The Week
Stop health tourism
Speaking after the Stafford hospital scandal in 2010, the then newly appointed Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, grandly announced plans for…
Boris’s waiting game
While the Labour party rakes over its past in an effort to find a policy for its future, the commentators…
Barometer
Caught working The government announced a crackdown on illegal workers. How many illegal workers are caught in Britain? — From…
Diary
Should we have celebrated VJ Day? Hearing the hieratic tones of the Emperor Hirohito on Radio 4 the other day,…
Boy soldiers
From ‘What will they do with it?’, The Spectator, 14 August 1915: It is true that in a good many cases…
Portrait of the week
Home The Metropolitan Police encouraged people to celebrate VJ Day despite reports in the Mail on Sunday (picked up from…
Edward Heath and a very modern witch-hunt
There was a grim inevitability that the name Edward Heath would one day be trawled up in connection with allegations…
Portrait of the week
Home Tom Hayes, aged 35, a former City trader who rigged the Libor rates daily for nearly four years while…
Prue Leith’s diary: When did weddings stop being for parents?
My Cambodian daughter and her husband have just got married again. Wedding One was a Buddhist affair in our drawing…
Just how tough a sentence was 14 years for Libor-rigging?
Rogue traders Former UBS trader Tom Hayes was jailed for 14 years for rigging the Libor market. How long could…
Does Labour need a new name? Let’s ask Plato
In order to make a sensible choice of new leader, the Labour party is trying to work out what its…
One year on
From ‘The End of the First Year’, The Spectator, 7 August 1915: Terrible as have been the sufferings caused by the…
Letters
Archibald axing Sir: The postmodernist practice of accompanying works of art with a written statement was introduced in my opinion…
Ted talk
There was a grim inevitability that the name Edward Heath would one day be trawled up in connection with allegations…
Party-naming with Plato
In order to make a sensible choice of new leader, the Labour party is trying to work out what its…
Barometer
Rogue traders Former UBS trader Tom Hayes was jailed for 14 years for rigging the Libor market. How long could…
One year on
From ‘The End of the First Year’, The Spectator, 7 August 1915: Terrible as have been the sufferings caused by the…
Portrait of the week
Home Tom Hayes, aged 35, a former City trader who rigged the Libor rates daily for nearly four years while…
Diary
My Cambodian daughter and her husband have just got married again. Wedding One was a Buddhist affair in our drawing…
Look beyond the Sewel video: the House of Lords still works
The shaming of Lord Sewel was a classic tabloid exposé. The fact that a peer of the realm (albeit one…
Portrait of the week
Home A man died when 1,500 migrants tried to enter the Channel Tunnel terminal in Calais in one night. The…
Road rage and hot air balloons: Jessie Burton’s diary
The week starts well. My debut novel, The Miniaturist, is a year old. On the anniversary of its publication, my…
Just how hard is it to sack a lord?
Safe house Lord Sewel is unique in leaving the House of Lords in disgrace. Until the House of Lords Reform…
Aristotle wouldn't have rated Jeremy Corbyn’s fan club
Jeremy Corbyn says he is very excited about his campaign to become Labour leader because lots of young people are…
Out of service
From ‘The new standard’, The Spectator, 24 July 1915: If a change must be made at all, it is worthwhile to…
