‘True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure – the greater the pressure, the deeper…

Now the election is over, here are our Awards for noteworthy service given to the democratic process over the last…

Currencies will plummet, markets will crash and there will be rioting on the streets of capitals. Followed, perhaps, by the…

Brexit, 1381 ad, and Turnbull’s election Well, the Brits did it. They defied the warnings and threats from ‘I got…

I’m reminded annually when I’ve nothing to wear on St Patricks Day that green is not my colour. Also during…

Ever wondered how it would feel to have a pack of journalists write about you? Especially one drooling to see…

A widely-publicised Iftar dinner, intended to show that Malcolm Turnbull gets what it means to be inclusive, ended badly after…

To the conventional leftish mind, the European Union is one of those sacred institutions handed down as though from on…

The British people have not only shown us how to recover our country from the elites, Brexit has further reduced…

Last October, I wrote in these pages that those on the centre-right might one day regret the change of prime…

The Tory party is in a deeply emotional state. Remain-supporting MPs cry tears of rage when they discuss the referendum.…

Boris Johnson famously said that Winston Churchill would have voted for Brexit. The wartime leader’s grandson — staunch Remainer and…

It ought not to be a surprise that Alex Salmond, Scotland’s former First Minister, has declared that the vote to…

Noel Malcolm It may sound both Pollyannaish and paradoxical to say this, but leaving the EU will enable us to…

Dear Jeremy, Please don’t go. I know you’re even more unpopular than the England football team right now — your…

In Italy, media coverage of the triumph of Brexit has been wall-to-wall as Italians worry about the collateral damage and…

Is Donald Trump an idiot or a genius or a mad idiot genius? He seems driven by some demented force…

The most striking thing about Britain’s break with the EU is this: it’s the poor wot done it. Council-estate dwellers,…

There have been three great captains of Pakistan. The first was A.H. Kardar, the country’s first Test captain. Born in…

On Saturday at Mont St Michel, the 103rd edition of the Tour de France begins, and the favourite to win…

Home David Cameron, standing in the middle of Downing Street with his wife Samantha alone near him, announced his resignation…

Referendum day is as nondescript and wet as the day before, happily spent in Cambridge at my son’s Leo’s graduation.…

Repeat until fade More than three million voters disappointed by the result of the EU referendum have signed a petition…

A traitor to one man is a hero to another. So debate rages around the role of David Cameron’s old…

From ‘Preparation for peace’, The Spectator, 1 July 1916: All industrial development relies in the last resort upon human energy,…

A rational vote Sir: There has been a lot of bile poured out about those who voted Leave by the…

During the referendum campaign, it seemed at times as if a competition was on to issue the most hyperbolic claim…

Religion of peace? Sir: Chris Ashton (“It’s the religion, stupid”, 18 June 2016) refers to Christianity’s “relative peacefulness, especially today”.…

A few hours after voting started in the European Union referendum, Populus released its final opinion poll showing a ten-point…

It sounds logical that Vote Leave should now disband, since the people have obligingly voted Leave, but is it wise?…

I think my favourite moment of the referendum campaign was John Major’s intervention, a couple of weeks before polling day.…

There are lies, damned lies and pretending to back Remain. I lie because I am a coward. I hug friends…

‘How do we feel about leaving the EU today? Who doesn’t give a fook?’ yelled Oli Sykes of Sheffield’s Bring…

‘Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.’ I think this is…

My column calling Brexit campaigners ‘hooligans’ and ending ‘Reader, I voted Remain’, caused quite a stir — coinciding as it…

In 1927, while delivering the lectures that would later be published as Aspects of the Novel, E.M. Forster made a…

Rose Tremain sets the true story of Police Captain Paul Grüninger, commander of the Swiss border force in Canton Saint…

‘La France,’ as everyone knows, is female. Perhaps this is due to gendered assumptions about the beauty, cuisine and couture…

Craig Raine is a pugnacious figure in the fractious world of contemporary poetry. When his poem ‘Gatwick’ appeared in the…

Which disease are you most scared of catching: Ebola or influenza? Before I read this medical memoir, I would have…

‘How can you come into this room and ask me “What is the purpose of life?”,’ wails Massive Attack’s laconic…

Such is the veneration in this country for the St Ives school of painters, it’s easy to forget that other…

On 1 July 1916, along a frontage of 18 miles, 100,000 British infantrymen — considerably more than the entire strength…

‘You are the most adorable man and artist, intelligent, gifted, simple, loving and noble… I am really very, very lucky…

France’s problems today should lessen the condescension of posterity towards Louis XVI. Presidents of the Republic have proved just as…

Pascal Garnier’s novella Too Close to the Edge (Gallic, £7.99, translated by Emily Boyce) deals with the boredom of middle…

Comedy and tragedy sit close beside one another in Mozart’s operas. Whether it’s the grinning horror of the Così finale…

It’s sadly possible to imagine that The Living and the Dead was sold to BBC1’s commissioning editors as ‘Poldark meets…

Amid predictable demands for increased funding for the arts, The Australian Ballet is setting off on its 25th ( yes,…

Paradoxically, some ballet masterworks absolutely depend on tiptop performing to demonstrate how great they are. If they don’t get it,…

Mike Bartlett’s curious blank-verse drama Charles III became an international hit. His new effort examines the cut-throat world of dark-web…

A brief encounter with Radio 4’s Any Questions to gauge the measure of opinion in the shires after the referendum…

Woolworth’s spectacles. Pudding-basin haircut, rather sparse. Norfolk jacket. Pyjama cuffs below trouser legs and sleeves. Paints and brushes in an…

Tate Modern’s new Switch House extension in London has been greeted with acclaim. It is a building designed in the…

Perhaps you have sometimes wondered: how would you even begin to make a film about going blind and being blind…

The Brexit vote has thrust this country into chaos. It has left it with neither a government nor an opposition…

A few weeks ago, I took part in a debate at the Cambridge Union about the future of the Labour…

White to play. This position is from Nakamura-Caruana, Leuven Blitz 2016. White can now win material. What is the key…

Journalists are chronic exaggerators. Strong words are always being thrown away on trivial events. ‘Whitehall was shocked last night as…

On referendum day, my mother leaned on my arm for support and we walked slowly and carefully up the steps…

One of the unclued entries (two words) defines the others (two of which are hyphened), which are all real words.…

I have worked in advertising for 28 years. In that time I have seen many briefs for communication campaigns, but…

The two most beautiful words in the history of the world, in any language, are ‘Molon labe’, the accent on…

We fled Balham after the result, having been outed as the only Leave voters in Lambeth. The builder boyfriend and…

The first two legs of this year’s Grand Chess Tour have now been staged in Paris and Leuven. There will…

In Competition No. 2954 you were invited to supply an ode to a greasy spoon, a challenge prompted by a…

‘Harry the King, BEDFORD (19) and EXETER (18), WARWICK (1D) and TALBOT (25), SALISBURY (4A) and GLOSTER (12)’ (Henry V,…

The post The Battle for Britain appeared first on The Spectator.

Q. The setting was dinner for 16 at one of Europe’s most civilised houses. Sitting on the right of the…

‘One referendum, two referenda,’ chanted my husband. ‘No, no, it’s a gerund. The English plural is referendums,’ interrupted Veronica, red…

At 11.59am – the internationally accepted end of the working day – my portable telephone melodies. Caught off guard, I…

Congratulations — yet again — to the England women’s bridge team, who last week won gold at the European championships…