It’s been a difficult week for Hillary Clinton. Not only was she diagnosed with a bout of pneumonia but she also found herself under fire for labelling half of Donald Trump’s supporters as ‘a basket of deplorables’. Those so-called deplorables are the subject of Christopher Caldwell’s cover piece, in which he argues that Trump’s pandering to the ‘large group that is loyal to him’ is a more efficient strategy that making a play for a minority, amongst whom gains will only ever be marginal. So, was Clinton’s choice of phrasing a conscious attempt to stifle insecure middle-America? And how can Trump convince America’s forgotten majority to turn out for him? Speaking to Lara Prendergast, Christopher Caldwell said:
‘You can’t necessarily say they are being driven to Trump because the Republican party has always been, at least since the civil rights era, very reliant on the votes of white people. The Democrats are very quick to say that it is an overwhelmingly white party and, you know, in the last election the Republican party, at a Presidential level, got almost 60% of white people’s votes. So it’s not as much of an evolution as it might seem.’
On the subject of Hillary Clinton’s recent maladies, Spectator Deputy Editor Freddy Gray says:
‘Trump world and the madness on social media is having a lot of fun at Clinton’s expense, portraying her as a walking corpse. Whether or not this will actually generate sympathy for Clinton amongst the mainstream, or whether Americans really do worry that they can’t have someone in charge who is not physically, and perhaps mentally, fit remains to be seen.’
Situated at the end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, the nation of Yemen hasn’t featured much in international headlines of late. And yet, as Peter Oborne writes in this week’s notebook, ‘most nights Saudi bombers fly low over the Yemeni capital of Sanaa dealing out random destruction’. Yemen has been in a state of civil war since March of 2015, and the rebel Houthi group have successfully captured the constitutionally stated capital Sanaa. The government forces, however, closely supported by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, are striking back in the toughest terms. But has Saudi Arabia overstepped the mark and perpetrated war crimes? And what’s Britain’s involvement in all this? Peter is clear on the consequences of our involvement:
‘David Cameron and his Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were absolutely dedicated, not just to the Saudi alliance but specifically to the Saudi led coalition’s war in the Yemen. Now are things changing? Boris Johnson the former editor of the Spectator is now Foreign Secretary and… he has corrected the false Foreign Office line…that British government had carried out an assessment of alleged Saudi war crimes and breaches of humanitarian law.’
Con Coughlin, Defence Editor of The Daily Telegraph, disagrees, telling the podcast that:
‘To say that the Saudi Arabians are equivocal with Al-Qaeda is a complete misunderstanding of the dynamic. It was only about four years ago that an Al-Qaeda bomber tried to blow up the interior minister in Riyadh with a device concealed in his anus. Al-Qaeda is at war with Saudi Arabia; Al-Qaeda is committed to the overthrow of the Saudi royal family. So to say that the Saudis are somehow in cahoots with Al-Qaeda seems to me a complete nonsense.’
And finally, for country squires looking for year round warmth, a readily available cooking surface, and the aesthetic symmetry of a palindrome, there has only ever been one choice: an Aga. But in this week’s magazine, Mark Mason writes that the Aga brigade have ruined this traditional kitchen fixture, turning it into a Mary Berry-infused status symbol, rather than a practical object. The Spectator’s Camilla Swift, however, is keen to defend Agas from this libel, championing them as the connoisseur’s cooker. So who is right? According to Mark Mason, it’s him:
‘The simplest way of saying what’s against them is to say there’s nothing for them. They are cutting age technology of the 1930s. When they came along, something that you can have on always as a cooking device made sense because, back then, there was a woman in the kitchen cooking all day long. She would never have turned it off so it made sense. Then, along came normal electric ovens and gas hobs and they are perfect. There is nothing that an aga can do that that combination isn’t better at.’
But Camilla Swift, disagrees (vehemently):
‘If you think of an aga as just an oven and a hob then maybe you’re not making the most of your aga. If you live in a big, draughty country house, it does everything. You use it heat the hot water, you use it to heat the room, you use it to cook everything, you use it to dry everything. It keeps the kitchen warm, the dogs love it.’
This podcast is sponsored by Berry Bros. & Rudd, who have long supplied wine for The Spectator. If you’ve always wanted to start a wine cellar, 2016 could be the perfect time. Whether you are looking to buy for future drinking, for investment or a little of both, Berry Bros. & Rudd’s Cellar Plan is designed to suit all tastes and budgets. A personal Account Manager will be on hand to offer advice and assistance, and enable you to benefit from three centuries’ worth of relationships with the leading wine growers. To find out more about starting a wine cellar with Berry Bros. & Rudd, visit bbr.com/cellarplan
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