The Week
Britain’s jobs miracle proves there is no reason to fear technology
Another week, another set of economic figures that suggest the country is showing remarkable resilience while politics implodes. Rather than…
Portrait of the week: The Speaker resigns, BA pilots strike and Mugabe dies
Home A bill sponsored by Hilary Benn and supported by Alistair Burt and other dissident Tories was passed — becoming…
George Osborne: I tried to swap jobs with William Hague
I could be that rare thing: a former chancellor who is still a member of the Conservative party. Philip Hammond…
Does the outcome of the Ashes dictate who wins a general election?
Party speak Should the next Speaker of the House of Commons be a Labour MP on the basis that John…
Tacitus knew how to handle stories from ‘insiders’ and ‘sources’
We read much about ‘fake news’ these days and of efforts to rid the internet of it. But what of…
Letters: There is more to village life than shutters, benches and paint
Shambles at sea Sir: On 19 July Iranian Republican Guard forces captured the UK flagged tanker Stena Impero, as described…
The next election will be a referendum – on Corbynism
The next general election will have been precipitated by, and will inevitably be fought over, Brexit. Yet it will also…
Portrait of the week: Brexit gets complicated
Home The government was defeated by 328 to 301 on a motion to take over the business of the House,…
Rory Stewart: Am I still a Conservative?
My parents gave me a subscription to The Spectator in 1984, when I was 11. When I was 12, I…
How to deal with Brexit anger, according to the ancients
Sir Philip Pullman, tweeting that thoughts of hanging the PM came to mind after the decision to prorogue parliament, later…
How often has a general election been held on a Monday?
A Monday poll? The government was considering a general election on 14 October — a Monday. This raised eyebrows because…
Letters: History has not done justice to Neville Chamberlain
Helping the homeless Sir: The number of rough sleepers in one of the richest countries on the planet is surely…
The G7’s doomed effort to preserve the hegemony of white power
When the G7 was first convened in 1976 it made sense for those countries to gather. In a world divided…
Prue Leith: My plan to get real catering back into hospitals
Picture the scene: we are filming the opening link for The Great British Bake Off. Here I am in the…
Portrait of the week: Prorogation fury, cricketing glory and the PM’s pork pie
Home The government sought to prorogue parliament on 10 September and have the Queen’s Speech opening the new session of…
Is Trump’s suggestion to bomb hurricanes really that stupid?
Blowing against the wind President Trump was ridiculed for suggesting that hurricanes could be impeded on their passage across the…
For a solution to the backstop, team up like Rome and Carthage
The EU is demanding that, in return for a new deal, the UK must come up with a solution to…
Letters: Prince Harry has been searching for purpose since he left the army
Harry’s army career Sir: I believe Jan Moir has misread the situation over Harry and Meghan (‘By royal disappointment’, 24 August).…
To get a deal Boris needs to show (or fake) some humility
There were many Brexiteers who were urging Boris Johnson to travel to Washington before he went anywhere else, to underline…
Portrait of the week: back to the backstop, PC Harper’s death and the wrong kind of lightning
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, wrote to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, saying: ‘The backstop cannot…
Brace yourself for no deal
I AM up on the far north-west coast of Scotland, where the weather is changing every five minutes under vast skies…
How did Richard Braine become Dick Braine?
Name calling Richard Braine was appointed leader of Ukip, leading to jokes about the party being led by a ‘Dick…
Boris is facing his Sparta moment
The PM’s hero is the Athenian statesman Pericles, and a Periclean crossroads is now approaching. According to the biographer Plutarch,…
Letters: civil servants have ruined our trains
Travelling in discomfort Sir: I don’t agree with much of what Matthew Parris says these days, but he was spot…
Where’s Boris?
Before Boris Johnson became Prime Minister there was widespread expectation that his government would be chaotic. It was thought that…
