Brexit
Hammond can build his way out of trouble
Sometimes in life the biggest risk you can take is to play it safe. This is the predicament of Philip…
Brexit can strengthen the Union
There will be no chance of the United Kingdom making a success of Brexit if Scotland votes to break up…
Lost in translation
If Michel Barnier and David Davis, in their regular dialogue of the deaf, seem to be inhabiting different mental universes,…
No deal is a good deal
So Theresa May and Jean-Claude Juncker enjoyed a ‘broad and constructive exchange’ during their working dinner in Brussels. Last time…
Soap opera
Previously on Giulio Cesare… English Touring Opera’s new season caters cannily to the box-set generation by chopping Handel’s Egyptian power-and-politics…
The plots thicken
‘Worst week ever’ is one of those phrases that journalists are, perhaps, too quick to use. Alastair Campbell once quipped…
It’s time to talk trade
Thirty years ago, the Conservatives would have had no problem countering what Jeremy Corbyn had to offer in Brighton. But…
At last! The subversion of Brexit has begun
The Brexit crowd are right to smell a rat. In any great national debate a columnist may feel tempted to…
The Spectator’s notes
Sir David Norgrove, the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), is an honourable man. When he publicly rebuked Boris…
Dover
When people come to Dover, it’s usually to pass through. The magnificent castle on the cliffs may be a tourist…
Diary
September is my time of year. Summer is all very well if you’re one of those golden-haired, long-limbed types who…
May’s exit strategy
Nearly all Tory MPs now agree Theresa May should stay on as Prime Minister. She must get the party through…
Forgive and forget
To begin with, Theresa May was not planning to take a three-week holiday — but she was subtly advised that,…
Call Barnier’s bluff
There is a growing perception that Britain is floundering in its EU negotiations, with a professional team from Brussels running…
May’s opponents are the mad and the bad
I first met Theresa May, or met her properly, way back in the last century. I’d been invited to speak…
Diary
It has been a summer of tears, both of joy and sorrow. The latter first: how could stones not weep…
The truth about Brexit? One professor’s guess is no better than another’s
Removing all trade and tariff barriers as part of a hard Brexit would generate ‘a £135 billion annual boost to…
The many sides of satire
Brexit the Musical is a peppy satire written by Chris Bryant (not the MP, he’s a lawyer). Musically the show…
England Lost/Gotta Get A Grip
Two songs in which Sir Michael informs us that he is distressed by both Brexit and Donald Trump. Released with,…
Why is your holiday exchange rate so awful? Because investors see hope for the eurozone
As usual for August, I’m in France, where the news in brief is ‘Euro up, Macron down’. The youthful French…
Portrait of the week
Home British negotiators are prepared to pay up to £36 billion to the EU to settle the so-called divorce bill…
Losing our religion
Sir James MacMillan’s European Requiem, performed at the Proms on Sunday, isn’t about Brexit. The composer had to make this…
Portrait of the week
Home Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, appeared to wrest control of plans for Brexit from cabinet rivals, while…
Playing chicken
Besides being important in themselves, the trade talks between Britain and the United States which began this week are symbolic…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, invited the media to take a photograph of her beginning a holiday with her…
