menu_open Columnists

The Spectator

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

France is braced for World Cup violence

France kick off their World Cup campaign today against Senegal – and it seems almost inevitable that, win or lose, there will be ugly scenes on the...

latest 0

The Spectator

Gavin Mortimer

Twenty ways to fix Doctor Who

The BBC has binned its planned Doctor Who Christmas special and put the show ‘out to tender’. This is a face-saving TV industry term for saying...

latest 4

The Spectator

Gareth Roberts

Watch: Remaining defence minister admonishes Starmer

Luke Pollard tells MPs he is only still in the job because John Healey asked him to stay.In a strong hint he agrees with Healey, he praises his former...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Steerpike

Trump is treating AI like a nuclear bomb

Trump is treating AI like a nuclear bomb

Initially, AI’s critics insisted that artificial intelligence was just another software product. AI was presented as a huge commercial opportunity,...

yesterday 2

The Spectator

Maximillian Garely

Will Keir Starmer’s under-16 social media ban actually work?

Today, with much fanfare, HM Government is rolling out its new policy to protect young people from online harms. Here is a political/legal move for...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Sam Leith

How many people did Australia’s backpacker murderer kill?

Australians are known for world-class performances in many fields. Mostly, our achievements are a source of national pride, but one field of...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Terry Barnes

South Africa’s migration warning to the West

For months, South African social media has been awash with videos of men marching through the country’s streets carrying sticks, clubs and whips....

yesterday 1

The Spectator

Robert King

Ukraine / Forever war: will Zelensky and Putin be brought to an exhausted peace?

Volodymyr Zelensky stood proudly on the steps of 10 Downing Street this week, flanked by Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany, ready...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Turned off / How iPhones became birth control

A new study has found that smartphones are a likely cause of falling American birth rates. Economists Caitlin K. Myers and Ezekiel Hooper tracked the...

yesterday 1

The Spectator

Freya India

Shell shocked / Who stands to gain in the pistachio wars?

If you’ve ever lived in Marseille – where the habit of exaggeration is imbibed with mothers’ milk – you’ve heard about the sardine that...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Jane Stannus

Decluttering is the ultimate act of love

“You are going to die before me and leave me to deal with this, and I will curse your soul for all eternity,” I once said half-jokingly to my...

yesterday 3

The Spectator

Olenka Hamilton

Sweden shows that not all immigrants are the same

I’m just going to say it. Not all immigrants are the same. I know that reading that might make you feel uncomfortable, particularly if you’re...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Atbin Moayedi

Why are we still seduced by wealth?

Show me the money. Show it to me in the dedicated pages of national newspapers, in documentaries and TV series and on social media, where influencers...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Josh Sims

Is the White House trying to hurt Anthropic?

Is the White House trying to hurt Anthropic?

The US government has finally intervened in the AI regulation question, albeit in the kind of haphazard, incoherent, and possibly corrupt manner in...

yesterday 5

The Spectator

Max Horder

Trump can forge a lasting peace

Trump can forge a lasting peace

President Trump is giving peace a chance in the Persian Gulf, and for Iran’s leadership this is literally a matter of life or death. If Iran had...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Daniel McCarthy

Jerry Seinfeld and the dark truth about ‘Free Palestine’

I see Jerry Seinfeld has got the pompous left sobbing into their keffiyehs. His sin? He refused to buckle to their neo-religious mantra ‘Free...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Brendan O’neill

Assisted suicide is morally inadmissible

Harold Shipman wasn’t as keen on bumping off vulnerable people as the average member of Britain’s euthanasia lobby. Not that I’m comparing...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Stephen Daisley

How much will upholding the ban on Palestine Action change?

In a sensible but hard-hitting judgment this morning, the Court of Appeal upheld the ban on Palestine Action, overturning the decision of the High...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Alexander Horne

Trump can forge a lasting peace in Iran

Trump can forge a lasting peace in Iran

President Trump is giving peace a chance in the Persian Gulf, and for Iran’s leadership this is literally a matter of life or death. If Iran had...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Daniel McCarthy

An early election need not be a disaster for Reform

We live in a time of ifs and wills. If Reform and Restore split the right-wing vote in Makerfield, will Andy Burnham win this Thursday’s...

yesterday 5

The Spectator

William Atkinson

How serious is Starmer about building a fighter jet with Japan?

It was all smiles for the press when Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi visited Keir Starmer at No. 10 on Sunday for trade and security talks. But...

yesterday 9

The Spectator

Philip Patrick

Reform pledges new migrant worker levy

British workers will come first every time under a Reform UK government. ✅ pic.twitter.com/ko8cEAPdW6— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) June 15, 2026...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Steerpike

The social media ban is a stupid but unenforceable idea

The government’s announcement today of a ban on social media for under-16s doesn’t show it in a good light. The three-month consultation that...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Andrew Tettenborn

Is the ban on Anthropic’s Mythos model just a ruse?

Is the ban on Anthropic’s Mythos model just a ruse?

The US government has finally intervened in the AI regulation question, albeit in the kind of haphazard, incoherent, and possibly corrupt manner in...

yesterday 8

The Spectator

Max Horder

How popular will Starmer’s social media ban actually be?

Yesterday, the think tank the IPPR released YouGov polling showing that a majority of Britons, 83 per cent, believe there should be some form of...

yesterday 9

The Spectator

John Power

A Brexit single market ‘reset’ would be a huge mistake

One uncomfortable consequence of political longevity is seeing the facts prove some of one’s most confident forecasts wrong. As the trade secretary...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Peter Lilley

Starmer bans social media for under-16s

BREAKING: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced a social media ban for under-16s.Live updates: https://t.co/Jxi67uC5Qk...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Steerpike

Best life / The horror of being offered a seat on the Tube

It would have been my mother’s 84th birthday on 29 May. I thought about her as I clattered down the corkscrew stairs at Holland Park Underground...

yesterday 5

The Spectator

Rachel Johnson

Fever pitch / Might England just do it in the World Cup?

The World Cup has never been just a football tournament. Even if we don’t realise it at the time, it tends to reveal something about us. In Germany...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Charlie Methven

A solid 2:1 / Revealed: Andy Burnham’s reassuringly bland Cambridge years

There appears to be a missing chapter in the story of Andy Burnham. Depending on the whims of voters in Makerfield, Britain could soon have its first...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Lara Brown

Best life / The horror of being offered a seat on the Tube

It would have been my mother’s 84th birthday on 29 May. I thought about her as I clattered down the corkscrew stairs at Holland Park Underground...

yesterday 5

The Spectator

Rachel Johnson

Will Starmer’s under-16 social media ban actually work?

Today, with much fanfare, HM Government is rolling out its new policy to protect young people from online harms. Here is a political/legal move for...

yesterday 8

The Spectator

Sam Leith

Cotswold house prices deserve to fall

‘We failed,’ wrote Stefan Zweig in The World of Yesterday, ‘to see the writing on the wall in letters of fire.’ Looking back on the...

yesterday 6

The Spectator

Matthew Wilcox

Bring back the art of formal greeting

It was once the norm that a good greeting was typically accompanied by a gregarious physical act, such as doffing your hat or kissing the back of a...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

James Jeffrey

Would you let an app read a book for you?

Some time ago, I had a furious conversation with a tech bro, which played out something along these lines: ‘How cool would it be’, said the tech...

yesterday 9

The Spectator

Philip Womack

Keir Starmer is a worse PM than Neville Chamberlain

The last Prime Minister to resign over national security was Neville Chamberlain in 1940. Eighty six years later, Sir Keir Starmer’s defence...

yesterday 10

The Spectator

Stephen Pollard

The Employment Rights Act will fuel striking doctors

TThe junior doctors were due to strike again, and everyone was sick of the whole business. At the last minute, after a new government offer, the...

yesterday 7

The Spectator

Druin Burch

Can Reform see off the threat from Restore?

Nigel Farage has always prided himself on being able to see off any threat from his right flank. But now a new force has emerged in the form of his...

previous day 9

The Spectator

James Heale

Books / Wham! How George Michael shot to stardom straight from school

Books / Wham! How George Michael shot to stardom straight from school

It turns out that the writer Sathnam Sanghera, ‘The Boy with the Topknot’, has been a besotted George Michael fan since the age of eight, when he...

previous day 9

The Spectator

Lynn Barber

Ukraine / Forever war: will Zelensky and Putin be brought to an exhausted peace?

Volodymyr Zelensky stood proudly on the steps of 10 Downing Street this week, flanked by Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany, ready...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Television / Why I’m increasingly drawn to optimistic sci-fi

Television / Why I’m increasingly drawn to optimistic sci-fi

You know you’re getting old when you see Geena Davis from Thelma & Louise cast as a granny sex symbol and Alfred Molina as a character so...

previous day 9

The Spectator

James Delingpole

Who stands to gain in the pistachio wars?

Who stands to gain in the pistachio wars?

If you’ve ever lived in Marseille – where the habit of exaggeration is imbibed with mothers’ milk – you’ve heard about the sardine that...

previous day 9

The Spectator

Jane Stannus

Is Trump’s birthday extravaganza his last hurrah?

In January 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt held a toga-themed birthday party at the White House to mock the accusation that he was an incipient dictator....

previous day 10

The Spectator

Jacob Heilbrunn

Trump’s birthday UFC fight is a seminal moment in US politics

Trump’s birthday UFC fight is a seminal moment in US politics

The UFC event today at the White House has been widely dismissed as an absurdity. Inevitably, the administration’s critics have portrayed the event...

previous day 9

The Spectator

Maximillian garely

Trump is treating AI like a nuclear bomb

Trump is treating AI like a nuclear bomb

Initially, AI’s critics insisted that artificial intelligence was just another software product. AI was presented as a huge commercial opportunity,...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Maximillian Garely

America / Trump’s birthday extravaganza is his last hurrah

In January 1934, Franklin D. Roosevelt held a toga-themed birthday party at the White House to mock the accusation that he was an incipient dictator....

previous day 9

The Spectator

Jacob Heilbrunn

Immigration / The Belfast attack raises questions about Ireland’s borders

As is so often the case following riots, attention on symptoms drowns out discussion about the cause. This pattern has been evident this week, as...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Patrick Gibbons

My love for black and white birds

All my life I have been obsessed by black and white birds. Magpies are my tormentors, my morning omens of whether my day will be worthwhile or...

previous day 10

The Spectator

William Atkinson

Starmer’s Russian oil tanker raid was a political stunt

This morning, in a blaze of publicity, Royal Navy commandos boarded a sanctioned oil tanker in the English channel in a move that No. 10 heralded as a...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Sunday shows round-up: Nandy insists Labour will ‘meet that moment’ on defence

Lisa Nandy insists government will ‘meet that moment’ with defence budget Keir Starmer’s premiership is now under enormous strain, after John...

previous day 10

The Spectator

Joe Bedell-Brill