HS2
Why HS2 doesn’t stand up to the test of time
In past years, I have been a critic of HS2. I might now change my mind. One simple tweak might…
How Ebenezer Grayling destroyed the Kite family Christmas
Ebenezer Grayling sat busy in his counting house. It was a cold, bleak day at the Department for Transport. Big…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, invited the media to take a photograph of her beginning a holiday with her…
Don’t believe the Tory grumbling: HS2 is on the way
There’s a lot of negativity around HS2, and I sniff a Brexit connection. You might think Leave campaigners whose aim…
The left-wing lunacy of Tooting Honey Toilets
‘Sadly, the world is filled with apathy,’ said my friend, as we looked at our sad little list of conscripts…
The most important test that HS2 doesn’t pass
Despite my opposition to High Speed 2, I am quite a big fan of HS1, the line which runs from…
This is what every menu should look like
The appallingly bad photograph below was taken on my mobile phone about 15 years ago. It shows the menu layout…
Heathrow and the strange, far-off days when Britain actually built things
Heathrow. The whole British story is there. Reading up around that debacle last week, I came across the eye-watering —…
My rich leftie neighbours must be in a state of psychotic denial — or stoned
The ‘I’m Voting For Chuka’ posters in my rich neighbours’ front windows pushed me over the edge. There is nothing…
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…
Letters: Why Ofsted should be disbanded
Disband Ofsted Sir: Dennis Sewell’s damning indictment of Ofsted (‘Ofsted in the dock’, 13 December) stopped short of the logical…
Let’s appoint a Ministry of Scandalous Ideas
My children have a phrase called ‘fomo’ — which stands for ‘fear of missing out’. It is a constant, mildly…
Here’s what I’ve learned in 2014
The countryside is all very well so long as you know you can leave it. Funnily enough, exactly the same…
How HS2 has blighted my parents’ lives
Whether the high-speed rail line is built or not, it is destroying the retirements of people like my parents
Rochester’s special qualities, and the price of Ebola.com
What’s special about Rochester What is special about Rochester and Strood? — Rochester has the second oldest cathedral and school…
My addiction to the bullet train
Stephen Bayley explains why he has become addicted to Japan’s Shinkansen
Sorry, but trains can’t really replace welfare lines
George Osborne proposed an attractive idea this week: that spending on state benefits should be diverted into new infrastructure in…
Adam Smith is the father of more than one sort of economics
Gandhi would test his resolve by sleeping between two naked virgins, an avenue not really open to me, as my…
George Osborne’s cynical grab for northern votes (and why I’m for it)
When John Prescott used to wax garrulous about a ‘superhighway’ from Hull to Liverpool, everyone assumed it was a wheeze…
Spectator letters: The trouble with religion, alternatives to HS2, and whisky-drinking dogs
Old cabby’s tale Stephen Rommei’s London cabby story (Diary, 7 June) reminded me of catching a cab one cold night…
Portrait of the week
Home The British economy grew by 0.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2014, disappointing hotheads who’d expected 1 per cent. It…
Portrait of the week
Home In the Budget, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that the economy was working but the job…
HS2’s boss is right – it’s push on or be rubbed out
I’m sure HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins is right to argue that if we’re serious about building a new north-south…
David Cameron is sending me begging letters
A letter arrives from David Cameron, asking me to vote by post in the European elections. Presumably he means vote…
Melissa Kite: I don't mean to make the transport secretary run across the Savoy ballroom, really I don't
‘Do you know…?’ said the Tory MP I was sitting next to, as he tried to introduce me to the…
