Features
Nothing quite beats a British beach
‘May I take a picture of your snake?’ I asked the tattooed man with a python around his neck, regretting…
Trump, Iran and the end of the deal
For someone so frequently denounced as a liar, Donald Trump keeps an awful lot of promises. In the 2016 election…
Thanks to Donald Trump, night is falling in Iran again
In the White House on Tuesday, with the world just where he wanted it — eyes on the TV, transfixed…
Is it any wonder children can’t express themselves when all they have is emojis?
Smiley face. Sad face. Smoochy face. Sick face. Edvard Munch ‘Scream’ face. How are you feeling today? Any of the…
The ‘woke’ who do coke
Midnight in Shoreditch, and snaking round the brickwork of old east London is a line of chattering clubbers. Everyone seems…
Our great universities are struggling – but not because of Brexit
British universities have serious problems. The recent strikes protesting against a sudden reduction in pension rights were unusually effective, and…
What The Spectator’s 48-year-old intern did next
To anyone who has dreamed of becoming a journalist, the thrill of walking into a national newspaper office never goes…
Interview: what Aussies really think of Brexit
When friends speak, you should listen — and you would be hard pressed to find a better friend of this…
Shirtmaker Simone Abbarchi
The Premio Rezzori literary prize — held every May in Florence — is named after the Austrian writer Gregor von…
Mayday! How Theresa May has been trapped by her enemies and her friends
The European Union might have many flaws, but one of its great strengths is its ability to sense weakness. It…
The Windrush debacle is not as straightforward as it seems
The idea that left vs right has been replaced by open vs closed is one of the most self-serving conceits…
Why China’s happy couples are spending thousands to stand by Big Ben
If you’ve walked by the red telephone boxes on Parliament Square, chances are you have seen an Asian couple in…
The Catholic Church is absent in Ireland’s abortion referendum
The Irish referendum on abortion takes place in just under three weeks’ time, and while the polls suggest a hefty…
Diary of a revolution: Paris 1968, through the eyes of Nancy Mitford
In May 1968, civil unrest, bordering on revolution, exploded on to the streets of Paris. Student protesters and striking workers…
Good grief: Death isn’t something you just get over
Just over a year ago, my best friend dropped dead. He was in his early sixties and many of us…
Welcome to Matlock Bath, the ‘Switzerland of Derbyshire’
Revisiting cherished childhood memories can be dispiriting; everything appears diminished and one leaves questioning the nature of perception. Were we…
Why Britain is lucky to have Meghan Markle
The wedding of Prince Harry, sixth in line to the British throne, and Meghan Markle, actress and former star of…
Hooray for Meghan Markle, a very modern adventuress
I’m keen on all sorts of my fellow females — broads, gold-diggers, career girls — but the best is the…
Interview: Meet Mariana Mazzucato, big-state capitalism’s new champion
‘It was Plato who said storytellers rule the world,’ observes Mariana Mazzucato, her powerful voice tempered with a beaming smile,…
Windrush is just the start: records are being shredded and history deleted
Have you ever thrown something away and then realised that you needed it? Surely all of us have done so.…
The strange death of English cricket
In 2005 I published a book called The Strange Death of Tory England, and a long article called ‘Cricket’s final…
My life in Paris as a Diplomatic Wag
The French President says he wants to rule as a Jupiter — but he doesn’t look like a Jupiter to…
The Scouts can’t offer equal access to the disabled – they won’t survive
A couple of years ago, Simon Barnes wrote a moving piece in this magazine about how his son Eddie, who…
In praise of Chelsea Green, a London oasis
Splats of calves’ liver in a puddle of blood; rabbits, headless, stretched and stripped of fur; and plucked poussins, nestling…
The wrong Brexit: what happened to ‘Global Britain’?
A few months ago, Britain’s most senior ambassadors gathered in the Foreign Office to compare notes on Brexit. There was…
