What I learned going naked on the green mountain
The Japanese take a near-obsessive delight in washing, particularly in natural thermal baths
Why May must stay
As from the Manchester conference hall I watched Theresa May’s big moment falling apart, as I buried my head in…
At last! The subversion of Brexit has begun
The Brexit crowd are right to smell a rat. In any great national debate a columnist may feel tempted to…
The African bush took me back to my boyhood
Entering the Bulawayo Club, you step out of the blinding African sunshine on that safe and friendly city’s wide streets,…
May’s opponents are the mad and the bad
I first met Theresa May, or met her properly, way back in the last century. I’d been invited to speak…
In my other life, I’m a water engineer
Friends arrived last week to find me in a mudhole, inside a cave-like tunnel into the hill, fiddling around with…
We need ideology in politics
‘Studying history at Balliol,’ writes Chris Patten, ‘I knew that the one thing which made me uneasy was a grand…
We need ideology in politics
‘Studying history at Balliol,’ writes Chris Patten, ‘I knew that the one thing which made me uneasy was a grand…
Dear Leavebugs, it’s time to admit your mistake
‘Brexit,’ says my friend David Aaronovitch, ‘is dying.’ We Remainer irreconcilables certainly hope so. But there’s a slim chance the…
How not to handle an independence referendum
If David Cameron seeks any testament to his handling of Britain’s difficulties with Scottish separatism, the mess that Spain is…
What should party leaders be allowed to believe?
‘If he can’t be in politics,’ the Archbishop of Canterbury tweeted last week after Tim Farron resigned the leadership of…
The Tories have been diminished by this election
There’s an expression used in football to describe an approach to the game that discounts the virtues of elegance, style,…
A dementia tax would be a euthanasia bonus
Had Theresa May not on Monday summarily abandoned her manifesto threat to raid the savings of those who end up…
Why it’s obvious that morality precedes religion
At a beautiful church service recently I encountered again a Gospel parable that left me, again, torn between sympathy and…
What would Darwin make of trainspotters?
Why are men so much more likely to be interested in trains than women? I believe this to be a…
Give me the Anglican option
The Algerian government’s official tourist guide describes ‘the walled town of Beni Isguen — normally closed to foreigners — where…
Our dangerous impulse to make sense of murder
‘On Friday noon, July the 20th, 1714,’ begins the small, perfect 20th-century novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey, ‘the…
You don’t have to be good to do good
I am a regular listener to the Sunday morning service just after eight on BBC Radio 4. It’s a habit…
From now on, I’ll greet Brexiteers with a grin
I’m cheering up about Brexit. The moaning has to stop. Why be downhearted and edgy when you’re confident of your…
In (conditional) defence of John Bercow
James Duddridge is not wrong. The Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East, who has put down a ‘no confidence’…
Brexiteers need ladders to climb down
I am worried about the mental state of many Brexiteers. The author of The Spectator’s weekly Notes, Charles Moore, always…
What really drives us in the big game of life?
When were you last in a game reserve? Perhaps most Spectator readers will be familiar with the experience and if…
An age of bright new lights on ugly new estates
‘Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers,’ remarked the journalist and screenwriter Ben Hecht,…
The one thing that really gets better with age
On the London Underground last week the carriage was crowded. No seat. No problem. I’m only 67 and content to…
We live in a golden age of swearing
Authors’ book tours are often fun but rarely easy. For me the long train journeys are a delight, but on…
