The Week
Barometer
Worth a shot? How worried should we be about people refusing to have a Covid-19 vaccine if one is developed?…
Diary
A rare illness has broken out in Westminster. Last week a case of what was known before Brexit as ‘consensus’…
Letters
Growing pains Sir: James Forsyth (‘Rewiring the state’, 4 July) shocked this loyal Spectator reader with the following: ‘Even before…
The mask slips
When Michael Gove delivered the Ditchley Annual Lecture last month he spoke about why citizens feel that the political system…
Wars and unjust peace
In 1984, China agreed a ‘one country, two systems’ treaty with the UK, designed to control the relationship between Hong…
Portrait of the Week
Home New regulations would compel people to wear a face covering in shops in England from 24 July on pain…
Barometer
Take cover The government has said it will make wearing masks compulsory in shops. Mandatory masks rather run against the…
Letters
Police relations Sir: As a former Met Police officer, with a similar background to Kevin Hurley, I was surprised how…
Portrait of the week
Home Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced measures intended to stimulate the economy. Under a £111 million scheme,…
Home improvements
It is hardly a profound observation to say that the government has not functioned as well as it might have…
Diary
‘Musician’ is how I described myself to the nice Latvian lady interviewing me the other week for an ONS survey…
Barometer
Price of protest Greenpeace was fined £80,000 for defying a court order and occupying an oil rig in the North…
The chilling effect
The printed press is not a natural ally of Facebook. Silicon Valley publishers have hoovered up so much advertising that…
Letters
Deterring crime Sir: Rod Liddle is right to highlight the politicisation of the police as a source of their inadequacies,…
Portrait of the Week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, said he was ‘as fit as a butcher’s dog’ and did press-ups to prove…
Barometer
Leicester lockdowns Leicester was forced to impose the first local lockdown, in response to a reported surge in cases of…
Phantoms of liberty
Word has it that ministers already do not bother to argue their corner with the government’s inner ring, while a…
Diary
Do you remember where you were when the BBC showed a rerun of Bowie’s Glastonbury set? When we ask each…
Portrait of the week
Home Pubs in England would be allowed to reopen for table service from 4 July, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister,…
Britain emerges, blinking
The Prime Minister’s announcement that pubs, restaurants and many other facilities will be able to re-open on 4 July amounts…
Diary
‘Pray for us St Sebastian that we may deserve to pass through this pestilence,’ reads the inscription on a 15th-century…
Barometer
Voyage into history How did the Labour government respond to the arrival of the Empire Windrush on 22 June 1948?…
Assuming liability
When Covid-19 first appeared, its similarity to Sars made some assume it could not mount a pandemic; others that it…
Letters
Back to schools Sir: I share Lucy Kellaway’s enthusiasm for seeing school-life return and inequality gaps closed (‘A class apart’,…
Portrait of the week
Home Britain went into a frenzy of iconoclasm. The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was hidden by the…
