This week Sir Alan Duncan penned a piece for the Telegraph entitled ‘why this lifelong Eurosceptic is now voting to stay in’. In this, the Conservative MP explained the reasons he is backing Remain. To show how torn he had been over the decision, Duncan revealed that he had even met with Vote Leave ahead of opting
It is good that Matthew Parris has taken on Boris. The Mayor has had too easy a press in many quarters. There is a good reason for this: he is one of us. There is a bit of the Bullingdon in Fleet Street: we are often too disinclined to attack our own. Matthew Parris acknowledges
This time last year, Matthew Parris was about the only commentator predicting that the Tories would win a majority. In his Times column today, he says he is now beginning to think that Britain will vote ‘out’ – and he looks at the consequences. Specifically, Cameron’s likely resignation and a summer Tory leadership campaign with Boris
Here in Dublin, Ireland is busy marking 100 years since the Easter Rising of 1916. It is being celebrated, but with far less chest-beating and bombast than met the 50th anniversary in 1966. And this is a good thing entirely. The Rising lasted for six days. Its leaders seized key buildings around Dublin and proclaimed an
The upcoming EU referendum has proved to be a divisive issue for families as well as politicians. With Boris Johnson the lone Out-er among his siblings, another famous family are now to take different sides in the great debate. Although Jeremy Corbyn is known to have held Eurosceptic views in the past — recently deleting articles scathing
Early on in his leadership, David Cameron was clear that he wanted the Tories to stop ‘banging on about Europe.’ But Europe—or more specifically, the EU referendum—is now dominating Cameron’s time so much that he is neglecting domestic policy. I report in my Sun column today that one of those intimately involved in the disability
The latest challenge was to supply Dr Seuss’s take on the US presidential race. Given his taste for taking down bullies, tyrants and hypocrites, it seems unlikely that Theodor Geisel would have been a fan of the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, who, as might be expected, loomed large in your submissions. It was a
It will hit Consumers: The tax is designed to be levied on soft drinks companies, based on the volume of sugar-sweetened drinks they import of export. But the independent economic forecaster, the Office of Budgetary Responsibility, states the costs of the levy will be ‘passed entirely onto the price paid by consumers’. That means it
I’m technically 3/4 Kiwi and 1/4 British, although having lived in the UK most of my life, it doesn’t often feel this way. But when it comes to rugby, I support the All Blacks, and when I go walking in the mud, I wear gumboots, not wellingtons. So I’ve taken a vague interest in the fact that New
After terrorist outrages like the one in Brussels, our leaders always say the same thing: ‘We must defend European values against these evil killers.’ It seems the Metropolitan Police didn’t get the memo. For they have just arrested someone — actually arrested someone — for tweeting something unpleasant about the Brussels attack, in the process
It’s been a bad week for the Tories, but it hasn’t exactly been a great week for Labour. After a list categorising Labour MPs as ‘supportive’ or ‘hostile’ towards Jeremy Corbyn was leaked, things seem to have taken a turn for the worse, because it appears that Corbynistas are now ranking MPs in terms of how
I’m a 21st-century woman, fully educated and employed, and my ability to keep a roof over my head currently depends on either a) the wealth of my father or b) finding a boyfriend. Let me explain. I have an Oxbridge degree, I’m in a good job, I earn well over the national average income of
As Nigel Farndale wrote in this magazine in February, leaving the EU would have a dramatic effect on British farmers and the agricultural industry. When it comes to British agriculture, the EU very much sets the rules – with regards to both regulations and funding – so a vote for Brexit would mean change, in
It’s Holy Week, so I wonder if our national Church is in the news at all? Let’s see…There’s a story this week about a long dead bishop called Bell, accused of child sex abuse, to the anger of some. Don’t confuse Bell with Ball, an undisputed episcopal abuser. And don’t confuse Bishop Peter Ball with Bishop Michael
In Cuba, they are shouting: ‘¡Viva Obama! Viva Fidel!’ What a slogan. The FT headline ignorantly described this as a ‘Nixon in China’ moment: implying that Obama had previously been opposed to Castro’s Cuba. The US President is expected to come to Britain next month to order us to stay in the EU. Let us
As I’m sure is the case with many of you, I’ve been giving serious thought to how best to Stand Up To Terrorism, Show The Terrorists They Cannot Win and Maintain Our Values. The Belgian Prime Minister said we should all be doing this, followed in short order by every other European politician apart from Marine Le Pen,
Do you trust your grown-up children with money? Apparently a lot of us don’t. More than half of the grandparents who plan to leave an inheritance to their grandchildren ring-fence the money so their own children can’t get their hands on it, according to data from insurer Sun Life. But is it any wonder? British
Today Amber Rudd is doing her bit for the In campaign with a speech in which she will warn the nation that UK energy costs could ‘rocket’ by £500 million a year if Britain were to vote to leave the European Union. The Energy and Climate Change Secretary will also claim that leaving the EU would mean that
It’s not easy to keep track of household bills. Now new research has revealed that more than a third of people do not know how much it costs to run their home. Householders vastly underestimate the true costs, which are on average £1,505 a month for homeowners and £1,819 a month for tenants. Those surveyed by property
This podcast is sponsored by Berry Bros, The Spectator’s house red. In this week’s episode of the Spectator Podcast, Isabel Hardman is joined by Douglas Murray and Haras Rafiq, managing director for the Quilliam Foundation, to discuss the Brussels attacks. ‘In the wake of a terrorist attack, everything barely worth saying will be said endlessly. And the