The Week
Spectator letters: Housing associations fight back; and more world-wrecking British graduates
What we’re building Sir: I was surprised and frustrated to read Ross Clark’s piece on housing associations in last week’s…
House in order
The shaming of Lord Sewel was a classic tabloid exposé. The fact that a peer of the realm (albeit one…
Jeremy Corbyn’s world
Jeremy Corbyn says he is very excited about his campaign to become Labour leader because lots of young people are…
Barometer
Safe house Lord Sewel is unique in leaving the House of Lords in disgrace. Until the House of Lords Reform…
Diary
The week starts well. My debut novel, The Miniaturist, is a year old. On the anniversary of its publication, my…
Out of service
From ‘The new standard’, The Spectator, 24 July 1915: If a change must be made at all, it is worthwhile to…
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…
If you want military interventions, Prime Minister, you'll need more of a military
“Whether it’s in Iraq, Syria, Libya or elsewhere — as Prime Minister, if I believe there is a specific threat…
Portrait of the week
Home Parents would be able to have their children’s passports removed if they were suspected of planning to travel abroad…
Tony Hall’s diary: the Proms, my walking obsession, and why the BBC is like James Bond
There’s nothing quite like a First Night — and last Friday we launched the Proms, the most celebrated classical music…
Even Nazis weren’t quite sure how to do the Hitler salute
Gesture politics A royal home movie from 1933 apparently showed the future Queen, aged seven, and her mother giving a…
Vespasian’s Middle East policy (it should be ours, too)
As Ahmed Rashid argued last week, it is hard to see what the West is doing in the Middle East,…
Profiteering in the pits
From ‘Coal and its problems’, The Spectator, 24 July 1915: Instead of attempting to regulate prices, the government ought to have…
Letters: The Assad option, and a pre-nup for Taki
Don’t write off Assad Sir: Ahmed Rashid refers to our ‘Arab allies’ supporting al-Qaeda (‘The plan to back al-Qaeda against…
Giving up the fight
“Whether it’s in Iraq, Syria, Libya or elsewhere — as Prime Minister, if I believe there is a specific threat…
Vespasian vs Islamic State
As Ahmed Rashid argued last week, it is hard to see what the West is doing in the Middle East,…
Barometer
Gesture politics A royal home movie from 1933 apparently showed the future Queen, aged seven, and her mother giving a…
Diary
There’s nothing quite like a First Night — and last Friday we launched the Proms, the most celebrated classical music…
Profiteering in the pits
From ‘Coal and its problems’, The Spectator, 24 July 1915: Instead of attempting to regulate prices, the government ought to have…
Portrait of the week
Home Parents would be able to have their children’s passports removed if they were suspected of planning to travel abroad…
Iran can’t be trusted
Iran is, beyond doubt, a sponsor of terrorism and this week it has been made much stronger. It has (again)…
Portrait of the week
Home The government postponed a Commons vote on relaxing the Hunting Act in England and Wales after the Scottish National…
Melvyn Bragg’s Diary: a tooth and claw fight on Hampstead Heath
I witnessed what was almost a violent fight to the death on Hampstead Heath the other morning. Broad flawless sunlight,…
Barometer: Where could Lewis Hamilton go and not wear a tie?
Ties that bind Lewis Hamilton was ejected from the royal box at Wimbledon for not wearing a tie. Some places…
Ancient and Modern: Juvenal and Cicero on whether grunting has a place in sport
What a pleasure it was to watch the men’s final at Wimbledon contested with a minimum of grunting, exclaiming and…
