Essays

Was Julius Caesar murdered in 44 BC or 44 BCE? Did Nero commit suicide in AD 68 or 68 CE? Anno Domini or the so-called “Common Era”?   I...

I have to confess to an addiction to Gobbledygook. This disease was acquired partly during my far-off days as a lawyer, when I used to...

Tim Stanley, writing in The Daily Telegraph, says that Trump’s America reminds him of the decline of the Roman Empire. I find that some...

I feel what may seem to some to be the curious need to give to our American friends my explanation, from this side of the pond, of why...

We seem to be being manipulated by words that are being turned upside down.   Gender-critical   Are you “gender-critical”? Come to that,...

A friend has posted a comment by Bertrand Russell, a hero of my early days, that he made when asked about how Fascism started:   “First,...

I read recently that young people have less and less pride in our country. The main thrust of their concern seems to be about Race. We,...

I am feeling brave enough to revisit something I wrote for private consumption some years ago, headed “Heresy” and listing some of the...

I hesitate to dip my toe into this murky water. We seem to be faced with the prospect of a foregone conclusion. Everyone predicts such a...

I have lessons in German from a teacher who speaks very good English, but is sometimes surprised - and amused - by expressions that seem...

I’m a big fan of the novelist and journalist Lionel Shriver, who has been writing recently about what she refers to as the “manias” we...

I don’t think I’m alone in being alarmed about all the things that seem to be going the wrong way. And here we are, just about to elect a...

In the last piece I wrote on this subject, it was about the night sky in Autumn, actually November. Now we are in Winter, early January....

I have already written about the night sky in Summer and promised that I would do it later for the sky in Autumn and Winter - even though...

This is a response to statements I’ve been referred to that support the so-called “scientific consensus” on climate change. Please relax!...

When was the year divided up into the months we know? And where do their names come from? And what about the weeks? And the names of the...

These are some amateur thoughts about what can be seen in the night sky in summer from Beaumes de Venise in the south of France. I have...

I have been mulling over this question for months and wondering whether I can write anything coherent about it. The question is why, on...

There are terrifying parallels between the mistakes we made with COVID and the plans discussed at COP27 in Egypt. We will be struggling...

I am delighted to have found a distinguished ally, Melanie Phillips, concurring with my view that Right-Wing is a meaningless expression...

I am mystified. Why are things being suppressed? Why are we being denied information? We seem to be subject to hidden censorship. Who are...

When I got back from France last autumn, I noted that the French had to wear masks a lot, whereas we in England did not. I thought we...

I am told by the NHS that they will offer me a booster for the Covid vaccinations that I’ve already had. I can think of many reasons for...

Last year, I took part in a survey asking whether I supported the government’s policies on climate change. I replied to the survey and...

The pressure continues to vaccinate children. WHY? I ask. The reasons given can’t be the real ones. We have known for nearly two years...

I am writing this, bizarrely you may think, on the advice, even the request, certainly the encouragement, of a Professor Mattias Desmet,...

Many mothers despair at what we are doing to children by constant testing, closing schools, sending children home, cancelling events...

This is an edited version of a letter I wrote to Dr Benny Peiser, Director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation on 14 December 2021....

A review of Philip Wood's book The Fall of the Priests and the Rise of the Lawyers I must declare an interest. For almost all my time as...

You asked me if I had written anything about Eudaimonia, which I must have mentioned recently in some context that I now forget. No, I’m...

Most of us are reasonably ignorant about the time the Papacy was located in Avignon, but many people visiting Avignon wish they knew more....

Like most people, I have no idea what will happen at the end of the Brexit process – if indeed it will ever end. What makes it worse for...

This was written to a friend who, after reading some of my views, still said that he was sufficiently alarmed by the possible adverse...

I feel the urge to put down on paper my views on what we now call “climate change” and used to call “global warming”. Why this urge? It...

19 May 2020 [This is a letter about an article by Melanie Phillips suggesting the Jonathan Sumption was being, not just wrong, but...

To Friends and relations I have always been a sceptic about lockdowns. Am I still – in the face of rising rates of infection and news of...

When I first saw some of the reactions to the result of the general election, I wanted to – and started to - record some of my thoughts....

We all agree that slavery was appalling (and that we in Britain were heavily involved). But here are some FACTS about slavery and the...

We have to amuse ourselves during these troubled times. One of my methods must seem bizarre to all right-thinking people: to pursue some...

The following paragraph is from an article by Will Hutton in the Observer of 14 April 2013. The article as a whole is critical of her...

Specifically, your question about why the vote went the way it did and why people were surprised, despite what the learned Prof Thompson...

This essay was prompted by a discussion about two articles in the Spectator of 19 December 2020. Professor Robert Tombs wrote about...

The terms Left Wing and Right Wing don’t seem any longer to have any sensible meaning. What do the terms mean? In my vocabulary – and...