World
The problem with Johnson's Brexit deal
Boris Johnson has delivered a deal that I must admit is miles better than I had anticipated. Mind you, I…
Seven Ohio counties show why Trump lost as Republicans won
At the end of the day, the votes cast and counted determine who wins and who loses. Though it might…
Britain should now brace itself for a barrage of Brussels red tape
Should we be worried that the UK didn’t get all that it wanted for financial services in the UK-EU Trade…
Where have all the lesbians gone?
I miss lesbians. It is true that most homosexual men don’t have too many integrated in our lives, but most…
A Priti poem: an ode to the Home Secretary
Priti Patel, Ms Priti Patel, Burnished by sunshine of far Israel, How we all cheered when on Marr you did…
The rise and fall of Netflix
In 2010, Jeff Bewkes, then CEO of Time Warner, was asked if he thought Netflix had any chance of taking…
What has happened to parenting?
During a recent webinar with British MPs, I learned that parents in Bradford were up in arms because their children…
The small print of Boris's Brexit deal makes for reassuring reading
The new UK/EU Treaty is needlessly long and turgid in its prose: this document was not drafted by people who…
Why 2020 was the fourth best year in history
The Spectator has a long and proud history of fact-based optimism, sometimes represented by an end-of-the-year article explaining that statistics…
Why a row about the rise of Hitler has erupted in the German press
A debate is playing out in the German-speaking media about whether inflation or deflation was behind the rise of Adolf…
A woke church is doomed to fail
My church attendance leaves something to be desired and I can’t cite Bible verses for every occasion. Yet for as…
How the Brexit deal demonstrates Boris Johnson’s genius
I have never cared for Boris Johnson as a politician. Despite that, I voted for him twice as London mayor.…
Why Brexiteers should support this deal
When Britain voted on whether to leave the EU or remain within it there were valid arguments on both sides.…
Confessions of a failed royal reporter
Half a lifetime ago, I was, briefly, an occasional royal reporter – and watching The Crown, season four has revived…
The moment the modern world went wrong
Spectator contributors were asked: Which moment from history seems most significant or interesting? Here is Jonathan Sumption’s answer: The Paris…
Why Christmas sends a shiver down my spine
Does Christmas send a shiver down your spine? It should. We seek at this time of year to reclaim the…
Full text: Boris Johnson's Brexit deal speech
It is four and a half years since the British people voted to take back control of their money, their…
Britain has won the biggest Brexit prize of all
In the end, the fish were only of symbolic importance. Neither does it matter that much what happens to Scottish…
At last: we have a Brexit deal
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have both confirmed that we have a deal: one with zero tariffs, zero quotas. The…
Christmas raises the most basic political question
A few years ago, around this time of year, I overheard a nice exchange in a charity shop (I was…
Is there a Brexit deal?
Tonight we are still waiting for confirmation that a Brexit deal has been done. But the noises coming out of…
Who would want to be Joe Biden’s attorney general?
Whoever Joe Biden picks for attorney general is in a lose-lose situation. Why is that job so hard? At least…
The BBC should be ashamed of its reporting on trans teenagers
This is an article about some difficult, complex subjects: suicide, mental health, support for transgender children. It’s also about something…
Could 30 per cent of Brits have some Covid immunity?
How big is the job of vaccination? The aim is herd immunity, to protect enough people so that the virus…
No deal isn't what Paris thinks it is
The Brexit waiting continues. The negotiators are still talking but, according to one of those close to the negotiations on…
