The Week
The only option
A little over a year ago, The Spectator printed a cover story about the risk of inflation. Britain, we argued,…
Portrait of the week
Home The British economy contracted by 0.3 per cent in April after shrinking by 0.1 per cent in March, according…
Letters
The leader we need? Sir: Matthew Parris excoriates Boris Johnson for administrative incompetence, mendacity, personal immorality and utter lack of…
First strike
The RMT union is threatening strikes to bring the country to a halt. Such activities have a long history in…
Diary
To Windsor for Garter Day, the first since 2019. With a strong voice and smiles for us all, the Queen…
The deportation debacle
The problem with the bishops in the upper chamber is not that they speak too much, but too little. The…
Barometer
He really is appalled Prince Charles was reported to have described the government’s plan to send asylum-seekers for processing in…
The invention of communism
Nostalgia wars are all the rage at the moment, but an extraordinary example appears to have been missed: a hammer…
Portrait of the week
Home Boris Johnson won a vote of confidence in him as prime minister among Conservative MPs by 211 votes to…
Letters
Saving general practice Sir: Regarding J. Meirion Thomas’s article (‘Medical emergency’, 4 June), traditional general practice continues to thrive in…
Air pirates
If you have a flight booked in the next few months, it’s time to worry. A new era of air…
Diary
I wish I could persuade certain cabinet ministers to put their money where their mouths are. Several times last month…
Barometer
Curry in favour The BBC apologised after one of its guests for the Jubilee coverage, Len Goodman, revealed that his…
Barometer
Long to reign over us The Queen is the world’s current longest-serving monarch, but two in history have had longer…
Queen and country
Rarely has a public figure taken a promise so seriously as the vow that Her Majesty the Queen made on…
Diary
When I was asked by an old friend to write this diary, I did my usual thing of: ‘Yeah I’d…
Call that a party?
The ancients certainly knew how to put on a celebration. Let us hope the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee comes up to…
Portrait of the week
Home The Jubilee for the Queen’s 70 years on the throne was marked by two days of public holiday, 16,000…
Letters
Russian misrule Sir: Your editorial (‘Sanction Schroder’, 21 May) laments that western sanctions may be harming ordinary Russians, given that…
Barometer
A slip of the tongue George W. Bush condemned a political system where one man could wage a ‘brutal and…
Johnson’s guilt
An ability to survive narrow scrapes has been one of Boris Johnson’s defining qualities. The pictures of Downing Street’s lockdown…
Soldiering on
Given Putin’s less than triumphant operation in Chechnya, where the Russian army suffered catastrophic losses, it is hardly surprising that…
Diary
I met a Canadian couple for lunch in Edinburgh. They were from Vancouver – he a judge, she an opera…
Letters
Applying myself Sir: It was interesting to read David Abulafia’s rather damning critique of the Oxbridge admissions process (‘Who’s out’,…
Portrait of the week
Home Sue Gray starched and ironed her report for publication after the Metropolitan Police wound up its own enquiries into…
