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Robin Ashenden

Robin Ashenden

The Spectator

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The life and times of Spectator columnist Alice Thomas Ellis

When I moved to Shropshire in 2024, I knew it was only a matter of time before I made a short trip across the border to Powys, Wales, where...

01.06.2026 7

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Taking my cat on holiday is like a military campaign

The recent news that the EU was tightening up its rules on UK residents travelling with their animals is just the latest blow against pet-owners in...

11.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

From Russia, twisted love / The tortured life of Stalin’s daughter

Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s daughter, would have been 100 years old today, and she is one of history’s curios worth remembering. Born...

28.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

The tortured life of Stalin’s daughter

Svetlana Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s daughter, would have been 100 years old today, and she is one of history’s curios worth remembering. Born...

28.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

The words that could – and should – doom Starmer

07.02.2026 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Lublin's lost Jews are a warning to Europe

27.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Politics / Jenrick's treachery has made Badenoch stronger

19.01.2026 30

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

How Badenoch bounced back

27.12.2025 30

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Claude Lanzmann would despair of today’s Europe

29.11.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Not There / There’s no writer quite like Mariusz Szczygiel

22.11.2025 30

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

There’s no writer quite like Mariusz Szczygiel

22.11.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Cats and communism / The small-town world of a Bohemian giant

12.11.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

RIP / Why the snobs were wrong about Jilly Cooper

06.10.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Dylan Thomas, man of beer and brine

03.10.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

We need Brian Sewell more than ever

19.09.2025 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Pen pals / The greatest writer you’ve never heard of

15.09.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Sick of it / Britain needs Peter Mannion MP

13.08.2025 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Human traffic / The death of banter and the BBC

09.08.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

The death of banter and the BBC

09.08.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Ted Heath deserves to be remembered for more than his blemishes

19.07.2025 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Puppet patriotism / Children’s TV was better in the 1970s

10.06.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Harold Wilson was awful and brilliant

23.05.2025 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Why are today’s MPs so incredibly drab?

18.05.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Are the Tories really mad enough to change their leader again?

04.05.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Small pleasures / The frugal luxury of a pod hotel

29.04.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

A history lesson / Is Labour taking Britain back to the 1970s?

23.04.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

How Turin made Primo Levi

11.04.2025 10

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Jim Callaghan’s greatest achievement was to be himself

26.03.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden

Goulash, dashed / Will TfL kill off another London institution?

18.03.2025 20

The Spectator

Robin Ashenden