Politics
Why was an erroneous graph used to justify the second lockdown?
Two stories are emerging from the Covid Inquiry: one that it wants to tell and one that it does not.…
Hope might be the only strategy Sunak has left
The first King’s Speech for more than 70 years was a festival of the expected: the royal reading of a…
How the National party toppled Labour in New Zealand
Just three years on from Jacinda Ardern’s phenomenal outright victory, New Zealand’s Labour government has collapsed, slumping to half its…
Ballots and ballistics
Should Ukraine hold a general election next year?
No balls
The first episode of George Osborne and Ed Balls’s new podcast, Political Currency, opened with an old clip of the…
Portrait of the week
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, proposed reaching net zero in 2050 ‘in a better, more proportionate way’ such as by…
Lessons from Lampedusa
It is eight years now since The Spectator sent me to Lampedusa to see the boats coming in. That was…
Letters
Whose victory? Sir: Politicians are often accused of engaging in doublespeak, and I fear in the case of Boris Johnson’s…
Australia’s disastrous referendum
My partner and I have just returned from the most magical trip. As guests of Western Australia’s tourist board we’ve…
Raac and ruin
Who broke Britain?
Councils of despair
Last month India managed to land a spacecraft on the moon for a third of the price of refurbishing Hammersmith…
A New Labour restoration
To understand the political journey of Sir Keir Starmer, look to Liz Kendall. This week the Blairite and one-time leadership…
‘We need to start the road to rejoin’
Gina Miller on Brexit, farmers and her ambitious plans for Epsom
Humour and harmony
A successful joke relies on rhythm, tempo, cadence, pause – so why does David Stubbs find comedy and music so antithetical, wonders Joel Morris
The battle with the Blob
Most prime ministers fall out with the civil service at some point. David Cameron attacked the ‘enemies of enterprise’; Tony…
All change at CCHQ
The winds of change are blowing through the corridors of 4 Matthew Parker Street. Having turfed team Truss out of…
Why Sunak backtracked over fines for missed GP appointments
Not surprisingly, Rishi Sunak has dropped plans to fine NHS patients £10 for missed appointments. It was one of the…
Barometer
Out to grass If Liz Truss is forced out of office (and doesn’t also resign her parliamentary seat as Tony…
Penny reign: why Mordaunt is the kingmaker
Tory MPs will likely have three candidates to vote for in Monday’s leadership race: Boris Johnson, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi…
