Cortana
At the Queen’s Coronation, the Duke of Northumberland carried the Sword of Mercy called Cortana. I mention this for three…
Serious concerns
It’s funny, isn’t it, how a dust jacket on a book can draw you to it from the other end…
Stuck on stucco
Whenever the words ‘stucco house’ appear in the newspapers, you can be certain the occupiers have been up to no…
A new path to the top of the teaching tree
A few months ago I joined forces with Sir Anthony Seldon, the vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, to run an idea…
How the left wastes its energy
There are only three infallible rules in advertising. Be distinctive. Make a lot of noise. And try to feature a…
Australian diary
Hoots of derision greeted me when I began predicting at the beginning of the year that Donald Trump would win…
Thucydides on Donald Trump
‘America’s journey into the great unknown’, screamed a headline greeting Donald Trump’s election as next President of the United States.…
Barometer
Long divisions Donald Trump reaffirmed his plan for a border wall between the US and Mexico, but said parts might…
Obituary: Eric Christiansen
Over the past year, we have lost two names cherished by Spectator readers. Rodney Milnes, our opera critic for 20…
High Court lawbreakers
On 2 July this year, a handful of Australians from the West, numbering in the tens of thousands, dispatched a…
When bias is patently clear
Here is journalist Rex Murphy of Canada’s National Post calling out the patent bias of so many journalists and opinion…
Business/Robbery etc
The hidden cost of Australian nanny-state ‘do-good’ legislation is out of control – and you’re paying for it. Only the…
National Hunt racing
‘A more thrilling, uplifting, glorious way of living has yet to be invented,’ the jockey John Francome said of National…
Jail break
One of the stated objectives of this week’s brief strike by prison officers was to publicise the dire conditions in…
Dis-con notes
The next Abbott ministry Writing here on October 1 last, I said: ‘The Liberal Party now desperately needs a leader…
New York notes
The great persuader The shock was total. Jaws had dropped, faces were stunned. ‘How could this be?’ was the thought…
Trumpian notes
Gavin McInnes won Australians’ hearts and minds when he called Waleed Aly an ‘East Indian retard virgin micro-penis’, and I…
Trump’s bandwagon
The agility with which both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have innovatively attempted to leap upon the Donald Trump bandwagon…
Letters
Wisdom of crowds Sir: According to Matthew Parris (‘Can we trust the people?’ 12 November), I have become part of the…
Latham’s law
I have a confession to make. When late last year, on the ill-fated panel show The Verdict, I publicly declared…
Portrait of the week
Home Nigel Farage, the caretaker leader of Ukip, was photographed with a smiling Donald Trump as the two men held…
Bridge
Have you ever felt that none of your partners are on the same wavelength as you? Despite regularly partnering the…
Diary
Nobody knows anything. William Goldman’s famous first law of the movie business — that no one can say before the…
In Trump’s Texas, the oil men awaken to hope of new prosperity
Houston, Texas It’s hard to find anyone in polite society here who admits to having voted for Trump, even among…
Another fine mess
I wonder why ENO has invested in a new production of Berg’s Lulu, when the previous one, which we first…
