The Spectator was established in 1828, and is the oldest continuously published magazine in the English language. The Spectator’s taste for controversy, however, remains undiminished. There is no party line to which The Spectator’s writers are bound - originality of thought and elegance of expression are the sole editorial constraints.

The trial issue contains a “Thought Crime Special” with articles from Melanie Phillips, “I think, therefore I’m guilty”; Christopher Booker writes about “Scientists in hiding; the demonisation of academics who question the consensus”; Alan Rusbridger explores “How to stifle the press” and how England’s libel laws make it easy.

UK politics come under scrutiny from James Forsyth, Brendan O’Neill ponders if teenagers could ever be “Drunk and orderly”; while Tom Hollander writes his diary and James Delingpole says eat local organic food if you like, but don’t kid yourself that it’s ‘green’. 

The Spectator’s regular arts coverage includes books, theatre, opera, cinema and exhibitions.

Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman: who will decide Labour’s fate? Wes Streeting ‘put a bomb’ under this week’s King’s Speech, says Tim Shipman and Noa Hoffman, by making it clear that he is set to challenge Keir Starmer. A former No. 10 aide describes the Health Secretary as ‘one of those first world war generals’ who ‘gets his mates to go over the top while he sits in the château’. Ed Miliband is ‘also organising’, according to a No. 10 source. But, as Shipman and Hoffman reveal, it is ‘far from certain’ that Starmer will stay. An ally says he considered quitting, but ‘went into cabinet and thought: “You know what, fuck these guys.” It’s not happening.’ Those hoping to topple the Prime Minister have ‘miscalculated’ and are unlikely to get Andy Burnham to the Commons in time. A royal source fears ‘this shows that Britain is flaky’; a Cabinet Office source suggests they have ‘no idea what any of these people want to do’ – including the bloke currently in Downing Street.

James Heale: Farage’s next move. According to James Heale, the ‘loudest man in politics knows when to keep his silence’. ‘Aside from a few PFLs – proper f***ing lunches – to celebrate the local election results’, Nigel Farage has held his tongue while Keir Starmer has floundered, plotting his next move. Previously, ‘Farage has had one goal: destroying the Tories’. But now his ‘focus is Labour’s heartlands’, with this week’s speech in Sunderland the beginning of a campaign to woo the trade unions; after the Labour push, expect a ‘return to the now-annual tradition of small boats summer’. Reform’s backroom is also being restructured. Robert Jenrick is getting a new chief economic adviser and candidate selection is being stepped up. The Tories are a ‘failing business’, a Reformer tells Heale, trapped between a dwindling market share and uncertain expansion prospects. With both the government and opposition divided, ‘it’s Christmas day again’, according to one Reform aide.

Paul Wood: how the Saudis wriggled through the Iran conflict. Recently, Saudi Arabia announced it was pulling out of LIV Gold after sinking $5-6 billion into it; for Paul Wood, the ‘men in plaid are… victims of Donald Trump’s war with Iran’. Saudi Arabia can no longer afford to engage in so-called ‘sportswashing’ due to the war’s costs. The MAGA movement is being torn apart over claims that Israel bounced the US into the war, says Paul, but Saudi Arabia was lobbying just as hard. Khalid bin Salman, the prince’s brother, met the late Ayatollah Khamenei last year, warning ‘Trump would hit [Iran] harder than either Barack Obama or Joe Biden’, but that Saudi airspace ‘would never be used to attack’. The Iranians were not fooled, with hundreds of missiles and drones fired at Saudi targets. Now that ‘Trump’s war is so clearly failing’, Wood says, ‘the Saudis are trying to distance themselves from it’. But ‘Iran has largely been neutered’ and Saudi’s alliance with the US ‘has never been stronger’.