Alexander Chancellor

Profile: Full name: Alexander Surtees Chancellor Area of interest: Society, culture, politics Journals/Organisation: The Guardian Email: alexander.chancellor@guardian.co.uk Personal website: Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alexanderchancellor Blog: Representation: Networks:

Biography: About: Education: Eton College; Trinity Hall, Cambridge University: BA Career: Reuters: bureau chief in Italy, 1964/74; The Spectator magazine: Editor, 1975/84; The Sunday Telegraph: Deputy Editor, 1986; The Independent: Washington Editor, 1986/88; The New Yorker: Talk of the Town editor, 1992/93; The Times: Columnist, 1992/93; The Guardian: Columnist, 1996- Jan 2012. The Spectator: "Long Life" column, March 2012 to present. Current position/role: Columnist also writes/has written for: Other roles/Main role: Other activities: Disclosures: Viewpoints/Insight: Broadcast media: Video: Controversy/Criticism: Awards/Honours: Scoops: Other: Uncle of actress Anna Chancellor

Books & Debate: Some times in America: and a life in a year at the New Yorker OCLC43326468 , memoir, 1999 Latest work: Speaking/Appearances: Debate:

The Guardian: column ended January 2012 Column name: Remit/Info: Society, culture, politics Section: G2 Role: Columnist Pen-name: Email: alexander.chancellor@guardian.co.uk Website: Guardian.co / Alexander Chancellor Commissioning editor: Day published: Friday Regularity: Weekly Column format: Average length: 950 words

Articles: 2012 All journals Nicholas Parsons is wrong: we rarely joke about old people - Nicholas Parsons is wrong to suggest that the elderly are treated as figures of fun - 21st March Are British people really becoming more dishonest? - Franklyn Addo and Alexander Chancellor debate modern morality as an Essex University study points to a fall in standards - 27th January Could we stop being so outraged when somebody says something stupid? - From Diane Abbott to Jeremy Clarkson, we need to calm down when stupid or offensive pronouncements become public - 6th January

Articles: 2011 Do atheists feel guilty for not believing in God? - Richard Dawkins has described David Cameron as a 'believer in belief', who thinks faith is good for other people - 16th December Cameron should forget about compassion – what people clearly want is the nasty party back - The British public doesn't want David Cameron's big society: opinion has lurched to the right and people don't want the government to make society fairer - 9th December What David Cameron could learn from Groucho Marx - It's time the prime minister made his mind up over Europe. Otherwise he should take Britain out of the EU club - 2nd December If you chose to emulate the life of Christ, can you really expect to run to a tribunal if your cheek is slapped? - The vicar seeking to sue the Church of England for constructive dismissal has a curiously worldly attitude to his religious vocation - 24th November Berlusconi says he'll back his successor – for now. Not a very cheery scenario - The deposed prime minister can deprive the new government of parliamentary support whenever he likes - 18th November Describing James Murdoch as a mafia boss was silly - It seems unlikely that James Murdoch will have been damaged by his 'day of reckoning' in front of the select committee - 11th November So Rupert Murdoch's children are in counselling? Surely no psychologist can help them - This isn't about therapy, it's about a doddering old man ready to give up power but unable to do so because of animosities within the family - 4th November Think the canon who quit St Paul's is radical? You should have met his predecessor … - The Rev Dr Giles Fraser assumed the leftwing mantle of a remarkable clergyman who joined the cathedral 60 years ago - 28th October The killing of exotic animals in Ohio unleashed wild sentimentality - Why were so many Americans outraged at the shooting of dangerous animals released from a private zoo? - 21st October Winning the lottery doesn't guarantee happiness, but going public about it does guarantee you will lose friends - Dave and Angela Dawes may have made their first mistake by announcing their success at a press conference - 14th October Forget the ritual and costumes of bullfighting. It's difficult not to feel revulsion at the way the animals die - The Catalan ban has galvanised support for bullfighting elsewhere in Spain - 7th October The Amanda Knox appeal and King Abdullah's hollow concessions to women - In Italy and Saudi Arabia two very different legal cases have shown this to be a grim week for feminism - 30th September The 'unauthorised autobiography' of Julian Assange seeks to portray him as simply the victim of women scorned - The WikiLeaks founder seems to veer towards the conclusion that the accusations against him were a case of revenge for his boorish behaviour - 23rd September Reports of her attacks on Dr Martin Luther King prove that nothing can now tarnish the reputation of Jacqueline Kennedy - Not even recordings of her distaste for the civil rights leader, Winston Churchill and Indira Gandhi can dislodge America's favourite first lady from her pedestal - 16th September I applaud Carol Bartz's honesty - The former CEO of Yahoo was fired and there is no shame in saying so - 9th September The Conservatives will pay dearly for desecrating what people love most - Windfarms … a high-speed railway – their plans for the English countryside will alienate those who normally vote for them - 2nd September Warren Buffett is an example to British billionaires - The Sage of Omaha has invested his own money in an ailing US bank, but all our mega-rich do is complain about income tax - 26th August There is no model for parenting – schools must take the lead on discipline - It isn't inevitable that a bad father will make you bad – look at Barack Obama. His father was a drunkard and a philanderer - 12th August What will another death-penalty debate in parliament achieve? - The new e-petition scheme will inevitably revive the great contentious issue. But to what end? - 5th August David Cameron's Italian holiday won't be as luxurious as you'd imagine - The media may be keen to portray the prime-minister's jaunt to 'Chiantishire' as flashy. But in fact the area is short on glamour - 28th July Corruption, a baffling death and feminine wiles – from the British media comes a very Italian scandal - Even while on holiday in Tuscany, the phone-hacking revelations translate perfectly - 22nd July Rupert Murdoch and the man who lost his penis - Two men in particular have had a difficult week – one had his penis chopped off, the other found his empire under fire - 15th July Where the Murdoch empire and British politics intersect - Murdoch's praise of Fleet Street standards seems ironic now. And it'll be amazing if Cameron can escape with any dignity - 8th July Some advice on manners for a future mother-in-law - It's probably too late, but I offer some advice to Mrs Bourne on how she should behave towards her future daughter-in-law - 1st July What goes on in the mind of internet obsessives? - These days it's virtually possible to live entirely online if you want to. But the real world tends to intrude eventually - 24th June Why is it that the disappearing high-street shops tend to be those that were previously thought of as essential? - Looking at our high streets, you would think that the British public spends all its time having its hair cut and its nails polished - 17th June Terry Pratchett's case for assisted suicide is strong - It may be a virtually unresolvable issue but the writer's argument that it empowers people is a compelling one - 10th June The English FA was right to stand up to Fifa and its cosy idea of a 'family' - David Bernstein should be proud of his stance over Sepp Blatter's re-election as Fifa president - 3rd June Obama's definition of the special relationship has genuine meaning - The president has finally explained Anglo-US relations in a way that makes sense on both sides of the Atlantic - 27th May The end of the Cameron and Clegg affair? - It will take more than 'muscular liberalism' to convince the public that this relationship is over - 13th May Bin Laden's death does not need to be proved with a photograph - One need only look to the al-Qaida leader's surviving family to confirm the reality they witnessed - 6th May Will nothing deter the US 'birthers' who question Obama's origins? - It's thanks to Donald Trump that the myth of Obama as a sinister alien gathered strength – and seems doomed to continue - 29th April David Cameron reverts to type for the royal wedding - Cameron has spent years trying to play down his privileged background, but his efforts have made him look phoney - 22nd April The cost of Kate Middleton's confirmation - The belated ceremony proves that the Church of England welcomes all, even if the royal family does not - 15th April Are unruly pupils to blame for a teachers' strike? Or is it the teachers who are failing? - Where does the truth lie? It sounds to me as if the school is suffering from chronic uncertainty about how to enforce discipline - 8th April Why has Ed Miliband finally decided to wed? - What he's said so far suggests he doesn't regard the institution of marriage as important at all - 1st April Kickbacks between Libya and the west have helped Gaddafi cling to power - All Gaddafi's rapprochement with the west has achieved is to give him the resources to tighten his grip on the Libyan people - 25th March The Japanese emperor's lesson for the British monarchy - Unlike the royals, Emperor Akihito has had the sense to stay aloof from his people. Now, in time of crisis, they listen to him - 18th March Why stop at the tobacco industry? - If tobacco is to be given discriminatory treatment, what about alcohol? In fact, if it's poisonous, why is tobacco on sale at all? - 11th March Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB win may harm the coalition - Cameron has decided Murdoch's support is key to electoral success. He may still be proved wrong - 4th March History should come down hard on Tony Blair for embracing Gaddafi - Tony Blair knew what a murderous 'mad dog' Gaddafi was. The only convincing reason for the rapprochement was the promotion of British interests in Libya - 25th February Forests U-turn – the Tories should have known better - I am shocked and amazed David Cameron couldn't see the wood for the trees when it came to selling off Britain's forests - 18th February Berlusconi – the master salesman - Despite everything, Silvio Berlusconi is still in office. His secret? He has 'the sun in his pocket' - 11th February When it comes to wind farms, I don't feel bad about nimbyism - Whatever the government may say, wind turbines are not necessarily a good thing - 4th February Why is Cameron so deferential to Murdoch? - Like Blair, Cameron seems to share the belief that a condition of success in British politics is to please Rupert Murdoch - 28th January One Hyde Park: a monument to inequality - One Hyde Park is a '21st-century monument' to the ever-growing gap between rich and poor - 21st January The insanity of America's lax gun laws - The more innocent people are killed by guns, the more determined Americans are to own them - 14th January Diana - the next chapter - Author Monica Ali is not alone in imagining the twists and turns Princess Diana's life may have taken had she lived . . . - 7th January

Articles: 2010 The International Olympic Committee is heaping humiliation on Britain - How dare foreign bureaucrats dictate where we fly our national flag and insist that French will be the first language of the London Olympics - 10th December Britain in the snow - I feel the slight exhilaration I felt in the US midwest when, in longjohns and earmuffs, I braved the biting winds - 3rd December David Cameron may find happiness hard to measure. A broken cooker knob can ruin mine - I like the prime minister for wanting to find out what makes everyone happy, but we all sort of know anyway - 26th November Why Kate Middleton is the perfect choice - I used to think they were a pointless couple. But Prince William's choice of bride may just ensure the survival of the monarchy - 19th November No wonder Cameron sounded mealy-mouthed on China's human rights - Given our relationship with George Bush, begetter of waterboarding and Guantánamo Bay, Cameron must have felt a bit hypocritical - 12th November It may be time for Obama to start showing his feelings more - Obama is not given to public displays of emotion, but as his opponents have showed, opening up is not to be feared - 5th November Was the Exmoor Emperor really murdered by foreigners? - Or have rumours of the stag's death been greatly exaggerated? - 29th October British resistance to government cuts will never match that in France - Some will certainly fight the cuts tooth and nail – but it is more in our national character to unite in shared suffering - 22nd October Chilean miners' rescue: I am confused by them giving much of the credit for their rescue to God - The Chilean miners' rescue had everything to do with the impressive feats of the rescuers and nothing to do with God - 15th October Why Prince Charles has to keep his views to himself - Prince Charles's wish to be a 'defender of nature' is admirable. But he must remember that being controversial isn't part of his job description - 8th October Why do the Miliband brothers hug in public? - Perhaps it is because the competion between them is so fierce - 1st October The Games and the Commonwealth - The crisis of India's Commonwealth Games preparation raises the question: what is the Commonwealth for, exactly? - 24th September Tony Blair and the pope's visit to Britain - Tony Blair is offering his thoughts on Catholicism again, but I've never been entirely convinced by his conversion - 17th September Tony Blair's years of surprise - Tony Blair in his memoirs seems to be in a constant state of surprise. But how could he not have anticipated the fox-hunters' fury? - 3rd September My nightmare journey from Italy - It has taken 32 hours to get home from Tuscany. Not as bad as a Chinese traffic jam, but enough to make me hysterical - 27th August Montpellier's wasteful hall of fame - These statues of Lenin and co cost 200,000 euros each – and anyway, are they really the greatest people of the 20th century? - 20th August Italy's 'summer of homophobia' - It's a very strange summer in Tuscany – gay people are being attacked for displays of affection on the beach - 13th August So there are now 10,000 centenarians in Britain? This ageing business is getting out of control - New statistics show that life expectancy in the UK is increasing, but we're only just waking up to the problems this causes - 6th August Maybe Tony Hayward was right all along - Against the odds, the BP chief executive has got his life back - 30th July Cameron, Obama and that special relationship - Britain has only one special relationship, the US many. What does that tell us? - 23rd July Raoul Moat: Why the police should stop flattering him - Fugitive gunman is getting a lot of public sympathy - 9th July The Russian spy scandal that nobody much cared about - The spy scandal has caused little outrage. Maybe that's because the alleged Russian agents weren't very good at their job - 2nd July BP oil spill: People in New Orleans loathe the company but they're OK with the British - A friend thought it would be amusing to introduce me as a BP representative - 18th June A cull of urban foxes won't work until townspeople distrust them as much as country folk - Foxes will continue to be a pest until people living in cities change their attitude to them - 11th June Italy's Republic Day celebrates a nation founded on work. Pity so many of its citizens don't have any - A third of young Italians are jobless in the cash-strapped state - 4th June The Chandlers' fearlessness makes me proud to be British - Paul and Rachel Chandler showed dignity and courage in the face of their Somali captors - 28th May It's hard to warm to Wenlock and Mandeville - This pair of alien Olympic mascots are a long way from the spirit of Waldi the adorable dachshund - 21st May The rise and rise of SuperClegg - The Liberal Democrats may have lost five seats in the general election, but the stature of their leader has risen immeasurably - 14th May General election 2010: I was undecided even in the polling station. Then it came to me . . . - I agreed it was time for a change – but change to what? - 7th May (Cif at the polls) Gordon Brown's rotten luck - In referring to Mrs Duffy as a bigoted woman, Gordon Brown has completely blown his claim to be a straightforward man - 30th April This 'get Clegg' campaign could backfire on the press - A Lib Deb election victory would put arrogant newspaper editors in their place - 23rd April Sarah Palin has been corrupted by wealth and fame - But some celebrities still have a conscience - 16th April Embarrassed at voting Tory? - It's possible to support Conservative policies while not wishing to be identified with them - 9th April It's time for papers to stop inventing April Fool's Day hoaxes - Genuine news stories seem increasingly unbelievable. We don't need made-up ones - 1st April Do boys raised by nannies become womanisers? Just ask the president's father . . . - Pál Sarkozy's sexual initiation began with a bedtime story at the age of 11 - 26th March Children are being used as a smokescreen - Campaigners will not be happy until Britain is completely cigarette-free - 25th March (writing in The Daily Telegraph) The child abuse by Catholic priests was sickening. The fact they acted without shame is terrifying - The Christian Brothers knew they could get away with it - 19th March So it's Sarah Brown v Samantha Cameron - Will the leaders' wives really bring their husbands electoral popularity? I'm not so sure - 12th March Prime ministers have better things to do than act as MC at Downing Street parties - Receptions must be hosted even in the midst of a crisis - 5th March What makes people think it's a good time to be old? - I can't imagine why an ageing society is something to celebrate - 26th February Compare JFK's love letters to modern sex texts - Kennedy was a lecher but, unlike today's celebrity sleazebags, at least he was a charming one -19th February Call me unromantic, but Valentine's Day is grossly commercialised - Why we should be wary of this remnant of Victorian sentimentality - 12th February Yes, furtively turning a cowshed into a castle was stupid of Robert Fidler - But it's wrong to make him knock it down - 5th February Apple's iPad? I'll stick to my old-fashioned diary - The tablet computer launch may have hogged the headlines – but I'm not convinced by the hype - 29th January An election fought on class is fraught with danger - For a start, we're confused about which one we belong to - 22nd January I've kicked smoking. Has Barack Obama followed my example? - I like to imagine we had a mutually supportive pact - 15th January We are told to avoid journeys that are not 'absolutely necessary'. Does that include getting to work in the morning? - The authorities are giving their blessing to those who would seize any opportunity to stay at home - 8th January Those with dementia are people, not objects - The over-50s are fitter than ever, but the real elderly are still treated as an afterthought - 7th January (writing in The Daily Telegraph)

Articles: 2009 Wikipedia says I'm dead - well, that's news to me - The online encyclopedia claims that I passed away on 10 December. I'm happy to put the record straight - 18th December The cruelty of death row - In the US, murderers are executed - so it's odd that Americans think their justice system is superior to all others - 11th December David Cameron is laying himself open to charges of insincerity - Voters probably don't care that he's upper-class, but they will mind if they think he's only pretending to care about the poor - 4th December No one trusts bankers any more. That's hardly a surprise - They destroyed the livelihood of millions with their greed but feel no shame. Now they're even less trusted than journalists - and that's saying something - 27th November I was ready to give up alcohol – until I read the latest research - Apparently, the more you drink the greater your protection against heart disease. Does that mean we should all be drinking at least a bottle of wine a day? - 20th November Politicians should stop sucking up to the tabloids - It makes them look unprincipled and probably won't help them win elections either - 13th November Blair's bid to be president of Europe seems hopeless - And he'd have even less chance if it was a democratic election - 6th November Does Silvio Berlusconi secretly have it in for Tony Blair? - How odd that the Italian prime minister may just have derailed his great friend's bid to be EU president - 16th October We all know David Cameron is posh - No one seems to mind that the Conservative leader is a toff. So why is he embarrassed by his hunting past? - 9th October Samoans have always believed in the benevolence of the weather. The tsunami has betrayed that trust - Their open-plan homes stood no chance in an earthquake - 2nd October The Staffordshire hoard is spectacular. But now the countryside will be overrun with metal detectorists - Unearthing the Anglo-Saxon treasure will spark a modern gold rush - 25th September Smokers are now New York's most discriminated minority - Mayor Bloomberg is extending the New York smoking ban to outdoor public spaces, so London will probably follow suit in a year or two - 18th September Why are we suddenly so fascinated by our history? - Man Booker prize contenders, Starkey and Schama TV series: we seem to feel a need to revisit our proud past - 10th September It's time to explode the myth that all children evacuated from the blitz were well treated - In the large country house where I lived I was joined by 20 'urchins' from Wapping - 3rd September Berlusconi's wife shopped him. The Kennedy women covered up their husbands' excesses - Vicki even made sure that Ted, a notorious drinker, was never pictured with a glass in his hand - 27th August Freeing the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on health grounds is a tricky call - Judicial decisions should not be lightly overruled – just remember Erich Honecker and all - 20th August Obama's healthcare reforms provide fodder for his enemies' - Americans are conditioned from birth to see government intervention as the start of a slippery slope into Nazism or socialism - 13th August British values seem to revolve around the worship of celebrities - Immigrants wanting to find out how to be true Brits should be shown Big Brother and I'm a Celebrity - 6th August Why on earth does the government have a website telling us how to address aristocrats? - New Labour was supposed to be all about ending deference. So much for its pathetic attempts at constitutional reform - 30th July Chastened politicians are opting for a bucket-and-spade holiday - Under-fire Brown is off to the Lake District - 23rd July What I think about Sir Edward Downes' decision to 'die with dignity' - The great conductor's decision to end his life in Zurich with Dignitas still doesn't make me think assisted suicide is right - 16th July Silvio Berlusconi has been railing against this 'small newspaper'. What is his problem with the Guardian? - Were the Italian PM to be found guilty of any sexual impropriety, of which there is admittedly no evidence so far, he would be finished - 9th July Older people are angry - just look at our pensions - but that doesn't mean we should turn to crime - There is more reason here than in Germany for pensioners to resort to violent protest. But most of us just take to the bottle - 25th June Prince Charles may have lost Richard Rogers a job, but that's no reason to abolish the monarchy - Charles is not head of state, and nobody is obliged to take any notice of what he says. Nor does anybody often do so - 18th June I found myself struggling to think of four animals beginning with S. Does that mean I'm going senile? - When you get old, you forget that your memory has always been bad and assume your present forgetfulness is a sign of dementia - 11th June In these trying times we seek reliable comforts: tradition, quality and a bowl of spaghetti - Italian cooks don't tend to experiment, but try to ensure that their dishes taste exactly as they always have - 5th June You can tell how much trouble Berlusconi is in - even the Blairs are distancing themselves from him - It's been alleged that Berlusconi called up 17-year-old Noemi Letizia out of the blue after seeing her in a model agency brochure - 29th May Replacing MPs with people in white suits trumpeting their honesty is not the answer to this scandal - Martin Bell was irritating enough; to have Esther Rantzen in parliament would be unbearable - 22nd May Why does Stephen Fry think the row about MPs fiddling their expenses is a row about nothing? - You'd think Fry would be grateful to the press for helping to establish him as a 'national treasure' - 15th May So taxing the rich encourages 'layabouts', rages Michael Caine. It's time he enjoyed a lie-in - I have nothing against him but it is a curious fact that those who have triumphed over adversity are often unsympathetic towards the underprivileged - 1st May It might be fun to see Dick Cheney behind bars for condoning torture, but there are more urgent priorities - The fact that water- boarding was repeated so many times on the same two people suggests that Bush officials lied when they said its use was strictly controlled - 24th April Bankers are too embarrassed to shoot game. This can only be a positive development - It is time to explode the myth that business cannot be successfully conducted except over food and wine and dead bird carcases - 17th April Persuading the living to pay their debts can be tough. It's much easier to wait until they die - There are ways of making money in a recession, but it's difficult to think of attractive ones - 10th April Obama wants us all – even Gordon Brown – to stay happy. If we do, we might pull out of this slump - 3rd April How do pubs know we don't want small wine glasses when they don't offer them? - Publicans are telling customers they must either drink too much or nothing at all - 27th March Ageism is everywhere. We can't even count on NHS doctors to be kind to us when we get old - The best form of health insurance is to be very nice to your children, in the hope they will take good care of you - 20th March The recession has turned Westfield shopping centre into a peaceful monument to past consumerism - Even the rich are belatedly concluding that needless possessions don't bring happiness and may even be morally corrupting - 13th March By writing publicly about her son's drug problem, Julie Myerson demonstrates her own addiction - She has allowed it to be known that her new novel, The Lost Child, is all about Jake - 6th March My mother's response to my sister Sophia's death was to behave as if she had never existed - One way of dealing with unbearable pain must be to try to suppress all memories of its cause. But my brother believes he has suffered emotionally as a result - 27th February 2009 Officials may soon decide that genitals are a more reliable form of security ID than the face or retina - We should protest against body-scanning machines by going out with our cameras and taking intimate photographs of every public official - 20th February 2009 What's romantic about a heart-shaped casserole dish? And won't she just chuck its contents over you? - When I was young, I thought that St Valentine's Day must have been invented for the purpose of allowing shy British men a day of release from their inhibitions - 13th February 2009 Thanks to my own negligence I've been throwing money away on unnecessary expenses for years - thanks to my own negligence, I had been spending money for years on services that I hadn't even been receiving - 6th February 2009 What makes world leaders think George Bush loves nut pastries, reads poetry and plays the harp? - This week, as it is required to do by law, the US state department published a list of all the presents given by foreigners in 2007 to President George Bush - 30th January 2009 Why are people not throwing up their hands in horror at an ex-KGB agent buying a British paper? - the sale of the London Evening Standard to a Russian oligarch and former KGB agent has happened almost without protest - 23rd January 2009 Will it be late nights and fry-ups for Obama's girls when the first granny moves into the White House? - Barack Obama, despite his regular workouts in the gym, is not a health extremist. He still smokes and says his favourite food is pizza - 16th January 2009 If people in Britain really want to avoid the sack, they should try phoning in sick less often - Even in times of recession, when jobs are at risk, our aversion to work survives intact - 9th January 2009 Now we're told too much thinking can make us fat. This year, we must not let bad news get us down - It is likely that this year, however hard it may be, will not be as depressing as the last one - 2nd January 2009

Articles: 2008 If anyone still thinks it is easy to give up smoking, they need only look at the next US president - Barack Obama, who was pictured in yesterday's papers as a college student sucking jauntily on a cigarette, has still not managed to kick the habit nearly 20 years later - 19th December 2008 I could have done without the death scene, but Sky's assisted suicide film didn't deserve the tabloid fury - 12th December 2008 My bank manager once invited me for lunch at the branch. Imagine that happening today - 5th December 2008 Britain in the 50s was not perfect. I remember being scared of teddy boys and shocked by race riots - 28th November 2008 Deceived by their parents' flattery, today's teenagers believe they will rise to the top. They're in for a shock - 21st November 2008 Even the government is going off the Olympics. Is it too late to give them to the French? - 14th November 2008 Bush is like a child who has smashed up his toys inviting another to come and play in his nursery - To inherit two wars and a broken economy would not be most people's idea of fun - 7th November 2008 The Brand-Ross affair is a chance for the BBC to end the culture of cruelty that permeates its comedy - For most people, the 'line' in comedy is between what is funny and what is not. Well-directed satire amuses everyone, young or old - 31st October 2008 How will I know when people think I am old? When they start calling me 'dear' or 'sweetie' - 17th October 2008 At the end of a week like this, it's difficult to disagree with David Cameron's diagnosis of a broken society - 3rd October 2008 In principle it's right to let a Catholic ascend the throne, but it's a move that could easily backfire - 26th September 2008 Carol Thatcher was rebuked for revealing her mother had dementia, but it is nothing to be ashamed of - 19th September 2008 With our claustrophobic little homes it's no wonder people get drunk and stab each other on the streets - 12th September 2008 A recession will be tough. But it might turn us into a friendlier - and even happier - society - I remember during the 1980s how polite taxi drivers became, so eager were they to attract custom - 5th September 2008 A great many of us dream of living abroad - so why is Britain set to become even more crowded? - 29th August 2008 Gary Glitter has served his time. So is it right that he can now be subjected to any degree of persecution? - 22nd August 2008 As economic troubles bite, Italian holidaymakers are turning against the super-rich. It's about time - 15th August 2008 I can't prove it, but I'm sure that it was the notorious Johnson clan who burgled my uncle's house - twice - 8th August 2008 What have we learned? Max Mosley isn't a Nazi - and Britain has had a privacy law all along - 25th July 2008 Whether it's crosswords, or moving to Thailand, the elderly must learn to occupy themselves - 18th July 2008 The White House can apologise all it likes - gaffes are what keep people's interest in politics alive - 11th July 2008 He wants health insurance for all Americans, but Barack Obama still has to prove he's patriotic - Obama has chosen the Fourth of July to show how much he loves his country - 4th July 2008 Despite Mugabe's hatred of British colonialism, the road he lives in is still named after my grandfather - 27th June 2008 Cigarettes might be disgusting, but these days they are a great way to bond with other people - 20th June 2008 So now we know. God gave Tony Blair the strength to invade Iraq - but he didn't say it was right - 6th June 2008 For richer, for poorer - London divorce specialists say that inquiries have tripled since hard times began to hit the City fat cats - 30th May 2008 Edward Kennedy may be a great public servant, but he was lucky to survive the shame of Chappaquiddick - You would think from the tributes bestowed on Kennedy by colleagues and enemies alike that he has lived a life of unblemished virtue - 23rd May 2008 As the gap between rich and poor grew even wider, it was not such a 'nice' decade, after all - good times are very depressing for those who do not share in them - 16th May 2008 Drunken Brits abroad are again in the news - and I fear things will get even worse in the future - 9th May 2008 It's selfless of Autumn Kelly to convert to C of E for Peter Phillip's sake - but does it make sense? - 2nd May 2008 We're supposed to spend our way out of recession. But my bank has driven me to shred my credit card - 18th April 2008 Is watching Max Moseley on YouTube a victory? - 11th April 2008 Traveling light - lost luggage at Heathrow T5 - 4th April 2008 Driven to distraction - ...on being caught speeding - 28th March 2008 Once, people would have given back miney that wasn't rightfully theirs. How times have changed - 21st March 2008 The 'first black president' has proved he was no such thing with his treatment of the likely second - The Clintons want to persuade voters that Obama is trading on his blackness - 14th March 2008 Silence is golden - clubbers and music fans are damaging their hearing... - 7th March 2008 I don't need five blades on my razor - 29th February 2008 It's frankly embarrassing that Britain should be represented by a halfwit like Prince Andrew - 15th February 2008 As PM, Blair opposed an all-powerful EU. Now he's changed his mind - but only if he can run it - 8th February 2008 Inheriting financial security - 1st Fenruary 2008 Jet-setting president - It must be pretty dull in the Kremlin - Putin, like Blair and Sarkozy, just can't stop globetrotting Kenny Richey is proof that the death penalty doesn't need to be carried out to destroy a life - ex-death row Scot returns home - 18th January 2008 London may be a different country, but not everybody is busy splashing out on diamonds in the West End - 11th January 2008 I thought Christmas was going to be uneventful. Then I found myself in A&E in my wife's knickers - 4th January 2007

Articles: 2007 Nick Clegg would not say if he had taken drugs. He would have been wise to stay silent on God, too - 21st December 2007 Nativity plays without Jesus and iPods instead of carols - is there any point to Christmas any more? - 14th Decemer 2007 The Queen has striven to keep the cosy, comfortable England of our dreams alive against all the odds - 7th December 2007 The Google millionaires are cleverer than the Saudis. They know money can't bring happiness - 16th November 2007 It is a pity Jon Snow won't join a rare and benign demonstration of national pride by wearing a poppy - 9th November 2007 Travelodge is having to provide towels to cover sleepwalking guests. What happened to pyjamas? - 26th October 2007 Mohamed Al Fayed is certainly tenacious, but he has forced a dismal and dispiriting experience on us all - 5th October 2007 Jack Straw has asked for a national debate on the meaning of Britishness. But can we define it? - 28th September 2007 Why William from York, who now sounds like Prince William, is persona non grata in Yorkshire - 21st September 2007 I tried to give the contemporary classical maestro Pierre Boulez a chance. I really did... - 14th September 2007 Yes, the Duke of Buccleuch was rich - but he was more in touch with ordinary people than most politicians - 7th September 2007 archive

News & updates: Chancellor returns to The Spectator, GreensladeBlog, 7th March 2012

References:

Links: Spectator articles Wikipedia biog.