Leading article
Data, not dates: there is no reason to delay a return to normal life
A slogan can come back to haunt you. For Boris Johnson, the words ‘data not dates’ sounded powerful at a…
A vote for the SNP would mean another wasted decade in Scotland
Sometimes, Westminster unwittingly makes quite a good case for Scottish independence. Britain’s Covid emergency has ended, but the damage of…
The public has kept its side of the lockdown bargain. Now it’s the government’s turn
Over the past week, the country has started to spring back to life. Trains and buses are no longer running…
Should we fear for the future of the monarchy?
Fourteen prime ministers; 18 general elections; seven changes of government. Even in a stable country like Britain it is remarkable…
It’s time Boris Johnson lets science restore our liberty
‘The government would love to put issues such as these beyond the bounds of debate by creating an air of…
The false narrative of white vs BAME
Almost 20 years ago, Michael Howard spoke about the ‘British dream’: that immigrant families like his could come to this…
Britain must help Europe fight a third wave
During the referendum campaign five years ago, the pro-Brexit side argued that by freeing ourselves from the EU’s native protectionism…
The Crown Office, The Spectator and a fight for a free press
The power wielded by Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish government means it’s hard to hold her to account for basic…
The virus is in retreat. Isn’t it time the public is trusted to decide how to behave?
Since the start of this year, cases of Covid-19 have been in decline. Hospital admissions have fallen 80 per cent…
The Sturgeon case exposes the fatal flaw in Scottish devolution
The campaign for a Scottish parliament was rooted in the notion of a ‘democratic deficit’. Scotland kept voting Labour but…
The creeping criminalisation of causing offence
At a time when resources are scarce, the Merseyside Constabulary must have thought long and hard about its recent advertising…
Vaccines are working – so why isn’t society reopening?
When the Prime Minister sets out his ‘roadmap’ for easing Covid restrictions on Monday, it will be against a backdrop…
Universal Credit and the future of the welfare state
Amid the many failures of public policy during the Covid crisis, one success has gone largely unnoticed. The Universal Credit…
Sturgeon and the impunity of the SNP
Scottish politics tends to go through long bouts of single-party dominance. In the 19th century, the Liberals were in charge.…
Quarantine and the freedom paradox
Who would have thought, this time last year, that the British government would be planning to detain British nationals at…
To reopen schools, we need to vaccinate teachers
At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Chris Whitty often made the point that a pandemic kills in two ways:…
A tighter lockdown risks being a less effective one
When lockdown was first proposed in March, one of the many arguments against it was that people would tolerate being…
Sir David Barclay, 1934-2021
When Sir David Barclay, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, bought The Spectator in 2004, the magazine came as…
What have we learnt from this pandemic?
So great have been the government’s failures over Covid that it would be easy to forget to give credit where…
Ring out, wild bells: 2021 will be a year of renewal
Save for those old enough to have lived through the second world war and its immediate austere aftermath, it would…
Why we can be confident in the safety of Covid vaccines
At the beginning of the Covid crisis, some expressed the hope that a pandemic might at least bring a divided…
The government is sending the high street to an early grave
Does it matter that Debenhams and the Arcadia group have gone under this week, taking 25,000 jobs with them and…
The Conservatives are losing the fiscal high ground
Every country was blindsided by the pandemic; few governments responded to it by borrowing as much as Britain. The figures…
Denial is not a strategy, Prime Minister
The psychodrama in No. 10 is badly timed. The government has used emergency powers to ban meetings, church services and…
Boris won't be forgiven if he caves on Brexit now
It now looks increasingly likely that lockdown will end on 2 December, after all. The decision to impose further restrictions…
