The R-number – and the danger of false certainty
Not much about Boris Johnson’s Sunday night television address was clear. The one definite new measure – one which will…
Whatever happened to economic leadership from business?
Having reached the pinnacles of their profession, business leaders have earned the right to speak with authority and have become…
We should heed the world’s warnings about China
Mathias Döpfner is that still rare thing — an outspoken German. I have known him slightly for many years and…
Should churches be among the first to reopen?
Last week the Prime Minister launched his Three-Step plan to ease COVID restrictions with Stage 1 allowing up to 30 people…
I see dead people
Beaming Boris attends the birth of his son showing the political power of looking healthy. Juxtapose COVID Boris in intensive care,…
Matt Canavan treats the trolls to a special Mother’s Day lunch
Senator and former resources minister Matt Canavan is on track to have a wonderful Mother’s Day. Not only did…
Kayleigh McEnany’s media jujitsu
Kayleigh McEnany, President Trump’s new White House press secretary, has breathed new life into the briefing room and already proven…
Why is the EU sharing loopholes in its own anti-terror rules?
You know those stories about how the EU is banning busty barmaids or Bombay mix that turn out to have…
New York has mismanaged COVID-19 from top to bottom
Andrew Cuomo is having the time of his life. His approval ratings are through the roof and he’s being talked…
Euro notes
Europe’s bogus bogeyman The coronavirus pandemic is proving a tough time for the Left. The all-consuming focus on a real…
Queens of print
The Spectator has been celebrating its 10,000th UK issue with justifiable pride; it is an astounding achievement. Australia has long…
For now, age isn’t just a number
When I told my seven-year-old granddaughter, over Zoom, how much I missed being with her, I added: ‘Maybe it won’t…
It’s not us, China – it’s you
Like nearly everything named a ‘scandal’, ‘affair’ or given the post-fix ‘gate’, almost nobody now remembers the Dalai Lama affair.…
Don’t throw money at airlines now: wait for creative destruction ahead
British Airways warns of 12,000 redundancies. Ryanair announces 3,000 job losses as ‘a minimum to survive the next 12 months’;…
Owls
My tawny owl has been self-isolating. I say mine but in truth she chose the nest box in my neighbour’s…
The health of the people
The Prime Minister recently quoted Cicero’s famous dictum salus populi suprema lex esto, translating it as ‘Let the health (salus)…
Hope in a takeaway bag
You don’t dine in the age of pandemic: you scuttle about in the wreckage. If you can afford food, and…
Going solo
In Competition No. 3147 you were invited to submit tips on social isolation in the style of a well-known writer.…
On track and trace
The concept of the state tracking our every movement is anathema to this magazine and, we assume, to its liberal…
Hello, boys
‘Naughty little nudes,’ my history of art teacher used to say of Cranach’s Eves and Venuses. Aren’t they just? Coquettish…
Doggie style
This week I’d like to point you in the direction of the British Film Institute and its free online archive…
High life
Gstaad Let me begin with a salute to the winner of this year’s Sir Jimmy Goldsmith prize: Professor Neil Ferguson.…
