The Critic Magazine

26 February, 2026

The Critic is Britain’s monthly current affairs and culture magazine, dedicated to rigorous content and first-rate writing — and unafraid to ask the questions others won’t. In the March issue of The Critic, David Spencer uncovers the real story behind why the Metropolitan Police hired to its ranks recruits who had failed vetting checks and went on to commit serious crimes, including Cliff Mitchell, who was subsequently convicted of 13 counts of rape. Tim Congdon warns that indebted universities risk being asset-stripped with consequences for their charitable status, Julie Bindel goes to Mexico to investigate a booming “baby business” brokered by a British surrogacy agency, Iason Athanasiadis files his dispatch from the partly ruined, partly thriving city of Damascus as it shakes off the dust of Syria’s civil war and Stephen Bayley finds reasons to be cheerful in Elephant and Castle. Also, the late Scottish man of letters, Allan Massie, is profiled, Jonathan Glancey admires the lost beauty of railway art, Stephen Pollard offers racing tips for Cheltenham, and Henry Jeffreys uncorks the latest Critic Wine Club offer.