The Week
Portrait of the week: Britain leaves the EU, coronavirus evacuations and a great day for Trump
Home The United Kingdom quietly left the European Union at 11 p.m. GMT on 31 January. Boris Johnson, the Prime…
Sarah Sands: I never wanted to climb the BBC career ladder
After I took the editor’s job at Today on Radio 4 nearly three years ago I had to answer to…
Is the Wuhan coronavirus really that deadly?
Mumbo jumbo The Prime Minister called opposition to imports of US-produced food ‘mumbo jumbo’. The expression was introduced to the…
The ancients would have thought Boris was deluded
The gloom that envelopes the Labour party stands in strong contrast to the confidence and hope that the Prime Minister…
Objects of desire
‘Homosexuality without the cant’, by Simon Raven, 14 June 1968: ‘All virile societies,’ writes Mary McCarthy à propos the Florentines,…
Letters: Innovation has been stifled in Britain for too long
The chance to fail Sir: Matt Ridley’s article ‘Risky business’ (1 February) offers a variety of reasons why innovation has been…
Britain is taking on a new role – as the European Union’s strongest ally
The moment of Britain’s departure from the EU was always likely to be an anticlimax, both for those who expect…
Portrait of the week: Withdrawal Agreement signed, Huawei allowed in – and coronavirus spreads
Home Using a Parker fountain pen (a brand now made in Nantes), Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, signed the EU…
Rory Stewart: How will Brexit be remembered when my son gets to my age?
I still live in the same house, in London, in which I lived as a baby. I walk my five-year-old…
Who leads the global 5G market?
In the beginning How did Britain mark its entry into the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973? There were no…
Lord Heseltine could launch a Farage-style fight-back
Lord Heseltine’s electrifying hair once whipped the party faithful into paroxysms of euphoria. But since today he sees his hopes…
Letters: Cats are clearly right-wing
Enemies on the left Sir: James Forsyth’s article ‘Labour must change to win’ (25 January) describes how little appetite the…
Britain’s misguided approach to asylum is threatening lives
The news this week could easily have led with the deaths of 14 Afghan and Iraqi migrants in the English…
Portrait of the week: Prince Harry leaves, Jess Phillips drops out and Trump goes on trial
Home The Duke of Sussex left England to join his wife, Meghan, in Canada. This followed an agreement that stripped…
Andrew Doyle: I may have to kill off Titania McGrath
I start the week by going through my iPhone to delete the numbers of former friends. It sounds depressing, but…
How much public income does the royal family receive?
Parliamentary motions The government floated the idea of moving the House of Lords permanently to York. Until it was found…
What would the ancient Greeks have made of Megxit?
There are as many explanations for Harry and Meghan’s problems with the royal family as there are commentators. May as…
Mr Pooter goes to Europe
By Leo McKinstry, The Spectator, 17 August 2002: The modern MEP is a titan of tedium, a figure whose every…
Letters: Slimming down the monarchy will only hasten its decline
Royal travails Sir: The travails of the royal family outlined by Penny Junor (‘In check’, 18 January) may be public…
Treating oil companies as pariahs will kill off any green revolution
When fossil fuel divestment was merely a gesture by universities, the Church of England and the Prince of Wales it…
Portrait of the week: Harry and Meghan quit, America avoids war and the Labour leadership race begins
Home The Queen agreed to ‘a period of transition’ during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would spend time…
I was joking about Meghan and Harry becoming king and queen of Canada
Washington, D.C. On 8 January, I tweeted about the Sussex-Markles: ‘Obviously the plan is to return to Canada, lead a…
How can Harry and Meghan cash in?
Royal flush The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have registered the trademark ‘Sussex Royal’ as part of their plan to…
Does ‘equality’ mean the same to Rebecca Long-Bailey as it did to Plato?
The candidates battling for the leadership of the Labour party never stop banging on about ‘social justice’ and ‘equality’. But…
Letters: I was once on Prince Harry’s side. Not any more
On child care Sir: Your recent editorial deplores, among other things, the cost of child care, to which you attribute…
