Oxford University
Dissent over coronavirus research isn’t dangerous – but stifling debate is
One of the paradoxes of the coronavirus crisis is that the need for public scrutiny of government policy has never…
How Oxford taught the no-platformers a lesson
Three weeks ago Amber Rudd travelled to Christ Church, Oxford, to speak to students about her experiences of being a…
No blues, just reds and whites: the Oxford vs Cambridge wine-tasting
The cellar room is almost silent save for the sound of slurping and spitting and the odd gentle sigh. One…
‘Desolate, despairing and awful’: Britain’s uninhabitable island
In 1978, an invitation was sent to some 200 members of Oxford’s Dangerous Sports Club, which simply read: ‘Tea, Rockall,…
Helena Morrissey: my manifesto for the next govenor of the Bank of England
The start of term at Oxford University is bittersweet for the close-knit Morrisseys; we have just ‘lost’ three offspring to…
If you’re going to leave Notre Dame in ruins, why not set fire to Oxford University?
Almost everyone agrees it is a pity that so few pupils from ‘disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds’ get into Oxford. But no…
Fantasist, bigamist and cheat: the colourful career of Robert Parkin Peters
In 2010, Adam Sisman published a masterly biography of Hugh Trevor-Roper, who was not merely one of the best historians…
Equipped for life with a copy of Thucydides
‘What distinguishes Cambridge from Oxford,’ wrote A.A. Milne in 1939, is that nobody who has been to Cambridge feels impelled…
The BBC needs to be rescued from its own groupthink
I see that law students at Oxford University were told that if they found the contents of a lecture on…
Why is the organ such hard work?
My old Oxford college, Mansfield, isn’t a famous establishment, though its current principal, ‘Baroness Helena Kennedy’, as she incorrectly styles…
What's that thing? Britain's worst public art
Bad public art pollutes our townscapes. Stephen Bayley names and shames the worst offenders as he unveils the winner of The Spectator’s inaugural What’s That Thing? Award
Sorry, but the Bullingdon Club really doesn’t help your career
I’m getting a lot of abuse on Twitter for saying that having been a member of the Bullingdon is more…
Shirley Williams: Saving my mother from the scriptwriters
Jasper Rees talks to Shirley Williams about the forthcoming screen portrayal of her mother
If you want an argument against state-school-only Oxbridge colleges, just look at me
I read with some interest the proposal for Oxford and Cambridge to set up state-school-only colleges in the Guardian this…
Radek Sikorski’s notebook: Goose-steppers in Oxford, and a drone in my garden
As the BA flight from Warsaw landed at Heathrow, I felt a little tremor of anxiety, though it wasn’t anything…
Letters: Sir Peter Lampl replies to Charles Moore, and the memories of a wasteful GP
Medical waste Sir: Susan Hill’s article (‘Patient, heal thyself’, 29 June) dealt only with the unnecessary visits to GPs for…
