The British should have their holy places
I think by now most of us can spot a double standard when we see one. So let me try…
What Trump told me in my hour of need
‘The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom,’ espoused German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. Having spent the past fortnight…
The glaring flaw in Keir Starmer’s AI plan
Like Harold Wilson and his ill-defined ‘white heat of technology’, Keir Starmer has latched on to artificial intelligence as the…
AI is coming for the lanyard class
Forgive me. I am going to begin by quoting two prominent left-wing Londoners – and agreeing with one. In a…
Portrait of the week: Peter Mandelson resigns, Keir Starmer returns and gold rallies
Home Lord Mandelson resigned his membership of the Labour party and then retired from the House of Lords; some of…
‘It’ll be a photo finish’: inside the Gorton and Denton by-election
British by-elections are often prolonged affairs, dragging on for months. Yet in the Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton –…
Why did Peter Mandelson want Jeffrey Epstein to read my column?
Last Saturday, a friend in Washington emailed to say he had been studying some of the latest 3.5 million pages…
How to fight the AI revolution
Ask ChatGPT to write a Spectator leader about the risks of AI and it begins like this: ‘There are two…
How to cope with losing: a trainers’ guide
When the celebrations are kicking off in the winners’ enclosure, I dare say being a racehorse trainer looks glamorous. But…
Don’t write off Wales just yet
My friend Tim Andrew has admirable priorities. When I told him I had tickets for this week’s Six Nations opener…
Do only bitches bitch?
‘How many letters?’ asked my husband, as though it were a crossword we were doing together. ‘Five,’ I replied. ‘Begins…
‘Beloved by Chinese tourists – and the Labour party’: Phoenix Palace reviewed
The exterior of the Phoenix Palace is cream with golden letters like the napkin and the Laffer curve, and it…
Has Ireland’s tourist board just killed my Airbnb?
The estate agent said that they would send someone round tomorrow and I had to calm them down. Come in…
I embarrassed myself at Jilly Cooper’s memorial
I am ‘sharing’ what follows as a public service. Also, as self-care in the hope that publicly shaming myself might…
Spectator Competition: Veg out
Competition 3435 invited you to write a poem that included Wendy Cope’s immortal line ‘A happier cabbage you never did…
