Society

Sunday

Lara Brown

What is the Tate Modern for?

Twenty-five years ago today, the Tate Modern first opened its doors to the public. The main attraction: a nine metre-high steel sculpture of a female spider which towered over visitors to the Turbine Hall. In its first year, the Tate Modern saw twice its projected number of visitors. London’s first museum of modern art was an unmitigated success.  Say what you will about contemporary art, but it is undeniably true that the Tate Modern succeeded where others failed. While Manchester’s Municipal Gallery of Modern Art and Centre Georges Pompido struggled, the Tate Modern thrived. Riding the wave of Blairism, Britpop and pre-crash confidence, the thematically organised gallery, housed inside a derelict site on the

Saturday

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill

Why the Germans don’t do it better

When I was a girl – shortly after the repeal of the Corn Laws – a common rhetorical question was ‘Who won the bloody war anyway?’ whenever the Germans came up in conversation. We were The Sick Man Of Europe; they were My Perfect Cousin. Not any longer: German politics now looks rather chaotic compared to ours. Their chancellor Friedrich Merz stumbled into office this week on the second go. So terrified is the paternalistic, pompous German establishment that they are considering banning the AfD: that notorious fascist party led by a lesbian in a relationship with a Sri Lankan woman. Where did it all go so wrong for our

Damian Reilly Damian Reilly

Why the Tories must bring back Boris

The British people adore Boris Johnson. That is unarguable. It’s why he doesn’t lose elections. It is therefore very funny – the way idiocy so often is – that the Conservative party even in this, its moment of greatest existential crisis, is not right now prostrating itself before the great man to beg for his return. Boris used his farewell speech in Downing Street to liken himself to the ancient Roman statesman Cincinnatus ‘We are profoundly sorry that we thought we knew better than you, and accept that all evidence since we deposed you has proved us entirely and unforgivably wrong,’ it should be snivelling. ‘Please come back and save us, like you did when, not six years ago against all odds, you delivered the biggest parliamentary majority we’ve had since

Christopher Akers

Pope Leo’s papal economics

The Catholic Church now has its first American pope, but Robert Francis Prevost’s papal name of Leo XIV is perhaps far more significant than his national origins. The name gives a heavy hint about how the new pontiff might address our contemporary economic and social ills. The use of Leo points back to the reforming 19th-century Pope Leo XIII who, like Prevost, was faced with steering the Church through a world in ideological flux. That the new pope has chosen to emphasise the legacy of Leo XII suggests he is aware of the revolutionary nature of the current economic age Leo XIII was pontiff from 1878 to 1903. He is

Paul Mason, Marc De Vore and James Rogers

Why Britain must expand its nuclear arsenal

About once a month, the Royal Air Force scrambles Typhoon fighters for something called a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA). Typically, two Russian nuclear-capable bombers approach Scotland, the RAF aircraft shadow them closely and, at a suitably theatrical moment, the Russians turn away. The episode merits a tiny press release from the Ministry of Defence. Russia is continuously demonstrating its preparedness to cause mass death on the British mainland What most people don’t realise is that the Russian aircraft often open their bomb doors, revealing missiles which may, or may not, contain nuclear warheads; and that they line up on specific targets: city centres, nuclear power stations, airports, or other strategic

Jawad Iqbal

Football’s beer ban makes no sense

Should football fans be allowed to have a pint in the stands during a game? Luke Charters, the Labour MP for York Outer, certainly thinks so, and is calling for trials to see what impact lifting the ban on booze in the stands might have. ‘The days of hooliganism are gone’, he said. ‘Fans of other sports can drink in the stands but football fans cannot.’ The booze ban, in its present incarnation encourages fans to drink more ahead of the match The Labour backbencher raised the issue in the House of Commons during a debate on the Football Governance Bill, proposing designated drinking zones in view of the pitch

Friday

Olenka Hamilton

Olenka Hamilton, Melanie McDonagh, Hannah Moore, James Delingpole and William Atkinson

31 min listen

On this week’s Spectator Out Loud: Olenka Hamilton ponders whether Poland’s revival is a mirage (1:24); Melanie McDonagh asks who killed the postal service (9:52); Hannah Moore argues that family cars aren’t built for families any more (14:35); James Delingpole reviews Careme from Apple TV and Chef’s Table from Netflix (21:15); and, William Atkinson provides his notes on Thomas the Tank Engine (26:48).  Presented by Patrick Gibbons. Produced by Oscar Edmondson and Patrick Gibbons.

Jonathan Sacerdoti

The narcissism of Kanye West

We live in an age of liberation, in which we are told endlessly by some that freedom of speech, taken to its furthest boundaries, is the crowning achievement of democratic culture. And freedom of speech, alongside freedom of thought and conscience, freedom of (or from) religion, freedom of the press, of movement, of assembly and to legal equality, all safeguard human dignity, personal autonomy, and the ability to participate meaningfully in civic life. But what if one of the clearest signs of civilisational decay is precisely that the right to say anything is now used most energetically by people with nothing worthwhile to say? ‘Ye’, formerly known as Kanye West,

Patrick West

It shouldn’t be illegal to burn a Quran

We now live in a country where, once more, it appears to be a crime to commit blasphemy. This is the inevitable and justifiable conclusion many have made following the news yesterday that a man who burnt a copy of the Koran was charged with ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ against ‘the religious institution of Islam’. The National Secular Society has been volubly alarmed at the case The charge made against Hamit Coskun, who allegedly performed the act outside the Turkish Consulate in London in February, is thought to be the first time anybody has been prosecuted for harassing an ‘institution’, in the form of Islam, under the Public Order Act. Following a

Alexander Larman

King Charles did Britain proud this VE Day

The two years since the coronation of King Charles have been largely disappointing ones for the royal family. A great deal of this was due to factors that none of its senior members could have had any control over – Harry; the Duke of York; cancer. But, in these pages, I have also expressed doubts that the King has been fully in control of the public aspects of the role. Compared to his mother, he has often seemed a tentative, slightly querulous presence on the throne: a figure who had longed to rise to the highest level of responsibility for all his adult life, and was found wanting when he

Nick Tyrone Nick Tyrone

Why this centrist dad is (probably) voting Reform

I am a liberal, centrist dad Remainer. I desperately wish we could rejoin the European Union. I really don’t like Donald Trump. I could go on. But if a general election were held tomorrow, I would seriously consider voting Reform. In fact, Nigel Farage’s party is increasingly likely to get my support. Reform’s success in last week’s elections was no fluke: the latest YouGov survey puts the party on 29 per cent That I’m flirting with voting Reform might surprise you, but I’m not alone. Reform’s success in last week’s elections was no fluke: the latest YouGov survey puts the party on 29 per cent. The reason why is simple: the other parties are

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Do high taxes make you less generous?

Here’s a question: do you think that Bill Gates would have started and built up his Microsoft empire had the top rate of US income tax been 99 per cent? I don’t know Gates but I think the answer is obvious. Why would he have put in all those hours and taken all those risks if the state was going to snatch away virtually all the rewards? Either he wouldn’t have bothered or – my guess – he would have jumped on a plane and founded his business somewhere else, even renouncing his US citizenship in the process in order to avoid the taxman coming after him. I pose the

Robert Taylor

What has Ofcom got against the Carry On films?

Why must we all be such killjoys? Why so prudish? Why so terrified of history? In the dock this week, accused of crimes against common sense, are the bods at Ofcom, whose ‘guidance’, say broadcasters, means that Carry On films are now under threat. It appears the Carry On films have made the unpardonable error of reflecting the social and cultural norms of their time rather than having the foresight to mirror those of half a century later In fact, niche broadcasters of older films – and where else can you watch a Carry On film these days? – are so terrified of earning Ofcom’s wrath that they feel obliged

Kristina Murkett

Bonnie Blue deserves to be cancelled

Dr Gail Dines, a professor of sociology and women’s studies, defines the ‘pornification of society’ as a culture where explicit content isn’t just tolerated, but actively celebrated: the hardcore becomes mainstream, the shocking becomes desensitising, the transgressive becomes ever-more competitive. Leading this race to the bottom is OnlyFans ‘model’ Bonnie Blue. Blue, ever-the-expert in attention-grabbing stunts, has hit headlines again after she revealed her plans for a ‘dogging tour’ of the UK, announcing this jaunt as casually as if it were just a couple of stand-up gigs. We blame Andrew Tate, rightly, for teaching men to disrespect women, but where is the blame on Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips? This

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Pope Leo probably isn’t that liberal

Frankly, most people knew little about Robert Prevost before his election as pope, so there’s been a scramble to unpick Leo XIV’s past record to judge where he might take the papacy. ‘The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,’ he told journalists We know already that he’s not terribly keen on the US President’s repatriation of illegal migrants, nor on J.D. Vance’s particular take on social issues. And he’s got the whole Francis programme on putting the poor centre stage. There are other Francis touches; when he did visitations to Augustinian communities as head of the order, he’d help with the

Thomas Edwards

Why it makes sense to have an American pope

Around 40,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square last night, the mood markedly more expectant than the evening before. While Wednesday had felt like a formality destined to disappoint, Thursday hummed with anticipation – and it delivered. The general consensus in the run-up to the conclave was that an American pope was unlikely. As the world’s strongest economic and political power, adding to that the honour of hosting the world’s most influential spiritual leader seemed excessive. The United States has also had the furthest to go in addressing the problem of clerical abuse. The ghost of the serial sexual predator Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has not yet been fully exorcised, and

Ed Condon

Can Pope Leo fix the mess left by Francis?

The numbers, as the saying goes, don’t lie. And heading into the conclave two days ago, anyone who could count had reason to expect a pope at least in the mould of Pope Francis, who appointed the majority of the cardinal electors. Even so, few predicted the first American Bishop of Rome to emerge in the person of Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost – and the second pope in a row to arrive in Rome from South America. The most important unknown about the new pope isn’t what he will teach but how he will govern The joy of the crowd in Rome was sincere, it always

Rory Hanrahan

Why do some Irish people hate Israel so much?

It was a quiet lunch shift at the pub in Oxford where I work, the kind of day when the bar feels more like a confessional than a business. A lone customer, a woman with a light accent I took for Dutch, had just finished her meal and approached to pay. Playing the host, I made small talk. How bad have things become for Israelis here? “Where are you from?” I asked, expecting the usual tourist’s reply. Her face tightened, her voice dropped to a near-whisper. “Israel,” she said, bracing herself as if I might leap over the bar and chase her out into the street. I reassured her –

Thursday

Tom Slater Tom Slater

Comparing a colleague to Darth Vader isn’t offensive

Calling someone Darth Vader. If that’s as bad as your workplace banter gets, I’d suggest you find a more entertaining place to work. Yet, incredibly, an NHS worker not only took enormous offence to being compared to the bucketheaded villain of the Star Wars franchise, she also took her employers to a tribunal. She’s just won £30,000 in compensation for her trouble. Snowflakery has become endemic among the British workforce Lorna Rooke claims she was prompted to leave the NHS Blood and Transplant service after an incident in 2021, when a team-building exercise turned to the dark side. In Rooke’s absence, her workmates filled out a Star Wars-themed personality quiz,

Alexander Larman

No memorial to Elizabeth II is better than these monstrosities

After Elizabeth II died on 8 September 2022, it became of paramount national importance that a suitable memorial was constructed in memory of her and her unparalleled reign. Since it was announced that some of the leading architects in the country would be in competition to come up with something that would act as a fitting testament to her, there has been fevered speculation as to which design would be triumphant. Something suitably stately and reverential, perhaps, to remember the late Queen as a public figure? Or perhaps something brilliantly daring and unusual, which would have the artistic establishment in raptures at its encapsulation of the country’s greatest ever monarch?