God and the Rock – and our parliament and liberties
If there is one thing that I agree most whole-heartedly with, it is the need to let people speak their…
Q&A hits a new low
When I was at university four decades ago, debate raged about the evils of racism, capitalism, colonialism, orientalism and of…
Dan Andrewstan: punch police horses; protest the Cup the next week
The pugnacious pernicious parade of protestors who packed a few powerful punches on “good old Will the police horse” last…
Who’s listening? Civilized debate is dead
This article is in The Spectator’s November 2019 US edition. Subscribe here. Today nearly all real public discussion has become impossible. Which…
Trans rights, voter wrongs
This article is in The Spectator’s November 2019 US edition. Subscribe here. Donald Trump will probably be reelected in 2020 – not…
Can tactical voting apps help thwart Boris’s majority?
“Was Red Wedge pro-Labour, or did we just hate Tories?” asked musician Billy Bragg, when he launched his tactical vote…
The fall of the Wall and my years as The Spectator’s man behind the Iron Curtain
Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was strictly optional. Most of the heroes…
Kanye West, holy fool
Kanye, famous for deifying himself, has found God. For some, Kanye’s konversion is the latest chapter in an eye-rollingly bonkers…
What now for Hong Kong – and our China appeasers?
Working at Radio Hong Kong during the Cultural Revolution was my first introduction to politics in China. It was a…
Tinker, tailor, Abbott – spy?
Our non-cisgendered prominent political personage from the Progressive Canberra Cadre writes: GULAG’s confidence in the public service has been reinforced by…
Why is the ABC justifying violence?
Tonight our national broadcaster will take a step too far. It will lose all right to pretend that it’s “unbiased”…
Sunday shows round-up: Nigel Farage – I will not stand at this election
Boris Johnson – I’m ‘sorry’ we did not meet our Halloween deadline Sophy Ridge began her show with a pre-recorded…
The hole at the heart of Tory economics
Whatever else is true of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, they have communicated a fairly clear idea of what they…
Corbyn’s class war is the last thing Britain needs
Jeremy Corbyn’s election launch was a declaration of class war. He was ‘going after’ some named individuals who he portrayed…
The United Nations is a joke with zero credibility on human rights
Tell us something we don’t know, mate, I can hear you saying right about now. Sure, it’s nothing new, yet no…
Confessions of a White House staffer
Oh no, the pipes in Stephen Miller’s office are leaking again. We need to fix them and apparently it’s up…
Corbyn is right to condemn Boris’s cynical fracking u-turn
For once, Jeremy Corbyn is right. The government’s announcement of a moratorium in fracking is an election stunt – and…
A Citizens’ Assembly on climate change is the coward’s way out
So is it good news that Citizens’ Assemblies are to sit to decide on how best to address the issue…
Why both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn think they’ll benefit from this TV head to head
Normally wrangles about TV debates go on for weeks before one is agreed. Yet, before the election campaign has even…
Brexiteers shouldn’t vote for the Brexit party
The only person ever elected for the Brexit party’s predecessor, Ukip, at a General Election, I really can’t see the…
Boris is taking a huge gamble with an election – but it could pay off
Contrasting Boris Johnson’s enthusiasm for a general election with Jeremy Corbyn’s reluctance, it would be easy to assume that the…
Portrait of the week: An election date is set, al-Baghdadi dies and a row over gay giraffes
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, having shelved his Brexit Bill in the face of parliamentary opposition, persuaded the Commons…
Nick Timothy: Theresa May folded like a Brompton bike during the Brexit negotiations
As my train hurtles northward, my phone starts to buzz. Jeremy Corbyn has agreed to hold a December election. So:…
How unusual is a December general election?
A December election How unusual is a December general election? Of the 56 elections held since 1800, 5 essentially took…
Could a sex-strike solve Brexit?
Last week the Lawyers Group of the charity Classics for All held its fifth moot (cf. ‘meet’) in the Supreme…
