UK politics
How can the government avoid defeat this week?
Theresa May begins the week with a chunk of her party growing increasingly frustrated with her handling of Brexit. The…
Sadiq Khan’s virtues
The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he wanted ‘the most transparent, honest and accessible administration London has ever…
Spectator’s Notes
Why have David Cameron and George Osborne overreached? Why are so many in their own party no longer disposed to…
Could I have prevented a Kray murder?
Could I have prevented a Kray murder?
Diary
One of my constituents has been in an Indonesian prison since May. Journalist Rebecca Prosser was arrested with her colleague…
The war on pensioners
Young people are being taught to resent their elders on the basis of tendentious claims and alarmist statistics
OK: I’m convinced: one EU referendum might not be enough
We now have to take seriously the possibility that in the EU referendum Britain will vote to leave. I had…
Bring back the bungalow!
We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population
The Tories are still anxious to reach out. And that’s a very good sign
Post-election party conferences usually follow a standard pattern. The winning party slaps itself on the back while the losers fret…
The great British kowtow
Cameron and Osborne have a very clear China policy: do whatever China wants
Diary
With four days to go until the result of Labour’s leadership election, a call from the Sunday Times. Would I…
The Living Wage is nifty politics – but let’s see more help for small business too
What is George Osborne’s Living Wage? Is it a ploy to shift cost from the taxpayer to the employer by…
Labour’s lost thinker
Jon Cruddas is still looking for ways to renew his party.They’re unlikely to please his new leader
Diary
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
Time is running out for Labour
The Labour leadership contest was supposed to be a debate about the party’s future. Instead it has oscillated between petty…
Labour’s losing instinct
The party always swings left after defeats. But this time is worse
Flashmob rule
It is the duty of MPs to resist Twitter storms and online petitions
If Corbyn wins, he could split the Tories too
‘Why this sudden restlessness, this confusion?’ asked C.P. Cavafy in his poem ‘Waiting for the Barbarians’: Because night has fallen…
The agony of Labour’s old-fashioned modernisers
The exhausted Labour leadership contest takes a bucket-and-spade holiday next week, with all four candidates agreeing to an uneasy truce…
Why I voted for Jeremy Corbyn
Is the ‘Tories for Corbyn’ campaign politics at its most infantile? As one of the few conservative commentators willing to…
Political memorabilia
My first reaction on hearing of Margaret Thatcher’s death in 2013 was: ‘Great — now my autograph from her will…
The return of hunting
With luck, the cruel, hypocritical ban could be gone by winter
Cameron must not let this crisis go to waste
Few European leaders have been luckier than David Cameron. First he was sent Ed Miliband. Now events in Greece may…
The wrong man
Why Jim O’Neill isn’t fit to run the Northern Powerhouse
Barometer
The spirit of 1945 No one would have been more surprised at the sight of 100,000 people marching in London…
