Planning

Can Boris crack the unwhippables?

17 July 2021 9:00 am

‘Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won,’ wrote the Duke of Wellington after…

The rise of the unwhippable Tories

16 July 2021 1:20 am

When the government announced a Commons vote on its decision to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent…

The Tories should ignore the Amersham by-election

19 June 2021 1:01 am

Chesham and Amersham has fallen. The once uber-Tory Chilterns citadel has been snatched by the Lib Dems, with local campaigners…

Why the Tories mustn't give in to the Nimbys

15 May 2021 12:35 am

A 15-point YouGov poll lead and last week’s election performance suggests that things look good for the Tories in England.…

Boris the builder mustn’t buckle over planning reform

29 August 2020 9:00 am

The government will pass the test it has set itself: schools in England will return next week. Pupils may well…

After 50 years, I’m out of the agony-aunt business

9 April 2016 9:00 am

It’s clear that Vladimir Putin has had a facelift, which might explain why Wendi Deng would take an interest in…

The plot to save Goldsmith’s Close Allotments

2 January 2016 9:00 am

Since turning 50 I have become a gardening enthusiast. It started with tomatoes, then spread to raspberries and last year…

Bring back the bungalow!

17 October 2015 8:00 am

We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population

The fight to save the Gladstone Arms is a battle for the soul of London

29 August 2015 9:00 am

The fight to save the Gladstone Arms is the fight to save London

My eco-home nightmare

20 June 2015 9:00 am

Buying an eco-home? Expect stifling springs and summers

Welcome to Miliband country: how Labour would wreck rural life

2 May 2015 9:00 am

A ‘progressive alliance’ would be a profound threat to rural life

Airport wars: why I'm betting on Gatwick

4 April 2015 9:00 am

Easter is a good time to talk about airports — or perhaps a bad time, if you bought your Spectator…

The myth of the housing crisis

28 February 2015 9:00 am

The coalition is letting developers concrete over the countryside, but that won’t help young people buy houses

When a cricket ball cost Britain an heir to the throne

6 December 2014 9:00 am

A fatal shot The sad death of Australian batsman Philip Hughes was a reminder that a cricket ball can kill.…

How HS2 has blighted my parents’ lives

6 December 2014 9:00 am

Whether the high-speed rail line is built or not, it is destroying the retirements of people like my parents

Who are you calling a blob, Owen Paterson?

9 August 2014 9:00 am

Owen Paterson shouldn’t hold green activists responsible for his sacking. The culprit was David Cameron

Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival

26 July 2014 9:00 am

‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…