The Spectator’s Notes
The Remain campaign takes as its model the ‘No’ one in the 2014 Scottish referendum. First and last — hence…
18 June 2016 AU
The post 18 June 2016 AU appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment…
Rise of the atrocity exhibitionists
Life is speeded up. It used to be that when a hideous atrocity occurred people waited a day or two,…
The day that Brexit camped in my kitchen
On Thursday last week, as the baby and I were moving in our usual slow circles around the house, from…
I’ve seen the future – and it’s beautiful
Berne, Switzerland Before we vote Brexit I thought I’d pop over to Switzerland — courtesy of Die Weltwoche, the nearest…
As my pen hovers over the ballot paper, I ask: am I a roundhead or a cavalier?
My pen hovers — but refuses to touch the postal ballot paper. I pour a drink (I won’t say whether…
It’s the religion, stupid
Predictably, the perverse hopes of a few so-called ‘commentators’ that the Orlando nightclub shooter would be a white, conservative Christian…
Brexit’s bitter harvest
Nick Cohen and Fraser Nelson discuss The Spectator’s decision to back Brexit: We British flatter ourselves that common sense is…
No. 413
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led…
Trump’s train wreck
If you think the Conservative party is in a bad way over Europe, spare a thought for the Republicans of…
Who’s sabotaging my Leave campaign?
I’ve never been a great believer in karma. After all, in the absence of some kind of cosmic enforcer of…
Daddy issues
Just in time for Fathers’ Day, when thousands of British men will receive cards addressed to ‘The World’s Best Dad!’,…
Gossip from the top table
In the 1970s, when there were many fewer restaurants in London, Locket’s was much the best place to eat around…
An elegy for Oldham
My home town of Oldham is the sort of place people imagine when they think of ‘The North’. It has…
Who to nudge next
‘For ten years or so, my name was “that jerk”,’ says Professor Richard Thaler, president of the American Economics Association…
Dear diaries
I am a compulsive diarist and have been since I was 16. My daughter fantasises that even as a mad…
The age of unreason
California legislators are considering a bill that would make debate on climate change illegal. The Orwellian-sounding Climate Science Truth and…
Gatton Park
Gatton Park is probably Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s least famous landscape. It is tucked away near Reigate Hill, just beyond the…
Campaign diary
I am encouraged to read my Senate colleague David Leyonhjelm’s Campaign Notes describing his party’s growing support. My experience has…
Cervantes the seer
William Egginton opens his book with a novelistic reimagining: here’s Miguel de Cervantes, a toothless old geezer of nearly 60,…
Missing in action
‘Missing in action is the worst state to which we can lose a human being,’ avers Commodore (Ret.) Ajith Boyagoda…
Into a cloud-scratched sky
There have been a number of attempts to graft the style of the so-called new nature writing onto the novel:…
The clean and the unclean
In 1991, Moby folded the theme from Twin Peaks into a remix of his dance track ‘Go’ and a diminutive,…
Greedy Greens
Being wrongly labelled is one of the dangers of political life and a threat to future political success, but we…
Park life
Petrichor. Coined as recently as 1964 but redolent of Eden onwards, the word appears in neither of these volumes but…
