Planning
Angela Rayner’s war on Britain’s playing fields
With the world on fire – not to mention large swathes of the North Sea – it is understandable that…
The march of the unwhippables
‘Nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won,’ wrote the Duke of Wellington after…
The rise of the unwhippable Tories
When the government announced a Commons vote on its decision to cut the foreign aid budget from 0.7 per cent…
The Tories should ignore the Amersham by-election
Chesham and Amersham has fallen. The once uber-Tory Chilterns citadel has been snatched by the Lib Dems, with local campaigners…
Why the Tories mustn’t give in to the Nimbys
A 15-point YouGov poll lead and last week’s election performance suggests that things look good for the Tories in England.…
The looming planning battle
The government will pass the test it has set itself: schools in England will return next week. Pupils may well…
Diary
It’s clear that Vladimir Putin has had a facelift, which might explain why Wendi Deng would take an interest in…
The plot to save our allotments
Since turning 50 I have become a gardening enthusiast. It started with tomatoes, then spread to raspberries and last year…
Bring back the bungalow!
We’re not building the right houses for our ageing population
Last orders
The fight to save the Gladstone Arms is the fight to save London
The green house effect
Buying an eco-home? Expect stifling springs and summers
Miliband country
A ‘progressive alliance’ would be a profound threat to rural life
A view from the departure lounge: why Heathrow expansion may never happen
Easter is a good time to talk about airports — or perhaps a bad time, if you bought your Spectator…
The war on rural England
The coalition is letting developers concrete over the countryside, but that won’t help young people buy houses
Barometer
A fatal shot The sad death of Australian batsman Philip Hughes was a reminder that a cricket ball can kill.…
How HS2 blights lives
Whether the high-speed rail line is built or not, it is destroying the retirements of people like my parents
Don’t blame the blob
Owen Paterson shouldn’t hold green activists responsible for his sacking. The culprit was David Cameron
I’m celebrating Glasgow’s Games as my forecast comes true at last
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
