The Spectator: 9 February 2013
The defender of faith
If the secret of success is to follow failure, then Justin Welby has had the perfect start as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed at a time when the Church… Read more
9 February 2013
Home The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill was given its second reading in the Commons by 400 votes to 175. Of Conservative MPs, 127 voted for it, and 136 against.… Read more
Piers Paul Read
In a recent exchange of emails, my Member of Parliament, Mr Andy Slaughter, told me he intended to vote in favour of same-sex marriage. No doubt by now he has… Read more
Stoicism at the doctor’s
It has been proposed that, to deal with certain sorts of emotional problems for which we go to the doctor, we should be given an improving book to read. Quite… Read more
9 February 2013
Respect the RSPCA Sir: You ask whether the RSPCA has ‘gone feral’ (‘The RSPCA’s secret war’, 2 February)? The answer is ‘no’. Since its founding, the society has promoted kindness… Read more
The battle of Eastleigh will be bloody
This week’s Cabinet meeting was a deceptively straightforward affair. Conservative and Liberal Democrat ministers met as usual, and discussed economic competitiveness and their priorities for the next Queen’s speech. It… Read more
9 February 2013
It was rude and impolitic of David Cameron not to sit in on the parliamentary debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. The whole thing was his idea and… Read more
What makes me feel sorry for Chris Huhne
If Chris Huhne hadn’t copped off with that woman who looks remarkably like the late comedian Jack Douglas, I suppose we would have been deprived of all the tumultuous glee… Read more
A snapshot moment in Old Havana
The Parque Mátires ’71 is pleasant, nothing special, hardly distinguishable from dozens of other little parks in Old Havana. Fairly safe, reasonably clean, shabby, some tatty greenery and a few… Read more
Remember the lesson of Shaun of the Dead: some zombies eventually come back to life
Funny how little phrases go viral. Suddenly everyone’s talking about ‘fasting diets’, ‘zombie companies’ and ‘leadership plots’. As to the first, the idea of the ‘5:2 intermittent fasting diet’, I… Read more
Sickness in the health service
A former editor of this magazine, Nigel Lawson, once described the NHS as ‘the closest thing the English have to a religion, with those who practise in it regarding themselves… Read more
Cameron’s wrong course
Never has a government been better at exasperating its own supporters; rarely has a government been so politically inept. The Tories have formidable advantages. Even in the miseries of an… Read more
Lord Bramall’s last stand
Retreat to your bunkers. Repeat: this is not a drill. Field Marshal Lord Bramall, former chief of the defence staff and veteran of the Normandy landings, has delivered a parting… Read more
'Murdoch betrays everyone in the end'
My guard goes up when people in power say that they believe in investigative journalism. Everybody says they do, of course. Then everyone says they have a sense of humour,… Read more
"The twins I saw will spend their lives staring at ceilings": Bulgaria's abandoned children
It was something about the twins that got to me; after seeing so many baby institutions and children’s homes, I had almost grown used to abandoned children in ranks of… Read more
Atheists vs Dawkins
Sometimes a perfectly good argument can be stretched too far. I heard the resulting snapping noise last week in Cambridge during a debate with Richard Dawkins. We were meant to… Read more
Dubai Notebook
François Hollande rolled into town for the World Future Energy Summit here recently, but hardly anyone noticed. There is little enthusiasm for his thoughts on clean energy deployment. In any case, in Dubai we… Read more
The music man
When Humphrey Carpenter published the first major biography of Benjamin Britten in 1992, many of the composer’s associates were still alive and breathing down his neck. Carpenter’s knowledge of the… Read more
Latest blogs
- It looks like we must hope for the best in Syria Douglas Murray
- Exclusive: Tories go public with EU referendum bill Isabel Hardman
- Syria crisis: debate turns to shoulda, woulda, coulda on tactics Isabel Hardman
- Cable and Willetts: the house-trained ministers? James Forsyth
- Ben Fountain interview: Lies are an affront to writers because lying is the corruption of language Stephen McEwen
- G8: leaders agree Lough Erne declaration and Syria communique Isabel Hardman
- The economic case for sacking bad teachers Fraser Nelson
