The Spectator’s Notes

If the Duchy of Lancaster has been so bad, why didn’t Labour notice before?

11 November 2017 9:00 am

Let us assume — which we shouldn’t — that it is automatically wrong for the Queen to benefit financially from…

Women used to forgive men their defects, but the quality of mercy is under strain

4 November 2017 9:00 am

Poor Gordon Brown. He embodies the problem traditionally associated with being male, which is that our sex finds it difficult…

The Spectator’s notes

28 October 2017 9:00 am

Theresa May’s style of negotiating with the European Union is coming spookily to resemble David Cameron’s. She is in the…

The Spectator’s Notes

21 October 2017 9:00 am

‘Persecuted and Forgotten?’ is the name of the latest report by Aid to the Church in Need. Unfortunately, there is…

The Spectator’s notes

14 October 2017 9:00 am

The Catalan nationalists surely chose this October deliberately for their attempt, now faltering, at UDI. It is the centenary of…

The media is paying too much homage to Catalonia

7 October 2017 9:00 am

However much we try — and lots of us don’t — we fall for the power of the photo-image. So…

The Spectator’s Notes

5 October 2017 2:00 pm

However much we try — and lots of us don’t — we fall for the power of the photo-image. So…

The Spectator’s Notes

30 September 2017 9:00 am

You can see why Theresa May said in Florence that the British wished the European Union well in its plans…

The Spectator’s notes

23 September 2017 9:00 am

Sir David Norgrove, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), is an honourable man. When he publicly rebuked Boris…

The Spectator’s notes

16 September 2017 9:00 am

Apologies for my absence from this column. My editors kindly let me get on with the final volume of my…

The Spectator’s Notes

29 July 2017 9:00 am

The pre-commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales is already in full swing. She…

The Spectator’s notes

22 July 2017 9:00 am

We went to the first night of the Proms last week. Thinking it was all over, we left the auditorium…

The Spectator’s Notes

15 July 2017 9:00 am

For some time now, banks have wielded hamfistedly the concept of the ‘politically exposed person’. They have withdrawn bank accounts…

The Spectator’s notes

8 July 2017 9:00 am

Having worked flat-out to defend judges over the Article 50 case in the Supreme Court, the BBC has gone the…

The Spectator’s Notes

1 July 2017 9:00 am

At Guildhall on Tuesday, the Centre for Policy Studies held its Margaret Thatcher Conference on Security. Its title is an…

The Spectator’s Notes

24 June 2017 9:00 am

How much longer can it go on? Deaths caused by terrorism are always followed now by candlelit vigils, a minute’s…

The Spectator’s Notes

17 June 2017 9:00 am

Before knowing the result of the election, I composed my Chairman’s message in the newsletter of the Rectory Society. In…

The Spectator’s Notes

10 June 2017 9:00 am

By the time you read this, the campaign will have drawn fractiously to its close, so here is a strong…

The Spectator’s Notes

3 June 2017 9:00 am

At Mass on Sunday, we were issued with a letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, entitled ‘The General Election 2017’.…

The Spectator’s Notes

1 June 2017 1:00 pm

At Mass on Sunday, we were issued with a letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, entitled ‘The General Election 2017’.…

The Spectator’s notes

27 May 2017 9:00 am

In most parts of the world, we have now supped so full of terrorist horrors that the death of 22…

The Spectator’s Notes

20 May 2017 9:00 am

‘Exclusive invitation: I want to hear from you, Charles’, it said in my inbox. Theresa May wanted me to take…

The Spectator’s Notes

13 May 2017 9:00 am

Jeremy Corbyn wants to put up income tax only for people who earn more than £80,000 a year, he says.…

The Spectator’s Notes

6 May 2017 9:00 am

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s main Brexit negotiator, tweeted on Monday: ‘Any #Brexit deal requires a strong & stable understanding…

The Spectator’s Notes

29 April 2017 9:00 am

With Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen through to the final in France, people of a conservative disposition might feel…