Climate change
The Volkswagen diesel scandal was driven by carbon obsession
A fixation on carbon emissions will produce many more scandals like the one that has shamed Volkswagen
The people who really need the Pope's help
On Tuesday, Pope Francis set foot in the United States for the first time in his life. His plane touched…
How many party leaders get nearly 60% in their membership vote? More than you’d think
It’s their party Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour leadership contest with 60% of the vote among four candidates in the…
The birth of the plastic bag (blame Sweden)
Old bags The government announced details of a compulsory 5p charge for single-use plastic bags in shops. Plastic bags have…
All that postwar anxiety about being vaporised by a nuclear bomb was a complete waste of emotion
When I was growing up in the 1970s, my three main fears were: being blown up by the IRA; being…
Charles Moore’s notes: Grexit isn’t like Brexit (and that’s why it won’t be allowed to happen)
People write about ‘Grexit’ and ‘Brexit’ as if they were the same, but they need not be. Grexit is about…
In being suckered into climate alarmism, the Pope risks backing policies that hurt the world's poor
In his latest encyclical Pope Francis will apparently describe global warming as a ‘major threat to life on the planet’.…
Ipso: a great new way for bullies to muzzle the press
One of the fundamental principles of English common law is that you are innocent until proven guilty. And rightly so,…
Matt Ridley’s diary: Why a Guardian contributor wants me beheaded
Martin Williams, former head of the government’s air quality science unit, has declared that the reason we have a problem…
My part in a masterpiece of political correctness
Damien Hirst, Grayson Perry, James Delingpole: all winners of major art prizes. I was awarded mine last week by Anglia…
Nigel Lawson’s diary: Escaping election tedium in la France profonde
I have escaped this rather depressing election campaign by retreating to my home in la France profonde — to be…
Welcome to Miliband country: how Labour would wreck rural life
A ‘progressive alliance’ would be a profound threat to rural life
The Great European Disaster on BBC4 reviewed: propaganda worthy of Leni Riefenstahl
My favourite bit of The Great European Disaster (BBC4, Sunday) was the lingering shot that showed golden heads of corn…
How long will it be before the climate forces us to change?
As the climate changes, will we? The story of the little ice age suggests that adaptation will take years of suffering
Climate change, Bruegel-style
The world depicted by the Flemish master is not so different from our own, says Martin Gayford
Letters: Lord Lawson is not banned from the BBC, and Wales is wonderful
No ban on Lawson Sir: You write that the BBC ‘has effectively banned’ Lord Lawson from items on climate change…
In apologising for having Nigel Lawson on to discuss climate change, the BBC has breached its charter
Listen to ‘Is climate change a factor in the recent extreme weather?’ on Audioboo It is only a matter of…
Spectator letters: How schools fail boys, Jonathan Croall answers Keith Baxter, and why atheists should love the C of E
Why girls do better Sir: Isabel Hardman notes that girls now outperform boys at every level in education (‘The descent…
The lefty liberals may be losing their hold over the arts world
If you happen to be reading this column at breakfast, I’d recommend you skip to something more agreeable like Dear…
How green policies hurt the poor
How green policies hit the poorest hardest
The end of snow? Not in Gstaad
Gstaad The American newspaper that prints only news it sees fit to poison good things recently announced ‘The end of…
The martyrdom of Mark Steyn
When I first read, many months ago, that the notorious US climate scientist Michael Mann was suing the notorious right-wing…
How the MPs' expenses scandal proved the wisdom of Alain de Botton
Whenever I’m tempted to pretend to be nicer so that fewer people hate me, I remember my old friend Alain…
Letters: Jeff Jarvis defends internet companies, Royal Society fellows defend Lord Lawson
A net gain Sir: Jamie Bartlett tries to balance plus and minus, and ends with zero (‘Little Brothers are watching…
Nigel Lawson's diary: My secret showdown with the Royal Society over global warming
The long-discussed meeting between a group of climate scientists and Fellows of the Royal Society on the one side, and…
