The Week
What was it like to be noveau riche in Pompeii?
Frescoes are always the lead story in reports of the latest finds from Pompeii, but they are only a part…
I always judge a hotel by its club sandwich
As a child I was fascinated by the exotic names of certain cities: Havana, Rio de Janeiro and Los Angeles…
Portrait of the Week: the war on smoking, Trump’s trial and O.J.’s death
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, said that British fighter jets had shot down ‘a number of drones’ fired at…
A smoking ban is pointless and illiberal
Why is Britain poised to ban cigarette smoking, when the habit is already dying out anyway? Smoking is seen by…
The Spectator’s letters page is hazardous
Question time Sir: Your leading article ‘Sense prevails’ (13 April) is a valuable précis of the Cass Review into NHS…
Letters: the real problem with a Labour super-majority
Good trade-off Sir: I applaud your excellent editorial (‘Trading in Falsehoods’, 6 April) – a succinct and insightful essay on…
Who uses Grindr?
Meet market Who uses the gay dating app Grindr? – The site claims 27m users worldwide, 80.5% of whom identify…
Were the Greeks right about justice?
The Sentencing Council, consisting of various legal authorities, has told judges and magistrates to consider, when sentencing the young, their…
Common sense prevails in the gender debate
The publication this week of the Cass Review into gender-identity services for young people marks a welcome return to reason…
Portrait of the Week: Tory phishing, tension over Rafah and Cameron in America
Home The review by Dr Hilary Cass of gender-identity services for people under 18 called for an end to prescribing…
In defence of the EU
Eastern Europe is the graveyard of empires. Rome failed on the Danube, Napoleon on the Dnieper. The epic struggle between…
Letters: screens in schools are not a problem
Screen tests Sir: As somebody whose teaching career coincided with the digital revolution, I must take issue with Sophie Winkleman’s…
What would the Romans think of assisted suicide?
What a song and dance about the end of life! Historians assure us that, among human beings, there is a…
How on earth does Rishi Sunak keep going?
It’s my birthday this week and the end of my seventh decade (mathematicians will note that this does not make…
Portrait of the Week: hate crimes, surprise knighthoods and flaming rickshaws
Home The Hate Crime and Public Order Act came into effect in Scotland, making it a crime to communicate or…
Britain’s role in ending the slave trade ought to be celebrated
It was bound to happen sooner or later: a guest on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow presented an artefact which derived…
How many people sleep rough?
Ballot points Michael Gove hinted that the general election could be on 14 or 21 November. Have we had a…
Why the fuss over The Spectator’s sale?
This diary is late. Two months late. The columnists who missed my Evening Standard deadlines often had elaborate excuses. Mine…
