London
Boris Johnson’s 2020 vision: 5 key points
Boy, is Boris Johnson persuasive. Not for him the anodyne policy documents that anyone else in regional or central government prefers to produce. His 2020 Vision document, launched today, is… Continue reading
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You’re going to lose. It is only you against many.
If, in the aftermath of an act of would-be terror, the people refuse to be terrorised does it still remain a terrorist act? Perhaps but there’s a sense, I think,… Continue reading
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Seriously eccentric – Chaplin & Company by Mave Fellowes
Chaplin & Company is an alarming proposition for anyone with a low threshold for the cute and quirky. Its main character, Odeline Milk, is a mime artist. She is serious… Continue reading
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The life and opinions of Boris Johnson
It was inevitable, after the Mair interview and the Cockerell profile, that Boris would dominate the news this morning. Steve Richards and Hugo Rifkind (£) have written about him in… Continue reading
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How much will Britain change in the next 10 years?
In the latest issue of Standpoint magazine I have a longish piece on the census for England and Wales. The story made the news for a couple of days at… Continue reading
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Why no conservative should support a mansion tax
The Government is expected to raise around £550 billion in tax revenue this financial year. The Centre for Policy Studies estimates that a mansion tax (of £20,000 on properties of… Continue reading
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Rooms with a view
I do like a Shard story. My recent revelations about the prevalence of hanky panky at the top of the tower graced every national paper. Now I hear that the… Continue reading
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Shard toilets: trouble on high
Terrible news reaches me from the top of the Shard. The viewing platforms at the top of the 1,016ft glass wonder, which is the tallest building in western Europe, are set to open… Continue reading
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Historical directories: Street View for time-travellers - Spectator Blogs
Fancy a walk into London’s past? How about a stroll down Fleet Street in 1895? Or Oxford Street in 1899? It can be done. I can’t promise pictures, but I… Continue reading
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The Census demonstrates the importance - and benefits - of immigration - Spectator Blogs
I suppose the confirmation that 13 per cent of the present population of England and Wales were born overseas will be the cause of some eye-brow raising and much spluttering from… Continue reading
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No ifs. No buts. Heathrow must have a third runway. Or must it?
‘No ifs. No buts. Heathrow must have a third runway.’ This was our motion of the evening at last night’s Spectator debate, but when it came to kick-off time, it… Continue reading
28 Comments
No ifs, no buts, we need a decision on Heathrow now
The Prime Minister presumably believes we face a critical shortage of airport capacity in London. Why else would he signal a possible U-turn on what was a headline pre-election promise?… Continue reading
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The great City of London exodus gathers pace
Why not tax the bejesus out of the City and tighten regulation? Yes, the bankers will moan — but it’s not as if they will go abroad. The tax rate… Continue reading
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Olympic tourism update
Ah – so those miserable traders who everyone told to shut up were dead right, back in August. Britain received its smallest number of foreign tourists for almost a decade… Continue reading
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Boris Johnson and Alex Salmond: Unlikely political twins? - Spectator Blogs
Here’s David Torrance with the kind of acute observation I wish I’d thought of first. There is, he writes, a comparison to be drawn between Alex Salmond and Boris Johnson:… Continue reading
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The Good Loo Guide
Funny the ways you can learn about a book. Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones alerted me to one recently, 43 years after his death. I was at Somerset House… Continue reading
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Boris continues to push Heathrow campaign
As much as conference planners would wish it otherwise, one of the biggest stories from the Tory conference will be Boris Johnson’s speech and fringe appearance. It would be a… Continue reading
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A tale of two Smiths: Zadie Smith and The Smiths
It is lit-fiction season: that time of the year of when the premier novelists of the age dominate the market. Ian McEwan, Pat Barker, Zadie Smith, Sebastian Faulks and Rose… Continue reading
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A messy end to a Royal era
Who said posh youths don’t riot? Head down to South Kensington tonight for some Bullingdon-style antics: the nightclub Boujis is inviting loyal regulars to smash the place up before closing… Continue reading
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Boris puts the bubbles back into his campaign champagne
After Boris’s re-election as London mayor, his departing aide Guto Harri complained that the dry but effective campaign had rather taken the ‘bubbles out of the champagne’. Well, the Olympics… Continue reading
23 Comments