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.

John Power: the property squeeze choking the young. ‘Buying property in London is increasingly a mug’s game,’ writes John Power. Prices in the capital are down 1.7 per cent in the year to the end of January; London flats, on average, have lost more than a quarter of their value in the past decade, with drops of more than 40 per cent in central locations. Thousands of people are caught in the trap of negative equity, with 45 per cent of Help-to-Buy properties bought between 2013 and 2025 subsequently sold at a nominal loss. Power points the blame at landlords selling up before the Renters Rights Act comes into effect next month, a cratering of high-end demand as wealthy Russians and non-doms flee, and prospective buyers swerving leasehold flats. ‘For years, Britain’s housing politics have been organised around those locked out’ – but ‘if the old grievance was exclusion, now it is being locked in’.

John Bew: why we need both the American alliance and more defence spending. ‘Our interests still lie in a cordial, if hardheaded, accommodation with American power,’ writes John Bew. If ‘the UK is simultaneously more distant from the US and failing adequately to fund defence commitments’, then ‘two of the principal pillars of our enduring national security strategy are in danger’. Properly funding our own defence capabilities, as George Robertson has urged the government to do this week, ‘can give us both a say in determining the future’ of the Middle East and ‘make us more relevant in any and all US calculations’. The former No. 10 adviser hopes that ‘future historians of this period’ will see this as ‘the moment at which the penny finally dropped’ for Britain’s security strategy.

Tim Shipman: Starmer in the crosshairs. Tim Shipman warns that ‘defence chiefs, various ministers and leading figures in the defence industries think the government is failing at a moment of existential crisis for national security’. Sources suggest that No. 10 will find more money for defence after the local elections, with the Defence Investment Plan ‘pencilled in’ to be released on 28 June. But the Treasury is dragging its feet on defence spending. One of Shipman’s sources claims that Rachel Reeves even asked: ‘Why should we give money to a department that’s so far away from gender parity?’ Meanwhile, the Royal Navy was forced to choose only one ‘active capability’ – either protecting cables in British waters or being in the Gulf. And, despite supplying 85,000 drones to Ukraine, we have ‘hardly any’ of our own. One expert warns we could have ‘drone swarms’ or a ‘hypersonic missile’ attacking us within 18 months. An unlikely saviour could be waiting in the wings: Angela Rayner ‘is privately vowing to act if she ousts Starmer’.

Robert Hardman: will Trump make King Charles dance? Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday on Tuesday, reflects Robert Hardman, would have created ‘a delightful conundrum’ for the Buckingham Palace office that sends out 100th-birthday congratulations from the sovereign. The Queen Mother’s centenary celebrations in 2000 had been ‘tinged with disappointment’ after the BBC scrapped the idea of live coverage since it would mean rescheduling Neighbours; ITV saved the day. Now Auntie is ‘dismantling BBC Studios Events, the tiny unit behind every great state occasion’. The incoming director-general should ‘reverse this madness’. Hardman isn’t worried that Donald Trump will ‘embarrass’ Charles III on his upcoming state visit. On Hardman’s visit to Mar-a-Lago, Trump had only warm words for the late Queen and her eldest son – ‘a fighter’ – while he refused to be drawn on the difficult dukes. Trump loves Britain, unlike the faux Irish Joe Biden who, Hardman has been ‘reliably informed’, discreetly rejected the offer of a state visit to Britain. Will there be dancing at Trump’s state banquet? Hardman watched the President DJing at Mar-a-Lago, where he played Pavarotti’s ‘Nessun Dorma’. ‘Isn’t this just the best high note?’ he asked as it reached its crescendo.

Prue Leith: whisper it – I’m not a great baker. Despite having judged The Great British Bake Off for almost a decade, Prue Leith has a startling confession: she’s not a great baker. She was hired for her ‘judging experience’ not her ‘baking skill’. She suspects that her ‘own baking efforts would not often get Paul Hollywood’s nod of approval’. Prue’s attempt to make hot cross buns the day before Good Friday was ‘a total disaster’. A trip to Tesco for fresh spices and yeast produced a better batch, but they still weren’t wonderful. Fortunately, the late-night Co-op still had some hot cross buns. Her husband John has decided the couple should set up their own vineyard, but Prue foresees ‘nothing but money flying out the window’. She would rather be at the opening night of Giffords Circus or enjoying lunch at the reopened Simpson’s in the Strand, where with Delia Smith and her husband: ‘We oldies felt instantly at home.’

Leader: The Spectator has saved Gentleman’s Relish. Last week, recalls The Spectator’s leading article, ‘our cookery writer Olivia Potts scooped the world by revealing that AB World Foods was to cease production of Gentleman’s Relish – on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the anchovy paste first gracing our dinner tables’. With The Spectator also approaching its 200th anniversary, ‘this was a loss that could scarcely be borne’. But ‘thanks to quiet diplomacy between this magazine and the owners of Gentleman’s Relish’, we can report that ‘negotiations are now advancing to secure the future of Patum Peperium’. While more details are to come, we can joyously reveal that ‘the chairman of Associated British Foods has released one of the last existing consignments of Gentleman’s Relish to The Spectator’. For those particularly concerned, we will be outlining ‘plans for the distribution of this emergency supply next week’.