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‘We believe Germany made the war’
The 1914 editions of The Spectator in the days surrounding the declaration of war give a sense of bewilderment. At first they couldn’t believe it would happen. After Archduke Franz… Continue reading
0 CommentsStonegate fare-dodger: it wasn’t Paul Dacre
The mystery is over. A man named Jonathan Burrows has been exposed as the Stonegate fare-dodger. Our own Charles Moore must share a train with this enterprising man. Back in… Continue reading
10 CommentsSpectator competition: provide snippets of misleading advice for British tourists travelling abroad (plus Margaret Thatcher’s secret love poetry)
The recent challenge to unmask a secret poet among well-known figures from 20th-century history produced a postbag full of politician-bards, which included poignant lines from the pens of Edward Heath… Continue reading
2 CommentsRod Liddle vs Mary Beard – the re-match. Tune in tonight to Any Questions
Last year, Rod Liddle waded into the Mary Beard ‘misogyny’ row. You may recall that Beard appeared on Question Time, and then complained about the ‘misogynistic’ abuse she received on… Continue reading
92 CommentsThe NHS’s sympathy deficit
Sometimes I have a quiet time as a voluntary hospital visitor. But recently I’ve witnessed a lot of distress from people of all ages and types. The other week I… Continue reading
36 CommentsLook where Tony Blair’s messianic fervour has left us
While trawling down the Mail Online’s right-hand-side of the page porno strip, to consider analytically the latest photographs of Jessica Alba in a swimming costume, I came across a rather… Continue reading
80 CommentsThe insidious re-normalisation of smoking
The NHS has long since been smoke free, banning smoking on-site for patients and staff alike back when I was a nursing student. Of course this is ignored pretty much… Continue reading
98 CommentsIf the Edinburgh Fringe thinks it’s fine to give in to bigots, I might have to give up on the Edinburgh Fringe
When is a great international arts festival not a great international arts festival? When it can’t uphold even the most basic principles of free speech. Last night a play by an Israeli… Continue reading
272 CommentsFifty shades of Grayling
With the delicacy of an Israeli F-16, the Tories entered the summer campaign today with an achingly dull speech in Westminster. Something about Labour and the unions. Mud flew everywhere.… Continue reading
10 CommentsTunes of Numpties: Scottish novelists on independence
There are many ways to commission fat-headed political analysis but, in my experience, by far the easiest is to ask a novelist his (or her) opinion on the great issues… Continue reading
172 CommentsNext to the great halal scandal, grouse is small beer. But which has M&S banned?
Last year I got my grouse at M&S. The birds, I mean. There’s a little fresh meat section in the Kensington branch round the corner from me at work, and… Continue reading
72 Comments‘Unity at home and strength abroad’. Britain prepares for WW1 by postponing Irish home rule
The outbreak of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in July 1914 forced British politicians to postpone the Amending Bill for Irish home rule. This was momentous because Nationalists and Unionists had… Continue reading
6 CommentsTime for a new, patient-driven approach to cancer screening?
No screening test for cancer is 100 per cent accurate. While some individuals might benefit from having an early cancer spotted, many more will have abnormalities detected that, although suggestive… Continue reading
3 Comments2 billion reasons to take shooting seriously
When I told our blogs editor about an independent survey claiming that shooting was worth £2 billion to the rural economy, he didn’t believe me. ‘Are you sure it’s not £2 million,… Continue reading
33 CommentsNow that Richard Dawkins is attacking Muslims and feminists, the atheist Left suddenly discover he’s a bigot
‘Richard Dawkins, what on earth happened to you?’ asks Eleanor Robertson in the Guardian today. Ms Robertson is a ‘feminist and writer living in Sydney’. She follows to the letter… Continue reading
571 CommentsI thought I had contracted Ebola. Life doesn’t get much scarier than that
Juba After an all-night rainstorm in Juba I woke to see the mosquito that bit me in the dark. Now, several days later, a fever returns to me like an… Continue reading
26 CommentsLunchtime lobbying from Tristram Hunt
The search for a new Chairman of the BBC Trust is in utter chaos. After Mr Steerpike revealed that the job description had been altered to insert the ‘Seb Coe… Continue reading
19 CommentsMoeen Ali reminds us that sometimes sport is the only place for politics
Moeen Ali, the England cricketer, faces a possible reprimand after the International Cricket Council (ICC), the game’s governing body, censured him for wearing two wristbands, one saying ‘Save Gaza’, the other… Continue reading
114 CommentsThe three parent technique is genetic modification. Will parliament confront this?
If I were choosing a third parent for a baby, you know, I’d be inclined to choose one of the Williams sisters — the top-notch tennis players. If you want… Continue reading
22 CommentsEd Miliband’s ‘new politics’ update
Derision met Labour when news emerged that more than half of its prospective parliamentary candidates are former special advisers, party workers, researchers, lobbyists or ex-MPs. Ed Miliband (PPE, Corpus Christi… Continue reading
34 CommentsWho cares whether English commentators like or respect Scotland?
Because the Commonwealth Games are a thing and because newspapers need to fill their pages every day it is natural, even unavoidable, that they have in recent days been stuffed… Continue reading
266 CommentsThe mysterious case of David Ruffley’s letter
There is much hullaballoo this morning about how slow the Tories were to act over David Ruffley, the disgraced MP who announced last night that he will not stand for… Continue reading
9 CommentsIn Iraq, ancient Christianity lies in ruins. But who cares?
The Mar Behnam monastery outside Mosul, seized by ISIS just over a week ago, bears an inscription in the Turkic language of the Mongols who invaded Iraq in the 13th… Continue reading
139 CommentsJon Snow’s view of the Middle East is biased, inaccurate and dangerous
I suppose viewers of Jon Snow’s Channel 4 News don’t expect impartial journalism, any more than viewers of Fox in the States expect their political opponents to get a particularly… Continue reading
978 CommentsParacetamol might not ease back pain – but doctors should prescribe it anyway
Upon seeing the headline ‘Paracetamol does not help lower back pain’, I found myself emitting a small (well – actually quite a large) sigh. The image of queues of angry… Continue reading
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