Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, decided to allow ministers to campaign for either side in the referendum on membership…
Why can’t we go Dutch on flood defence?
As the chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben, observed this week, there is a bizarre dislocation between…
Portrait of the week
Home Thousands of houses were flooded in York, Leeds, Manchester and other parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, after weeks of…
What to expect in 2016 (less mercy from the taxman)
In with the new How the new year is being celebrated around the world. From 1 January… BRITAIN: Annual Investment…
‘Thinking Germans must be depressed indeed’: The Spectator’s predictions for 2016
From ‘The Military Situation’, The Spectator, 1 January 1916: The opening of a new year is a time for taking stock…
Soggy thinking
As the chairman of the Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben, observed this week, there is a bizarre dislocation between…
Barometer
In with the new How the new year is being celebrated around the world. From 1 January…BRITAIN: Annual Investment Allowance…
Next year’s war
From ‘The Military Situation’, The Spectator, 1 January 1916: The opening of a new year is a time for taking stock…
Portrait of the week
Home Thousands of houses were flooded in York, Leeds, Manchester and other parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, after weeks of…
The shocking truth about the English and the Scots: they agree
Last year, the United Kingdom came within 384,000 votes of destruction. A referendum designed to crush the Scottish nationalists instead…
Portrait of the Year
January David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that only electing the Conservatives could ‘save Britain’s economic recovery’. Labour unveiled a…
Father Christmas will be 400 next year
Christmas birthday Next year has a claim to be the 400th birthday of Father Christmas. Ben Jonson wrote a short…
Communion in the trenches
From ‘The Sacrament’, The Spectator, 25 December 1915: We were fairly fagged out, all of us, after a heavy day…
Spectator Christmas letters: from Daesh to zakuski
Just call them Daesh Sir: I was interested to read Sam Leith’s article in which he appears to argue that…
Seasonal advice from David Cameron, Jilly Cooper, John Rutter and more
Clare Balding I love a good walk on Boxing Day followed by watching the racing at Kempton. Avoid the internet.…
