The death of banter and the BBC
I may be the last person in the UK to have seen the 1999 film Human Traffic (rereleased last month).…
Ted Heath deserves to be remembered for more than his blemishes
For anyone born as I was, in the seventies, Edward Heath – who died 20 years ago this week –…
Harold Wilson was awful and brilliant
Does anyone still talk about Harold Wilson, the Labour prime minister who died 30 years ago today? Though the Labour…
Why are today’s MPs so incredibly drab?
Current MPs in Britain seem, at times, a drab and depressing bunch. ‘The quality of parliamentarian,’ Ann Widdecombe said on…
Are the Tories really mad enough to change their leader again?
To no one’s surprise, this week’s election results make miserable reading for the Tories, and the attacks on Kemi Badenoch…
Is Labour taking Britain back to the 1970s?
As the Birmingham binmen’s strike, full on since 11 March, grinds well into its second month, there is talk of similar…
How Turin made Primo Levi
My first night in Turin, I thought of all the things I could be doing in this north Italian city,…
Jim Callaghan’s greatest achievement was to be himself
The government’s recent, palpable turn to the right seems to be gaining pace. In the past few weeks, Keir Starmer…
Trump’s war on Europe should not surprise anyone
Has there been a more cataclysmic year than 2025 for US-Europe relations? It started with US Vice President J.D. Vance’s…
Help, I’ve become a news junkie!
I’ve always been something of a news addict, but recent events in America and Ukraine have turned me into the…
Why should Zelensky be grateful to Trump?
A consensus seems to be forming, in certain quarters, that the debacle at the White House meeting on Friday –…
Britain is reliving the 1970s
Is Britain going back to the 1970s? Even under the Conservatives in 2022, the Financial Times was warning we were…
Is Trump Putin’s useful idiot?
Those whose mouths have been left hanging open by Donald Trump’s pivot towards Russia in the past fortnight, and the…
Kemi Badenoch has a secret weapon in the fight against Nigel Farage
Things are currently looking choppy for Kemi Badenoch. Polls last weekend were bad enough, seven of them showing Reform leading…
Holocaust Remembrance Day isn’t enough
As Holocaust Remembrance Day comes round again, actual remembrance of the Holocaust seems fainter than ever. The arson attacks on…
Britain’s unending fascination with the Cambridge spies
Will we ever tire of the Cambridge spies? Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Burgess and Maclean – and to a lesser…
Vodka and the Beatles on a New Year’s Eve in Narva
Narva, the northern Estonian city right on the border with Russia, has been much in the news of late. Not…
The triumph of When Harry Met Sally
Look at any list of the ‘greatest ever romcoms’ and you’ll find When Harry Met Sally near the top of…
Keir Starmer, the Christmas Grinch
If someone were to read the runes, this first Labour Christmas would not augur well. Not only have we had…
Democrats are desperate for a new Bill Clinton
In the weeks since Donald Trump won the presidential election, Democrat supporters, amidst much gnashing of teeth, have offered up…
The attack on Ben Judah is nothing to celebrate
Readers of The Spectator may remember the 2021 defenestration of author and teacher Kate Clanchy, which saw her part company…
Only another Bill Clinton can save the Democrats now
In the weeks since Donald Trump won the US election, Democrat supporters, amidst much gnashing of teeth, have offered up…
The pundits’ attacks on farmers would make Alan Partridge blush
In the weeks since Rachel Reeves’s Budget and its shock attack on agricultural property relief, we’ve seen various armchair pundits…
Things can only get worse for Keir Starmer
Finally a date has been set – 29 January 2025 – for the government to debate points posed by the…
What’s the best film about US politics?
After Donald Trump’s election-win, many junkies of US politics will be needing another fix. But if you’ve already overdosed on…
