Scotland
Everywhere should be more like Essex
Apart from the Wye Valley, where I grew up, there are only two places in Britain I’d consider living: Kent…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, visited New York for talks at the United Nations; he said Britain supported the…
I’ll never feel the same about the Scots
I doubt I’m alone among English readers of this magazine in having felt uncomfortable with our last issue. ‘Please stay…
The ‘no’ campaign’s problem was that it sounded like me
Journalistically speaking, it’s been a good year to be Scottish and Jewish. Had I been a Welsh Zoroastrian, say, I…
Botín’s not-so-dark secret of banking success: simple rules, smart technology and team spirit
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
Long life
Sometimes I say I’m Scottish, a claim often greeted with understandable derision. I was born in England, in Hertfordshire, went…
How to save a country
Next week, the most important vote in recent British history will be held. Indeed, it may well turn out to…
Borderline personalities
Is national character real? If so, how is it formed?
Independence will lead to artistic ‘desecration’
Daniel Jackson foresees an impoverished cultural landscape for an independentScotland, with artists forced to do Salmond’s bidding
Independence blues
Referendum fever reaches Stratford East. Spoiling, by John McCann, takes us into the corridors of power in Holyrood shortly after…
A vote for real politics
Whatever the outcome of the referendum, Scotland will be better for having had the debate
Let the people judge
Dominic Grieve was a worthy attorney-general whose career was helped by this magazine: nine years ago, he was named Spectator…
Great Scots
Since spring this year, art venues across Scotland have been dedicating themselves to a gigantic project called Generation. Involving more…
What will be left?
If Scotland votes for independence, Britain will be left weaker than anyone yet realises
The Spectator’s Notes
On Friday night, I went to Althorp, childhood home of Diana, Princess of Wales, to speak at its literary festival.…
The pessimism of youth can save Scotland from the penury of independence
It’s a constant theme of this column that today’s young need to stop whingeing about their prospects and get on…
Salmond’s secret weapon
Nothing makes Scots feel more Scottish than England playing in a World Cup
Diary
Having dampened local republican ardour during their recent tour of New Zealand and Australia, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge…
A reminder for my Westminster colleagues: Scotland is bigger than David Cameron
‘It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.’ So wrote P.G.…
Your problems solved
Q. My son was invited, both verbally and via Facebook, to a schoolfriend’s 16th birthday party. However, when I met…
Diary
A week away in Crete: I’ve come for the archaeology and culture — little patches of Minos, ancient Greece, Byzantium and…
Voice of Britain
Shakespeare defined our united national culture – and now he can help save it
Portrait of the week
Home George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, made ‘a commitment to fight for full employment in Britain’ and for…
Recent crime fiction
Stuart MacBride’s new novel, A Song for the Dying (HarperCollins, £16.99, Spectator Bookshop, £14.99), is markedly darker in tone than…
Time for posh Scotland to break its silence
I took part in a documentary about Scottishness a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t bad at all. I mused,…
