Columnists
Is a new art form being born on Woman’s Hour?
In a comic-strip cartoon, beads of water apparently radiating outward from the head of one of the characters indicate embarrassment.…
Cameron’s mission for 2014: stay out of third place
European elections are normally an afterthought in British politics. As even David Cameron admits, most of us struggle to remember…
The Spectator's Notes: French presidents used to have a touch of the monarch. Not any more
When I interviewed Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the former president of France, for my biography of Margaret Thatcher, I asked him…
Christians – and Muslims – still behave better than the rest of us
Two years ago this week the philosopher Alain de Botton unveiled his proposals for a giant gilded tower in central…
By the book: The NSA is behaving like a villain in a 1950s novel
The continuing drip-feed of stories about governments and friendly-seeming internet giants sifting through our data has left some citizens feeling…
The one man who makes me hope for peace in Syria
As Syria’s second peace conference looms, and we prepare ourselves for a lot of hot air drifting over from Geneva,…
When trolling pressure groups cause real harm
My grandmother, Nanny Nancy, is 99 and going strong. But it can’t be denied that while she’s all there mentally,…
Any other business: Oh dear... perhaps Standard Chartered isn't as dull as it looks
The cautionary tale of the Co-operative Bank, its black hole and its naughty chairman has recently taught us that if…
When scaremongering stops being funny
My grandmother, Nanny Nancy, is 99 and going strong. But it can’t be denied that while she’s all there mentally,…
Father Paolo’s personal peace process
As Syria’s second peace conference looms, and we prepare ourselves for a lot of hot air drifting over from Geneva,…
By the book – The perils of snooping
The continuing drip-feed of stories about governments and friendly-seeming internet giants sifting through our data has left some citizens feeling…
By the book – The perils of snooping
The continuing drip-feed of stories about governments and friendly-seeming internet giants sifting through our data has left some citizens feeling…
Ed Miliband's immigration nightmare
Victor Spirescu came to Britain last week looking for work washing cars, but seems to have landed himself with a…
Mugabe envy in Scotland
Who owns Scotland? The people who most commonly ask this question believe that the land has been wrested from ordinary…
Why should Nigel Farage have to fight the ghost of Enoch Powell?
One of the genuine seasonal pleasures to be enjoyed as 2013 slipped around the U-bend was Enoch Powell making his…
Hedonistic? No, today's gay men are civic-minded - and conservative
A gay friend phones over the New Year break. A lovely chap (let us call him Richard) and long retired,…
The only way to end the war on drugs is to stop fighting it
It’s surprisingly boring, legalising weed. In Colorado, where recreational doobie has been utterly without censure for, ooh, about a week…
Martin Vander Weyer: Why I’d rather run M&S than Tesco
This first working week of January is apparently the time when we’re most likely to think about a change of…
The only way to end the war on drugs is to stop fighting it
It’s surprisingly boring, legalising weed. In Colorado, where recreational doobie has been utterly without censure for, ooh, about a week…
It’s gay men who contribute most to society
A gay friend phones over the New Year break. A lovely chap (let us call him Richard) and long retired,…
James Forsyth: The Lib Dems' fight to keep facing both ways
This will be the coalition’s last full year, and it is remarkable how few people are talking about how it…
Rod Liddle: Try my new year resolution - ignore the internet
At last, it has been scientifically proved that Jesus Christ is better than Muhammad. We’d always known that our lad…
James Delingpole: Those bitcoin weirdos might just be right
Here’s a thought to kindle a lovely warm glow of smugness and schadenfreude as we enter a new year: you…
Hugo Rifkind: Why isn't eating meat as bad as bestiality?
So what I’ve found myself wondering over the festive period, again and again, is whether it would ever be OK…
Martin Vander Weyer: In my hospital bed, I saw the future of the NHS
I blamed the pheasant casserole, but I did it an injustice. Its only contribution to the drama behind my disappearance…
