Cancel culture
The cancel culture wants to obliterate people who do, or more often say, the wrong thing (for example, that there…
My plans for a Covid inquiry
The public inquiry into the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has already started. Not the official one, which won’t…
Why should opinion matter more than science?
In 1846 Vienna, as across much of the world, a relatively new disease called puerperal (or ‘childbed’) fever had reached…
Bridge
Gunnar Hallberg moved to England from Sweden 25 years ago to play professional bridge, and made such a success of…
Low life
Phone calls aside, the only human contact I had on my ten-day Somme battlefield tour was with the lady who…
Real life
‘I need an ambulance!’ yelled the builder boyfriend into his mobile phone as the cyclist lay bleeding from a head…
Dear Mary
Q. Our daughter is going ahead with her wedding despite the restriction on guest numbers. Although it is a relief…
High life
The enforced boredom of lockdown has been replaced by a feeling of loss. My nephew by marriage, Hansie Schoenburg, died…
Portrait of the Week
Home A coronavirus vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, tested on 1,077 people, was found to induce antibodies and…
Royal Notebook
Not since the befuddled twilight of George III has a monarch been confined to Windsor Castle for such a duration.…
Patently wrong
In the past 30 years, I have driven about 8,000 miles in France in right-hand-drive cars. And I would be…
Diary
I’ve been a regular runner for 40 years, pounding my way across Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House and back. This…
Barometer
Worth a shot? How worried should we be about people refusing to have a Covid-19 vaccine if one is developed?…
Watching the detective
In Competition No. 3158 you were invited to supply an extract describing a well-known fictional detective who finds themselves catapulted…
Obama’s disappearing legacy
This article is in The Spectator’s August 2020 US edition. Subscribe here to get yours. The presidency of Barack Obama was heralded…
Predictions of Trump’s demise may yet again be premature
Throughout the summer, various polls from the key battleground states indicate Joe Biden is in a very strong position. He…
Games organiser’s Olympic oversight
Given this year’s Tokyo games had to be called off because of the Covid pandemic, you would think those sitting…
Immune system regulation could be the key to fighting Covid
Over the last few months, the management of severe Covid-19 cases has effectively been turned on its head. At first,…
Boris Johnson’s absurd nanny state crusade
If reports in today’s papers are to be believed, the government will propose a new raft of nanny state policies on…
The Wall Street Journal hits back at staff’s ‘cancel culture’
Last month, the New York Times published an opinion piece by the US senator, Tom Cotton, calling for the army…
The Morrison Government’s coronavirus response has broken Australian politics
The Morrison Government’s economic response plan to the coronavirus outbreak has effectively broken Australian politics. Up is down, water is…
How much do face masks actually help?
The increasingly polarised and politicised views on whether to wear masks in public during the current Covid-19 crisis hides a…
