Society

Rory Hanrahan

Britain has imported Ireland’s sectarian strife

At times, I still hear my late father, Sean O’Callaghan’s, voice echoing in my mind. Sean died in 2017 but there’s no doubt what he’d make of Britain today: that the sepsis of sectarianism is slowly, but surely, poisoning our bloodstream. We’re entrenching extremes and sidelining moderates. Northern Ireland’s lesson is stark: entrench extremes, and moderation dies; let sectarianism fester, and democracy becomes zero-sum The ugly scenes outside Villa Park this week as pro-Palestinian and Israeli protesters faced off are a shameful reminder of how British politics is changing for the worse. Britain’s new Islamo-socialist alliance is gaining ground: from Corbyn’s Your Party, to pro-Gaza independents. Voters are prioritising religion

Alan Allport

No, Elon Musk: we Brits aren’t hobbits

‘When Tolkien wrote about the hobbits, he was referring to the gentlefolk of the English shires, who don’t realise the horrors that take place far away,’ Elon Musk wrote on X in response to the news of the fatal stabbing of Wayne Broadhurst in Uxbridge. ‘They were able to live their lives in peace and tranquility,’ Musk explained, ‘but only because they were protected by the hard men of Gondor.’ ‘When Tolkien wrote about hobbits, he was referring to the gentlefolk of the English shires,’ Elon Musk said The billionaire X owner was employing this literary allusion, he said, to propose a new breed of Tolkienesque ‘hard men’ – he

Danny Scott

Is Labour trying to make life harder for poor kids like me?

Bridget Phillipson and I have a lot in common. Like the Education Secretary, who started life in a council house in Tyne and Wear, I grew up on a tough estate. Mine was in Selston, a rural East Midlands mining village. Home life was hard; my mam was blind and illiterate. But against the odds – like Phillipson – I achieved outstanding results at my local state school. Decades on, I’m still proud that my grade As in physics, maths and English were O-Levels, not wishy-washy GCSEs. Labour’s mooted education review would almost certainly kick the ladder out from under kids like me Yet while our backgrounds are similar, I

David Spencer

When will the prisons minister face up to the jail crisis?

The latest episode in the rolling farce that is His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service was this week revealed to be yet another foreign-born sex offender released in error. Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian sex-offender, was let out by mistake from HMP Wandsworth over a week ago. He was only recaptured today after nine days on the run. What steps has the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, taken following this most recent incident? But now that one of the big questions in Westminster doesn’t concern the whereabouts of the latest pervert erroneously released by the Prison Service, attention is turning to what steps the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, has taken following this most recent incident? Before this

Yesterday

Debbie Hayton

Why has Martine Croxall been censured by the BBC?

Martine Croxall’s eyes spoke louder than her words when she corrected the clumsy and unnatural use of ‘pregnant people’ on her autocue earlier this year. As a result, the newsreader found herself slap bang in the middle of the toxic dispute over the language of ‘inclusion’. Despite being congratulated at the time by viewers who were relieved that at least one person at the BBC still knew that women give birth to the next generation, Croxall has now been censured by Corporation’s Executive Complaints Units. Her facial expression, it was ruled, expressed a ‘controversial view about trans people’. 🚨In June, a BBC teleprompter instructed presenter, Martine Croxall, to say ‘pregnant

Robert Taylor

Sports are finally giving up on virtue-signalling

Thank heavens for that. English football clubs will no longer have a minute’s silence for tragedies like floods, earthquakes and volcanoes across the other side of the world. Of course, it’s lovely for players and fans to show solidarity with their fellow human beings. But the whole thing has got out of hand, is horribly inconsistent and achieves next to nothing. In September 2023, all English clubs held a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of an earthquake thousands of miles away in North Africa. But following the attacks by Hamas on Israel a month later, which led to the murder of 1,200 people, the FA chose not to

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

When the oldest hatred came to Villa Park

‘Scum’ barked at a Jewish man for the crime of taking a small Israel flag from his bag. ‘Get the f**k out of my city’ hollered at Jews. Masked men hanging signs saying ‘Zionists not welcome’. Posters inviting the public to phone the anti-terror hotline ‘if you see a Zionist’. ‘Baby killers’ yelled in the faces of Jews, as if it was the 1200s all over again and Jews are once more seen as the murderous drainers of innocent blood. That Villa Park was overrun by frothing keffiyeh-wearers wishing death on the army of the Jewish state and damning peaceful Jews as ‘baby killers’ is a scandal Can we ditch

Stephen Pollard

Hatred was the winner in Maccabi Tel Aviv’s game against Aston Villa

On the field, last night’s losers were Maccabi Tel Aviv, beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa in their Europa League match. Off the field, however, the story was rather different. For one thing, the Maccabi Tel Aviv team arrived in and departed from Birmingham with their heads held high. Despite the attempts of hate campaigners to render the match unplayable – the initial focus was on barring the Maccabi supporters, but swiftly moved to attempting to bar the team and then to making it impossible for the match to go ahead – the Jewish, Christian and Muslim players of Maccabi Tel Aviv braved the hate, did their job as footballers, and

Gavin Mortimer Gavin Mortimer

Is it only left-wing leaders who are allowed to be young?

There was a time when the French left turned its nose up at all things American. Too low-brow for them. Not now. The victory of Zohran Mamdani in the New York mayoral race has caused much joie de vivre in left-circles. For Mamdani, his youth is a virtue, but with Bardella it’s a weakness Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the Gallic Bernie Saunders and the leader of the far-left La France Insoumise, described Mamdani’s win as ‘very good news’. The general secretary of the centre-left Socialist party, Olivier Faure, posted a smiley face on X above a headline in Le Monde, hailing Mamdani as ‘the youngest mayor in New York history’. Mamdani referenced his

Thursday

Andrew Tettenborn

Who cares if the Huntingdon train hero is an immigrant?

When a maniac ran amok on a train near Huntingdon on Saturday, train steward Samir Zitouni put his life on the line. Zitouni bravely blocked the attacker from stabbing a girl, leaving him with a gash on his head and neck. The railway worker remains critically unwell in hospital. His family say they are ‘immensely proud of Sam and his courage’. They’re right to be: Zitouni saved numerous lives. Whether or not Zitouni is an immigrant isn’t clear – and nor does it matter But as Zitouni, who has worked for LNER for more than 20 years, recovers in hospital following the brutal attack, he is being used by some

Alexander Larman

Is Meghan Markle making a thespian comeback?

As the Royal Family attempts to maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach in the aftermath of the biggest scandal to have engulfed the institution in decades, the pair responsible for its last existential embarrassment have been notably silent. One might have expected, as Andrew was showily stripped of all his titles, some sanctimonious comment on the Sussex Instagram account, some hashtag-laden exhortation always to stand with the victims of abuse. But no. Those of us who were wondering why this has not happened now have an answer, of sorts. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has returned to her old profession: acting. In truth, it is unclear as to whether

Paul Burke

The John Lewis ad is terrible because it’s trying to be cool

Once upon a time, there were two kinds of people in two different kinds of office jobs. In Zone A, there were writers, artists, producers, directors and photographers. People affectionately known as ‘creatives’.  In Zone B were the accountants, solicitors, bankers and civil servants. Zones A and B co-existed quite happily in their own separate worlds. Each had very little understanding of what the other zone did, but they had a great deal of respect for the other side, as they knew it was something they couldn’t do themselves. Then something awful happened. The people in Zone B decided to colonise and codify the happy Zone A workplaces. In short, they wanted to play

Clarissa Hard

It’s time to legalise pepper spray

When faced with mortal peril, the average member of the British public might prefer to defend themselves with something more robust than a bottle of whiskey. Last Saturday, passengers on board a train found themselves in this dire predicament. The ‘frail / Travelling coincidence’ – as Philip Larkin described the same journey through Doncaster to King’s Cross – took a terrifying turn when a knifeman went on a stabbing spree and injured 11 people. No wonder this nightmarish attack has revived discussions about personal safety Witness Olly Foster recalled that a group of passengers fled until they reached the end of the carriage. Trapped, they stared down the aisle and

James Tidmarsh

The tragedy of the Shein takeover of Paris

The most glamorous department store in Paris, the BHV Marais, a vast art deco landmark stretching along Rue de Rivoli facing the Hôtel de Ville, is leasing space to Shein, the Chinese fast-fashion giant. Once a symbol of Parisian refinement, BHV now finds itself hosting a brand that epitomises disposability. This has sparked demonstrations outside the store and drawing sharp criticism inthe French press. France can’t save its shops, its factories or its dignity because it no longer believes in the value of producing anything at all This isn’t just another retail opening, it’s cultural surrender. It is proof that Paris, once the world’s fashion capital, is now renting out

Rebecca Reid

Confessions of a reformed polyamorist

There is an adage, attributed to author Robert Heinlein, that every generation thinks it invented sex. This often means finding a ‘new’ way to conduct relationships. For my generation, the millennials, this came in the guise of polyamory. Sometimes known as an open relationship or ethnical non-monogamy, polyamory is the practice of dating and having sex with people other than your partner. It became fashionable in the 2010s and is now more popular than ever. Of course, open relationships have existed forever, and I’m sure the French would be furious at any suggestion that extramarital sex was invented by my lot. But we did usher in a specific style of

The Spectator

Letters: Venezuela’s middle-class exodus

Minimum requirement Sir: Some of Charles Moore’s observations about the minimum wage are pertinent (Notes, 1 November). However, what many also lose sight of (most of all our Chancellor) is that by government raising the minimum wage, those employees who were just above it usually seek pay rises to stay ahead of it, or employers risk losing those staff. This can then have a ripple effect through the whole organisation. It is another reason the Chancellor’s last Budget had such a profound impact on companies and, in turn, the economy at a delicate time. With employers’ NI rises as well, company cost bases have risen significantly, stifling investment, growth and

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

The engine’s pitch has changed

On a long flight there’s an instant, and perhaps you’ve noticed it, when a very slight alteration in the pitch of the engine occurs. Some considerable time remains before the ‘prepare for landing’ announcement, but from this point on the plane’s trajectory will be gently back to earth. Within the cabin we sense no sharp adjustment of tilt, but something has changed. From the moment when, in Nicosia in 1955, General Sir John Harding spoke to me at the Christmas party he gave for British children in Cyprus, I had wanted to be, like him, the governor of a colony. I was six. My head was bandaged. The governor seemed

Margaret Mitchell

Save England’s apples!

On a grey autumn morning, the apples in the National Fruit Collection look vivid. They pile up in pyramids of carmine, salmon and golden-orange around dwarf trees, which have been bred to human proportions. Their branches are well within reach but picking fruit is forbidden. These trees are part of the world’s largest fruit gene bank. Neil Franklin, an agronomist and a trustee of the National Fruit Collection in Kent, describes it as ‘the Victoria and Albert Museum of the fruit industry’. The collection holds several types of fruit, but the apple is queen of them all: of the 4,000 or so fruit varieties here, more than 2,200 are apples.

The Spectator

How popular is the British royal family?

Austere environment Who introduced the word ‘austerity’ into the political lexicon? While chiefly associated with attacks on the Conservatives, and subsequently Reform UK, by Labour and other left-wing parties, it was David Cameron who brought the word back into common parlance. In a speech to the Conservative party forum on 26 April 2009 he declared: ‘The age of irresponsibility is giving way to the age of austerity.’ He went on to say: ‘We’ve made it clear that a Conservative government would spend less than Labour. We’re not frightened of their idiotic ritual chants about “cuts”.’ An analysis by the LSE found that in the election year of 2010, right-leaning thinktanks

John Power

Why are psychiatrists scared of sectioning dangerous patients?

The police initially treated last weekend’s stabbings on a train near Huntingdon as a possible terror attack, before confirming it wasn’t. Since then, it has been widely reported that the suspect, Anthony Williams, told one of his victims that ‘the devil’s not going to win’ as she pleaded with him not to stab her. So instead of terrorism, the outlines of another familiar British tragedy have begun to take shape: a violent outburst by a man apparently in the grip of severe mental illness. Why would someone with severe mental illness be able to roam in public? It is partly because of underfunded public services. The number of mental health

Harriet Sergeant

The inconvenient truth about cannabis and mental illness

Mash’s older brother was the same age as Anthony Williams when he slaughtered a stranger in a brutal and random attack. He was in the grip of a psychotic disorder caused by cannabis. We do not yet know what drove Williams, a 32-year-old African Caribbean man, to allegedly try to murder ten people during a 14-minute knife rampage on a train. But Mash is in no doubt cannabis often plays a part in attacks like these. ‘In my community smoking weed is normalised,’ he says. ‘We laugh and joke about hearing voices or having a “para” [a paranoid fit].’ He counts on his fingers: ‘Two brothers, two cousins and multiple

James Chiavarini

How not to train a truffle dog

For the first time in decades, King Charles has a new pet dog, a lagotto Romagnolo called Snuff. Queen Camilla is said to have given him the puppy, perhaps more for her benefit than his. She is thought to be mad about foraging for fungi, especially in the area surrounding her home in Wiltshire, where the chalky terroir is famous for an abundance of Burgundy truffles. Snuff is the perfect breed to find them. The lagotto hails from my home region of Emilia Romagna, and in recent years the dogs have surpassed pigs as the go-to tool for truffling. I can only surmise too many fingers were lost retrieving a

Luke McShane

St Louis showdown

Magnus Carlsen headed the field at the Clutch Chess Champions Showdown, a quadrangular rapid tournament held at the St Louis Chess Club last month. The Norwegian, who became a father in September, always seems motivated playing at fast time limits and his opposition in St Louis was of the highest calibre – Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Gukesh Dommaraju. At the Norway Chess tournament in June, Gukesh, the 19-year-old reigning world champion, caused Carlsen to bang the table in frustration after turning around a hopeless position. But in St Louis, Gukesh salvaged just one draw from six games against Carlsen. Combined with 3.5-2.5 scorelines against Caruana and Nakamura, that added

Luke McShane

No. 875

White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Sam Loyd, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1858 Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 10 November. There is a prize of a £20 John Lewis voucher for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1…Qd1!! 2 Qxd1 Bxc3# No better is 2 Bd2 Bxc3+ Last week’s winner Stephen Smith, Messing, Essex