Politics (UK)
Mrs T’s unfinished business
Soon after Margaret Thatcher was elected leader of the Conservative party she came for lunch at The Spectator and our then proprietor, Henry Keswick, wanted to offer his congratulations —… Read more
The Tory modernisers are Margaret Thatcher's true heirs
Margaret Thatcher’s death has inevitably prompted intense reflection among Tories about what lessons the party should learn from her time in office. ‘We must finish the job’ is the refrain… Read more
Margaret Thatcher: faultless on the Falklands but a disaster at home
I’m afraid we have to use Nelson Mandela as an example once again. He is proving very useful in his dotage, old Nels, as a comparison for stuff. A sort… Read more
Cecil Parkinson, Charles Powell, John Simpson and Steve Hilton remember Margaret Thatcher
Cecil Parkinson: Underestimated – but unbowed Even among Mrs Thatcher’s original shadow Cabinet, there were those who simply did not believe that she would be capable of dealing with the problems… Read more
Why are lefties so sycophantic to Margaret Thatcher?
I’ve been scratching my head for the past half hour trying to work out how I would react if I were a Conservative MP and a BBC reporter stuffed a… Read more
Clear choice for the Tories
If I start with a reference to the sorry condition of the Tory party, I hope readers will not immediately turn to another page. If only the Tories can take… Read more
Mrs Thatcher’s triumph
There was never a more disenchanted victory. The moment the size of the Tory swing was known, the doubts began, not least among those hundreds of thousands who had voted… Read more
Mrs Thatcher goes to Brussels
‘Délégation Royaume Uni. Salle 4’ announces a scruffy piece of paper projected onto the black and white television screens of the Centre Charlemagne. The journalists hurry upstairs for the latest… Read more
Trying to get the mad, broody chicken off her addled eggs
A friend who is not normally receptive to left-wing or republican ideas suddenly exclaimed at dinner in my house the other day that he was bored, sickened and disgusted by… Read more
Working for Mrs Thatcher
A doctor providing geriatric care once told me of the damage Mrs Thatcher had done to the NHS. He used to employ a simple test to find out whether his… Read more
The empty Budget
Dangerous, unfair, verging on kleptomania: the bailout deal proposed by the EU at the weekend and rejected by Cyprus MPs on Tuesday is everything it has been described as over… Read more
For once, Osborne will be glad not to be the story
A few years ago George Osborne would have bristled at the idea that one of his budgets wouldn’t be the biggest event of the political week. His ability to conjure… Read more
Why The Spectator won’t sign the Royal Charter
Whatever else is said about David Cameron’s hand-ling of press regulation, there can be no doubt that the deal he struck on Monday demonstrated masterful sleight of hand. Just days… Read more
If David Cameron wants to save the NHS, he should sack David Nicholson
Twenty-five years ago, when he had left the Communist party and taken over as chief executive at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Sir David Nicholson made a point of promising his staff… Read more
David Cameron needs Willie Whitelaw. He has Nick Clegg
David Cameron needs a Willie. So say the ministers who work most closely with No. 10. It is not a call for shock-and-awe radicalism, but for someone who can help… Read more
Bloomberg will buy the Financial Times — but only if it jettisons The Economist
How much would you stump up for the Economist? Most of us would draw the line at a fiver, but I’m told that Mike Bloomberg, mayor of New York, is drawing… Read more
Isn’t Germany’s attitude towards Romania a little at odds with the EU project?
‘Can you imagine anything worse,’ a Hungarian once said to me, ‘than a Slav who thinks he’s Latin?’ He was referring to the Romanians, of course. There is a certain… Read more
Europe’s cap on bankers’ pay is merely a harbinger of the Great Persecution to come
‘Possibly the most deluded measure to come from Europe since Diocletian tried to fix the price of groceries across the Roman Empire,’ was Boris Johnson’s assessment of the proposal to… Read more
Budget 2013: How George Osborne ran out of ideas
Before every Budget, George Osborne always seeks the advice of various MPs. He usually doesn’t heed it but it’s a good way, he thinks, to keep the troops happy. As… Read more
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