In defence of 2020
In what I am trying to turn into a tradition, I usually take time at the end of the year…
Putin’s New Year’s resolution: survive
Even in tough times, Russia tends to put on a show to welcome the New Year, and 2020/21 is no…
The EU is a divided house
What does 2021 hold for the European Union? At the end of 2020 Brussels has gone out of its way…
2020: Orwell or Huxley?
One need not be a Hebrew prophet of old to be able to discern the times and give more or…
How 2020 became the year of the New Pharisees
One of Australia’s great singer/songwriters, Paul Kelly, has a very insightful song titled, ‘Little Kings’. It’s about how “everywhere the…
Harry and Meghan’s podcast of political correctness
Why is there not a single trans voice featured in Harry and Meghan’s first podcast? It’s a question that needs…
Johnson’s Brexit deal sails through the Commons
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal has passed the Commons with a majority of 448 at its third reading – with MPs voting…
Let’s bust some vaccine myths
Today is a great day for all of us. The licensing of the ChAdOx vaccine will mean a step change…
2020 was the year the tide turned in the trans wars
2020 will, of course, be remembered as the year in which Covid-19 was unleashed on the world. But it is…
Can’t get no satisfaction? Try, for a happier New Year
The older I get, the less inclined I am to make New Year’s resolutions. Perhaps I’ve developed an unconscious superstition…
Tory Brexiteers approve Boris Johnson’s deal
When Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal comes to a vote in the Commons on Wednesday, expect a bigger rebellion on the…
Why the EU’s vaccine strategy is failing
What a joy it would be still to be in the EU. We could, for example, be part of the bloc’s…
Is the new variant of COVID really more transmissible?
When the story of the new Covid-19 variant broke, my initial reaction was scepticism. I thought this new strain could…
A UK-India trade deal is needed now more than ever
Within a year of being elected leader of the Conservative party, David Cameron made clear the importance with which he…
The problem with Johnson’s Brexit deal
Boris Johnson has delivered a deal that I must admit is miles better than I had anticipated. Mind you, I…
My New Year’s resolution: no more Mr Science guy
My New Year’s resolution for 2021 is to go full bore whacko religious on climate change. No more Mr Science…
Seven Ohio counties show why Trump lost as Republicans won
At the end of the day, the votes cast and counted determine who wins and who loses. Though it might…
Britain should now brace itself for a barrage of Brussels red tape
Should we be worried that the UK didn’t get all that it wanted for financial services in the UK-EU Trade…
Where have all the lesbians gone?
I miss lesbians. It is true that most homosexual men don’t have too many integrated in our lives, but most…
A Priti poem: an ode to the Home Secretary
Priti Patel, Ms Priti Patel, Burnished by sunshine of far Israel, How we all cheered when on Marr you did…
The rise and fall of Netflix
In 2010, Jeff Bewkes, then CEO of Time Warner, was asked if he thought Netflix had any chance of taking…
What has happened to parenting?
During a recent webinar with British MPs, I learned that parents in Bradford were up in arms because their children…
The small print of Boris’s Brexit deal makes for reassuring reading
The new UK/EU Treaty is needlessly long and turgid in its prose: this document was not drafted by people who…
Why 2020 was the fourth best year in history
The Spectator has a long and proud history of fact-based optimism, sometimes represented by an end-of-the-year article explaining that statistics…
Why a row about the rise of Hitler has erupted in the German press
A debate is playing out in the German-speaking media about whether inflation or deflation was behind the rise of Adolf…
