Planning
Can Boris crack the unwhippables?
‘Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won,’ wrote the Duke of Wellington after…
The rise of the unwhippable Tories
When the government announced a Commons vote on its decision to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent…
The Tories should ignore the Amersham by-election
Chesham and Amersham has fallen. The once uber-Tory Chilterns citadel has been snatched by the Lib Dems, with local campaigners…
Why the Tories mustn't give in to the Nimbys
A 15-point YouGov poll lead and last week’s election performance suggests that things look good for the Tories in England.…
Boris the builder mustn’t buckle over planning reform
The government will pass the test it has set itself: schools in England will return next week. Pupils may well…
After 50 years, I’m out of the agony-aunt business
It’s clear that Vladimir Putin has had a facelift, which might explain why Wendi Deng would take an interest in…
The plot to save Goldsmith’s Close Allotments
Since turning 50 I have become a gardening enthusiast. It started with tomatoes, then spread to raspberries and last year…
Bring back the bungalow!
We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population
The fight to save the Gladstone Arms is a battle for the soul of London
The fight to save the Gladstone Arms is the fight to save London
My eco-home nightmare
Buying an eco-home? Expect stifling springs and summers
Welcome to Miliband country: how Labour would wreck rural life
A ‘progressive alliance’ would be a profound threat to rural life
Airport wars: why I'm betting on Gatwick
Easter is a good time to talk about airports — or perhaps a bad time, if you bought your Spectator…
The myth of the housing crisis
The coalition is letting developers concrete over the countryside, but that won’t help young people buy houses
When a cricket ball cost Britain an heir to the throne
A fatal shot The sad death of Australian batsman Philip Hughes was a reminder that a cricket ball can kill.…
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
Who are you calling a blob, Owen Paterson?
Owen Paterson shouldn’t hold green activists responsible for his sacking. The culprit was David Cameron
Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
