Diary
One strange consequence of my job as a foreign correspondent is discovering beautiful places when terrible things happen in them.…
Heroism at Gallipoli
From ‘Sir Ian Hamilton’s dispatch’, The Spectator, 3 July 1915: The Dardanelles affair is a war in itself — much more…
Portrait of the week
Home In his Budget, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, slowed the planned rate of bringing in £12 billion…
Chorus of disapproval
If heartwarming, against-the-odds, triumph-over-adversity, wrong-side-of-the-tracks films float your boat and you are in no way demanding then The Choir is…
Première league
This year the Proms are to stage 21 world premières and 11 European, UK or London premières. It is good…
Première league
This year the Proms are to stage 21 world premières and 11 European, UK or London premières. It is good…
The beat goes on
It’s rare that I see a piece about music that makes me want to cheer from the rafters and shake…
The beat goes on
It’s rare that I see a piece about music that makes me want to cheer from the rafters and shake…
Epitaph for a Star
A chance in a million: he was perfectly cast In the role of his own life, though he almost flipped…
Consider this…
Save humans from Greens I visited the mid coast of NSW in recent days, staying in Kempsey, at the invitation…
Consider this…
Save humans from Greens I visited the mid coast of NSW in recent days, staying in Kempsey, at the invitation…
Greek disease
This week, Greeks voted to reject a tough debt deal imposed by the European Union and the German-dominated European Central…
Good and bad politics: the Budget against a backdrop of Greek chaos
George Osborne’s Budget was good politics: not so much in terms of tactical point-scoring, though there was plenty, but in…
Remember when Britain could build stuff?
Heathrow. The whole British story is there. Reading up around that debacle last week, I came across the eye-watering —…
Greeks just want to keep what they’ve got
We were breakfasting outside on the morning of the Greek referendum. The result could only be guessed at and all…
Osborne’s mission: erase every trace of Brown
To understand George Osborne, it is important to realise that he cut his political teeth at the height of the…
The Spectator’s notes
Even if everything goes wronger still, the Greek No vote is a great victory for the left. Until now, the…
Behind the Black Flag curtain
So you’ve just popped out of town for the day on an errand. And when you get back, everyone has…
Forget the EU – we need the Hanseatic League
I think it is time to put into effect my plan for the re-shaping of the European Union. A somewhat…
Fracking Lancashire
Not since the discovery of North Sea oil has the country had such an incredible opportunity
Portrait of the week
Home At least 30 British people were among 38 shot dead at a beach resort at Sousse in Tunisia by…
Diary
Plus: the Woodstock vibe at Sweden’s annual political festival; and what Britain gets right about immigration
Barometer
Plus: How many runways big airports need; and what Nicky Morgan probably doesn’t mean by ‘coasting’
Solon vs Jean-Claude Juncker
The EU is pursuing just the sort of policy that took ancient Athens into deep trouble
Secret weapons
From ‘Bogy-Mongering’, The Spectator, 3 July 1915: Of late there have been all sorts of dark hints and rumours as to…
