Status anxiety
How far should we go to defend free speech?
This week sees the official launch of the Free Speech Union — an organisation that stands up for the speech…
Panic attacks at the comedy club
It was on my ‘bucket list’, but that doesn’t mean it was a sensible thing to do. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro…
Even the Oscars parties have lost their shine
Reading about the Oscars this week, I couldn’t help thinking back to a time when they actually meant something. When…
Empire state of mind
They never learn, do they? Lisa Nandy, the dark horse candidate in the Labour leadership race, has demanded the word…
The climate doomsayers always get it wrong
I was slightly surprised when Greta Thunberg announced at Davos that we had eight years left to save the planet.…
Why we still need Orwell
I’ve been reading a new biography of George Orwell that’s been published to coincide with the 70th anniversary of his…
The delusion of the born-again Brexiteers
As 31 January looms, I’ve been thinking about how to bring the country back together again after we’ve left the…
I’ve found the perfect family film (eventually)
As a member of Bafta, I get sent about 75 ‘screeners’ during the awards season, which is always a treat…
Christmas with my brother
Ever since I was a child, I’ve associated Christmas with my mentally disabled brother Chris. Technically, he’s my half-brother —…
How could any woman fail to be won over by my new cinema room?
As Christmas approaches, fighting has broken out in the Young household. No, I’m not talking about my three boys, aged…
Must try harder: Labour wants to reverse a decade of progress in education
If education rather than Brexit or the NHS was the biggest issue in this election campaign, the Tories would be…
Panto should be about escapism, not saving the planet
If you were hoping to escape the bilge that’s been pumped out by supposedly neutral organs of the state during…
Prince Andrew should have married someone like my wife
Like many people, I watched Prince Andrew’s Newsnight meltdown with mounting disbelief. Why had he agreed to do it? It…
Why does someone keep sending me furniture?
When a new vacuum cleaner was delivered to my house last week I assumed it was a belated birthday present…
40 years on, Life of Brian has made the world a darker place
I went to the Battle of Ideas at the Barbican last weekend, a free speech festival organised by the Brexit…
Universities don’t need to be lectured about racism
I’ve been contacted by a professor at a leading Russell Group university who is worried about the spread of progressive…
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The Intellectual Dark Web is more liberal than you’d think
In February last year, Spectator Life ran an article by Douglas Murray on the arrival of a new group of…
The real reason Nicola Sturgeon is campaigning against Brexit
Nicola Sturgeon, who claimed this week that ‘Scotland is rich enough, strong enough and big enough’ to take its place…
You have to laugh at Extinction Rebellion
I ventured out into Westminster earlier this week to take a look at the Extinction Rebellion protest and it reminded…
Is it time to revive our play about Boris’s sex life?
I’m writing this from the Conservative party conference where Boris’s attempt to ram home the message that he’s the only…
Abolish private schools? Bring it on!
I cannot recall a week in which Britain’s private schools have received better PR. The Labour party has pledged to…
David Cameron is more authentic than Boris Johnson
I don’t recall exactly when I first met David Cameron, but it must have been in Oxford in 1985 shortly…
How John Bercow saved me from Short Man Syndrome
I think my colleagues on the pro-Brexit side of the aisle have been a little unkind in their response to…
The political pact that could save Brexit
If there is to be an election before we leave the European Union, some kind of non-aggression pact between the…
Must try harder: education is still a vote loser for the Tories
The reluctance of the Conservative party to take credit for the success of its education reforms is a source of…
