the August…
The welfare line
George Osborne proposed an attractive idea this week: that spending on state benefits should be diverted into new infrastructure in…
Portrait of the week
Home The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined 50 heads of state at the St Symphorien cemetery near Mons to…
Diary
Wellington, Ontario A British visitor to this village might be disoriented by the flags. They look almost exactly like the…
Bread, circuses and Hamas
There must be some reason why Hamas seems to remain quite unfazed by Israel’s merciless slaughter of its people. Perhaps…
Letters
Poor treatment Sir: Jane Kelly’s article (‘No tea or sympathy’, 2 August) on the lack of empathy and emotional support…
Unfair welfare
With Ukip snapping at the Conservatives’ heels, it is not difficult to see why David Cameron has hit upon the…
Portrait of the week
Home Britain is to halve to three months the time that EU migrants without realistic job prospects can claim benefits,…
Diary
I knew that the historian Sir Richard Evans was a rather abrasive and quarrelsome man, but I was staggered by…
Barometer
Off the shelf How do we boycott Putin? Some things we traded with Russia, by value, between March and May…
Hadrian on the limits of power
Michael Fallon, the new Defence Secretary, is a classicist by training. What lessons, if any, might he take from his…
Letters
Nepotism rules Sir: Julie Burchill’s piece ‘Born to be famous’ (26 July) was very strong and as, like her, I’m…
Let the people judge
Dominic Grieve was a worthy attorney-general whose career was helped by this magazine: nine years ago, he was named Spectator…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told Parliament that President Vladimir Putin of Russia should end his country’s support for…
Diary
Sport is like love: it can only really hurt you if you care. Or for that matter, bring joy. You…
Barometer
Commons inheritance Emily Benn, granddaughter of Tony and niece of Hilary, has won the right to stand for Labour in…
Plutarch on the iPhone
Adults, we are told, as much as children, become gibbering wrecks if deprived of their mobiles or iPhones for more…
Letters
Give the women a chance Sir: Melissa Kite’s article about the reshuffle seems downright unfair (‘A misogynistic reshuffle’, 19 July). Whatever…
School lessons
During his time as Education Secretary, Michael Gove would often have occasion to quote a passage of Machiavelli: ‘There is…
Portrait of the week
Home In a ministerial reshuffle, William Hague, who promised to leave Parliament at the election, was made Leader of the…
