Kemi’s one chance at recovery? Trussonomics
You may have noticed that for some while the BBC News people have stopped referring to Reform UK as ‘far…
Spectator Competition: Quirk related
In Comp. 3402 you were invited to submit a poem or passage about an unusual predilection. The quirks ranged from…
V&A’s new museum is a defiant stand against the vandals
In last week’s Spectator, Richard Morris lamented museum collections languishing in storage, pleading to ‘get these works out’. There’s an…
The Romans wouldn’t have put up with Thames Water
It is embarrassing to compare Thames Water’s efforts even to the Greeks, let alone the Romans. Most Greek cities got…
This is a dangerous moment for free speech
Britain without blasphemy laws is a surprisingly recent development. Blasphemy was abolished as a common law offence in England and…
How often do volcanoes erupt?
Under control UK air space is to be reorganised – the first wholesale change since the 1950s – to improve…
Portrait of the week: More defence spending, more migrant arrivals and more Jenrick stunts
Home The government said that the armed forces had to move to ‘warfighting readiness’ and accepted the 62 recommendations of…
Leave our period dramas alone!
It is a truth universally acknowledged that any article about Jane Austen must begin with a mangled, platitudinous variation on…
Satire is nothing without contempt
On 30 April, the solicitors Mishcon de Reya asked me to join a panel commemorating the 25th anniversary of the…
Don’t be fooled by the euphemisms around assisted dying
It’s funny the ways we lie to ourselves. The little lies. The white ones. We say we’re exhausted when we…
Spare us from ‘experimental’ novels
Some sorts of books and dramas have very strict rules. We like a lot of things to be absolutely predictable.…
Literate and sensitive romance: Falling Into Place reviewed
Falling Into Place is a love story written by Aylin Tezel, directed by Aylin Tezel, and starring Aylin Tezel. That’s…
In praise of Michael O’Leory
NatWest has returned to full private-sector ownership 17 years after the £46 billion bailout that took it into state hands…
A searching question: Heartwood, by Amity Gaige, reviewed
Can the mysterious disappearance of a hiker on the Appalachian Trail be linked to a Department of Defense training facility in backwoods Maine?
The gloriously impure world of Edward Burra
Every few years the shade of Edward Burra is treated to a Major Retrospective. The pattern is long established: Edward…
Compelling: Little Simz’s Lotus reviewed
It is not uncommon for (predominantly male) music critics to invert the ‘great man/great woman’ dictum in order to suggest…
Church teaching on homosexuality can be revised
Lamorna Ash devotes much space to interviewing gay Christians seared by homophobia, but neglects scripture’s underlying message about the link between sex and loving commitment
Thrilling: Garsington’s Queen of Spades reviewed
Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades is one of those operas that under-promises on paper but over-delivers on stage. It’s hard…
Excruciating: Sirens reviewed
You had a narrow escape this week. I was about to urge you to watch Sirens, the latest iteration of…
Provocative, verbose and humourless: Mrs Warren’s Profession reviewed
George Bernard Shaw’s provocative play Mrs Warren’s Profession examines the moral hypocrisy of the moneyed classes. It opens with a…
The disposable vape ban has changed nothing
I felt a mixture of annoyance and relief when I bought my first non-disposable Elf Bar last weekend, ahead of…
No, I’m not a British spy
Dante’s Beach, Ravenna The youngest of our six children, Giuseppe, nine, received the Eucharist for the first time on Sunday.…
