World
Labour won’t fix Britain’s childcare mess
Labour appeared stumped when, earlier this year, the government announced it would be drastically increasing its ‘free’ childcare provision. Given…
Kim Jong-un is in no mood to calm down
South Korean voters will be among the more than four billion people going to the polls this year. With a…
Fact check: the truth about the asylum backlog
When is a backlog in asylum applications not a backlog? When it is made up of ‘complex cases’ and of…
Wayne Rooney’s failure is no surprise
There was a certain inevitability to the sacking of Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager. The only real surprise is…
The trouble with Ofsted
Ruth Perry’s death last year was a tragedy. The headteacher had carried the burden of an Ofsted inspection pretty much…
Why protests in Serbia won’t lead to regime change
Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, has followed in Vladimir Putin’s footsteps this week by blaming popular protests on western meddling to discredit the…
Japan’s earthquake has brought back painful memories
The year 2024 began in the worst possible way for Japan. At least 30 people were killed by a powerful…
The European Court has become positively immoral
Another new year, and on the very first day we hear of two cases where human rights law has made…
How Queen Margrethe made the Danish monarchy popular
Danish New Year’s Eves are to be savoured partly for their predictability. First, on the main Danish State TV channel,…
Just Say No to abstinence this January
Today’s a day for waltzes from Vienna and loafing around on one of the three days of the year when people…
Aussie republicans are fawning over Denmark’s new queen
According to opinion polls, more Australians want to ditch the country’s ties with the British monarchy than retain it. The…
Why Putin didn’t mention the war in his New Year’s address
With ‘don’t mention the war!’ the order of the day, it felt as if Vladimir Putin’s message to his people…
Watch: Sadiq Khan grilled on London knife crime
Sadiq Khan was hoping to project a message of ‘unity to the world’ with this year’s New Year’s Eve fireworks…
Why Europe’s centrists are terrified of 2024
New Year’s Eve passed off peacefully in France give or take the odd incident. There were 211 arrests in total,…
The ancient roots of Italy’s Festa della Befana
In Italy if you are not careful, you are condemned to measure out your life in religious festivals. There are…
The trouble with the United Nations’s fringe organisations
A new year is a good time for nations, like families, to review the institutions they support. For 2024 I…
Paris doesn’t want the 2024 Olympics
As hundreds of boats float elegantly down the Seine at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics this summer, one…
Why did it take so long to give Tim Martin a knighthood?
The news that Tim Martin, the founder of JD Wetherspoon, has been given a knighthood in the New Year Honours…
Is Opec’s power finally failing?
Since 1973, much of global politics has been conducted in the long shadow of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries…
Why The Spectator didn’t cancel Karol Sikora
Before the year ends, I’d like to tell the story of Karol Sikora and attempts to have him removed from…
The case against the XL Bully ban
In just a few hours’ time, Bully XLs will be banned in England and Wales: breeding, selling, advertising, rehoming, or…
Nicola Sturgeon’s remarkable downfall
As she faced her final press conference of 2022 last Christmas, the first minister of Scotland seemed unassailable. Nicola Sturgeon…
Is Airbus a metaphor for Britain’s relationship with the EU?
A French member of the board of Airbus – the giant European aircraft and aerospace group – once told me…
The eccentric genius behind Big Ben
One test of great architecture is whether it, and the city it stands in, can be recognised from its silhouette…
Why is it so hard to leave the country?
This should have been the year when we could finally put Covid behind us and return to normal. But as far…
