Columnists
How Italy failed the stress test (and Emilio Botín didn’t)
Continuing last week’s theme, it was the Italian banks — with nine fails, four still requiring capital injections — that…
Six weeks after numberplategate, and Argentina’s still going on about it
Perhaps it’s a glaring and personal flaw in my observational skills, but if somebody tried to insult me via a…
Why I intend to become an addict
When the White Queen told Alice she had sometimes believed as many as six contradictory things before breakfast, she spoke…
Why are Labour’s Scots so reluctant to take the high road?
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_30_Oct_2014_v4.mp3 There should, by rights, have been a stampede of candidates to replace Johann Lamont as the leader of…
It’s not just Ukip that’s changing Cameron’s mind about immigration
It is easy to mock David Cameron on immigration. Under pressure from the public and from Ukip, he’s having to…
Wear a veil if you like – but don’t treat women like that
What sort of clothing do you wear when you go to the opera? I assume some of you do go…
What are 16-year-olds supposed to learn by making posters?
My niece, Lara, 15, has a mind like a surgical blade. On any subject, from calculus to The X Factor,…
My new affair is thrilling, expensive — and might just break my neck
I have fallen in love with an unsuitable male. My wife isn’t totally happy about this relationship because she recognises…
The one economic indicator that never stops rising: meet the Negroni Index
This dispatch comes to you from Venice — where I arrived at sunset on the Orient Express. More of that…
I’ve got a new passion – and I’m in far too deep
I have fallen in love with an unsuitable male. My wife isn’t totally happy about this relationship because she recognises…
Why are kids making posters for their GCSEs?
My niece, Lara, 15, has a mind like a surgical blade. On any subject, from calculus to The X Factor,…
Ukip is here to stay – especially if Labour wins
British politics is rather like one of those playground games of football where one match is being played lengthways and…
Panic about Ebola in Africa – not here
Got Ebola yet? Early symptoms are very difficult to distinguish from either winter flu or, indeed, a particularly bad hangover.…
Ukip is in the middle of the most cynical political repositioning ever
I think I’ve cracked it. If you want to springboard your minor political party into the mainstream and take British…
Storm warning: the world economy’s October troubles aren’t over yet
October is always a turbulent month, and I’m feeling uneasy about this one. The FTSE100 index, which looked set to…
Ukip has turned itself into a confidence trick
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_16_Oct_2014_v4.mp3 I think I’ve cracked it. If you want to springboard your minor political party into the mainstream and…
Online comments help me understand the Nazis
Listen http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_16_Oct_2014_v4.mp3 Like many, I’ve always been a bit baffled by the story of the rise of Nazism. The Germans…
Why are the Lib Dems duffing up the Tories? To ensure another coalition
The last Liberal Democrat conference before the general election has been dominated by denunciations of the ‘nasty’ Tories. Lib Dems…
Who are Ukip’s new voters? The kind of people who decide elections
An opinion poll to be published next week will reveal that Labour leader Ed Miliband is slightly less popular with…
Why there’s no such thing as an Etonian
Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…
Stop "Stoptober"! It's another insidious attack on liberty and free will
Say what you like about the French Revolutionaries but at least they had a poetic imagination. When they wanted a…
Yes, Wonga lent at shocking rates – but it was customers who lied
‘Payday Lady is not trading at this time,’ says her website, sounding a little like La Dame aux camélias. Indeed (since…
Stoptober makes me sick
Say what you like about the French Revolutionaries but at least they had a poetic imagination. When they wanted a…
There’s no such thing as an Etonian
Finally, just in the last few years I’d say, we’ve all begun to accept the role of nature in the…
Reading the comments on my Ukip columns, I finally understand the Nazis
Matthew Parris 18 October 2014 9:00 am
Like many, I’ve always been a bit baffled by the story of the rise of Nazism. The Germans I’ve met…