Freddy Gray

Freddy Gray is assistant editor of The Spectator. He was formerly literary editor of The American Conservative.

Goodbye, Sir Alex. You won't be missed. Image: Getty

Goodbye Alex Ferguson, and good riddance

Freddy Gray 8 May 2013 13:41

Over the next few days, we’ll all have to swallow gallons of journalistic effluvium about the great Alex Ferguson, who announced his resignation this morning. We will be told about… Continue reading

The suspiciously sudden rehabilitation of George W. Bush

Freddy Gray 24 April 2013 14:21

Are we hearing the opening chords of the George W. Bush redemption song? The Atlantic thinks so. This week he’s opening his huge presidential library, and a new Washington-ABC poll shows that… Continue reading

96 Comments

Move over, Dawkins. The atheist spring of the last decade is wilting.

Freddy Gray 19 April 2013 16:09

I couldn’t get Richard Dawkins to reply to Theo Hobson’s excellent article on ‘the new new atheists’. Probably, he didn’t see my message. Or maybe he thought it beneath him. Or maybe like God he… Continue reading

47 Comments

Football, Thatcher and political hooliganism

Freddy Gray 10 April 2013 12:36

It was never going to take long for football to become part of the Thatcher death row. Almost any big media story that involves stupidity, mawkishness, and tribal loyalty will… Continue reading

23 Comments

The political class’s new phobia: big families

Freddy Gray 5 April 2013 14:38

After almost a week of media breast-beating about the Philpott case, a creepy consensus is emerging over benefits for children. Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative backbencher, wants child benefit to be limited… Continue reading

150 Comments

Protestors outside Fortnum and Mason in 2011. Image: Getty

The People’s Assembly is sound and fury signifying nothing

Freddy Gray 27 March 2013 15:26

Haven’t you heard? Today is the official launch of the People’s Assembly, a grassroots movement to amplify ‘progressive opinion’ in the public square. Think Arab Spring, but for Brits who… Continue reading

108 Comments

Already, Pope Francis is the victim of cheap journalistic smears

Freddy Gray 14 March 2013 14:06

So the new Pope was ‘cosy with dictators’, according to the papers. The only sources for that assertion seem to be Latin Americans left-wingers who are obviously and implacably hostile to… Continue reading

39 Comments

Pope Francis I appears for the first time. Picture: Getty

What can we expect from Pope Francis?

Freddy Gray 13 March 2013 21:51

Some striking facts about Pope Francis. Fact one: the Cardinals have elected a 76-year-old with only one lung. This undermines the idea that Pope Benedict stepped aside so that a… Continue reading

76 Comments

White smoke in Rome: Cardinals have picked the new Pope. Picture: Getty

Breaking: Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is the new Pope

Freddy Gray 13 March 2013 19:15

Oh, my God. It’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who everybody thought was past it. It’s commonly thought that he came second last time and was the popular liberal choice, only to… Continue reading

65 Comments

Is this the face of the next pope? Image: Getty

Papal Conclave: would a result today mean Angelo Scola is Pope?

Freddy Gray 13 March 2013 14:30

White smoke from the Vatican this afternoon may signal that the new Pope is Cardinal Angelo Scola. But the longer the papal conclave goes on, the more likely it becomes… Continue reading

8 Comments

Vatican State Secretary Cardinal Tarcisi

Will be the next Pope will be an Angelo?

Freddy Gray 3 March 2013 19:23

Some wag has gone around Rome putting up spoof ‘Vota Turkson’ posters. This is a reference to the Ghanian Cardinal Peter Turkson, who has been much-tipped to be the first black Pope. Turkson has a… Continue reading

10 Comments

Beppe Grillo, the Comedian-turned-politician. Photo: Getty Images.

Italian elections: anti-politics on amphetamines

Freddy Gray 24 February 2013 19:37

Rome Italians go to the polls today, and Beppe Grillo still seems to be the name on everybody’s lips. Grillo is expected to get up to 22 per cent of… Continue reading

23 Comments

Justin Welby could find the announcement of the next Pope overshadows his enthronement. Picture: Getty

An Almighty diary clash?

Freddy Gray 24 February 2013 13:04

Will the arrival of a new Pope clash with the enthronement of the new Archbishop of Canterbury on March 21? The mere possibility has caused real anxiety among Church officials.… Continue reading

8 Comments

There is a rumour in Rome that Pope Benedict XVI was pushed out by a 'gay mafia'. Picture: Getty

Take the Vatican ‘Gay Mafia’ talk with a pinch of holy salt – for now

Freddy Gray 22 February 2013 22:26

A rather feverish mood around the Vatican today: La Repubblica’s sensational splash suggesting that Pope Benedict XVI was pushed out by a ‘gay mafia’ within the Church hierarchy has set Latin… Continue reading

51 Comments

The Duchess of Cambridge on a visit this morning. Picture: Getty

David Cameron should have read Hilary Mantel’s essay before criticising it

Freddy Gray 19 February 2013 13:36

How stupid of David Cameron to join this absurd row over Hilary Mantel’s-speech-turned-LRB-essay on monarchy. I strongly suspect that the Prime Minister was told to do so by aides, who for their part… Continue reading

116 Comments

Pope Benedict on a visit to New York in 2008. Under Benedict, the power of America in the Holy See has increased dramatically. Picture: Getty

A New York pontiff? Why I’m betting on Cardinal Timothy Dolan to be the new pope

Freddy Gray 11 February 2013 13:54

It’s got to be an African, hasn’t it? That’s what editors, including my esteemed boss, are saying across the country in response to Pope Benedict’s shock resignation. And Fraser’s right:… Continue reading

33 Comments

David Cameron leaves Downing Street for Parliament earlier this evening. Image: Getty

Can Christians still have Holy Matrimony?

Freddy Gray 5 February 2013 22:52

That’s that then. Marriage will change, one way or another. Progress has won. Cue lots of right-on politicians talking about how proud they are to have ushered in such a… Continue reading

83 Comments

Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to become the next secretary of defense. Picture: Getty

What if Chuck Hagel is just another plodding politico?

Freddy Gray 1 February 2013 14:43

It looks as if the anti-Chuck Hagel lobby, despite a successful day yesterday at his confirmation hearings, won’t prevent their nemesis from becoming US Secretary of Defense. Yesterday Hagel seemed… Continue reading

7 Comments

Supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wait for election results at his election campaign headquarters. Picture: Getty

Israeli elections: first exit polls

Freddy Gray 22 January 2013 22:09

The first story of the exit polls here in Israel seems to be the success of Yair Lapid, the charismatic and populist TV man, who looks set to win 19… Continue reading

9 Comments

Naftali Bennett on the campaign trail today. Picture: Getty

Israeli elections: the IDF goes to the polls

Freddy Gray 21 January 2013 15:11

Israel’s election is tomorrow, yet voting started here yesterday. At Kirya Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv, serving Israel Defence Force troops have cast their ballots, and today more polling stations will open… Continue reading

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