Society

Monday

Damian Thompson Damian Thompson

Britain’s loss of religious faith: how should we interpret shocking new statistics?

Just 30 per cent of Britons feel that their religion or faith is important to them, according to the 2017 Ipsos MORI survey of global trends. That puts us at the bottom of the international table: only Swedes (29 per cent), Belgians (27 per cent) and the Japanese (22 per cent) are more secular than we are, according to this poll. The global average, meanwhile, is 53 per cent. Muslim Indonesia heads the list with 93 per cent. Christian America is on 68 per cent, despite a recent slump in church attendance. (I’m always a bit suspicious of what Americans tell pollsters about their faith.) Even Australia – hardly a nation that flaunts its piety – is

Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

Stephen Fry will be delighted to be accused of blasphemy

Oh God. And I mean it. What was a well meaning Irish citizen doing, bringing a blasphemy complaint against Stephen Fry? I mean, if you wanted to make the big man’s day, to give him that delicious sense of being persecuted without actually being persecuted, well what could be better than being done for blasphemy? It’s the campaigning atheist’s wet dream. It could mean, if you’re really lucky, being prosecuted in Ireland for repeating your observations about the Deity – cruel, capricious, allowing bone cancer in children etc – and the very worst that can happen to you would be a fine, which you could then refuse to pay and

Steerpike Steerpike

Was it Chuka Umunna wot won it for Macron?

Ever since Emmanuel Macron emerged as a frontrunner in the French presidential race, UK politicians have been clamouring to shower praise on the centrist politician while flagging their (undoubtedly) close connections to the man. After Macron made it through the first round, George Osborne congratulated his ‘friend’ online, only for Ed Miliband to cast doubt on how close the pair really were. Following his win last night, Macron’s victory has been hailed as a triumph for the values of liberalism and internationalism. But did someone close to home play an integral role in Macron’s ascent to power? Mr S only asks after Chuka Umunna managed to throw in an impressive humble brag

Sunday

Toby Young Toby Young

You’re an editor now George Osborne… it’s time you made some enemies

Dear George Osborne, I thought it worth passing along some advice about your new job. I’ve never edited a news-paper, but I’ve been in the business for 32 years and I’ve seen a fair few come and go. I’ve also worked for the Evening Standard in various capacities. Indeed, my first job in journalism was doing shift work on Londoner’s Diary. That’s not a bad place to start on Fleet Street (your predecessor did) and you could do worse than sit at the desk for a few weeks. Liz Smith, the veteran American newspaper columnist, describes gossip as ‘news wearing a red dress and running ahead of the pack’ and

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Today’s bankers don’t know how good they’ve got it

‘Do you still hate bankers?’ asked an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for years, having himself made a good career in overseas banking. Not at all, I said, and I never did. It’s been my mission to shame bad ones, but there are many I have liked and admired. Among those was Julian Wathen, a Barclays overseas veteran who has died aged 93, and whose story illuminates one key fact: at least today’s bankers don’t get shot at. As manager of the Limassol branch in Cyprus in 1956, Wathen survived being shot through the neck by an Eoka gunman who, the Times reported, ‘walked into his office, fired, and

Saturday

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

Labour’s election strategy – vote for us and watch us lose | 6 May 2017

The crapness of Corbyn’s Labour is a phenomenon. It fascinates me. Frankly, it does my head in. For there is a theory, you see, that Corbyn’s Labour isn’t really crap at all. That it is all a conspiracy. That journalists such as me, who I suspect are ‘neoliberal’ or something, merely construct a narrative demonising it as such. Where politicians match our prejudices, this theory goes, we give them enormous leeway and spring to their defence. When they don’t, we supposedly deem them ‘mad’ or ‘radical’ or, yes, ‘crap’, in a spirit of sheer defensiveness. It’s a neat theory, this, and very occasionally I even find myself wondering if it

Lucy Vickery

Spectator competition winners: acrostic sonnets on The Spectator

The latest competition asked for an acrostic sonnet in which the first letters of each line spell AT THE SPECTATOR. You weren’t obliged to make the theme of your poem this magazine and its contributors but many of you did, to great effect. The tone was mainly affectionate, along the lines of Paul Carpenter’s opening: Across this social media driven land There stands a bastion of common sense, That often takes a fearless lonely stand Heroic, unafraid to give offence. But there were a few dissenting voices, Chris O’Carroll for one: Addison and Steele are not amused. Their lofty mix, ‘morality with wit’, These days finds its proud name sadly

Friday

Rosie Waterhouse

The historic sex abuse investigation needs a dose of common sense

Amid the tidal wave of allegations of ‘historic’ sexual abuse by so-called VIP paedophiles, yet another high-profile police investigation has stalled. Wiltshire Police, who are looking into claims made against the late Sir Edward Heath, revealed two weeks ago that they had released the only other two people arrested, saying they face no further action. Despite this, officers told Radio 4’s Today programme that Operation Conifer ‘remains… an ongoing investigation’ and that ‘there are a significant number of allegations made by a separate number of individuals’. But it’s unclear where else the investigation can go. Following the abandonment of another probe – that of Operation Midland – by the Metropolitan Police,

Katy Balls Katy Balls

What’s gone wrong for the Liberal Democrats?

The results from the local elections are in — and we’re beginning work out what it means for the parties with regards to next month’s general election. While the Conservatives have much cause for (cautious) celebration, Ukip looks on the brink of extinction, Labour has had a dismal showing – and the Liberal Democrats are having a ‘neutral‘ time of it, at least according to Sir Vince Cable. This is a somewhat optimistic gloss on the party’s showing today. The Lib Dems have lost 34 seats but have seen their share of the national vote jump by seven pc. Now this doesn’t sound too bad — especially when compared to the plight of other parties

Thursday

Raymond Keene

Catalan

The Catalan opening looks as if it should be relatively harmless, combining as it does the Queen’s Gambit with the modest fianchetto development of White’s king’s bishop. But various endgame virtuosi, notably Petrosian, Korchnoi and Kramnik, have demonstrated that the Catalan can be dangerous. In particular, the nagging pressure exerted at first by White’s light-squared bishop may persist long into the middlegame and endgame. The following notes are based on those by Neil McDonald in The Catalan: Move by Move (Everyman Chess)   Grischuk-Potkin: Villarrobledo 2009; Catalan Opening   1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 e6 3 d4 Nf6 4 g3 dxc4 5 Bg2 a6 6 0-0 Nc6 7 Bg5 Other

Raymond Keene

no. 455

White to play. This position is from So–Kramnik, Gashimov Memorial 2017. So retreated with 1 Ne3 and eventually won. How could he instead have initiated a winning attack? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 9 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 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…Qxh2+ Last week’s winner C.J. Ellis, Rochester, Kent

The Spectator

Letters | 4 May 2017

Liverpudlian censorship Sir: I enjoyed Kelvin MacKenzie’s Diary (29 April). The obloquy thrown at him after his criticism of Everton footballer Ross Barkley would be laughable if it were not for the unpleasant undercurrent on Merseyside now. His remark was football banter, not a racist slur as the mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, has alleged. What the mayor (or ‘Fat Joe’, as he is known) has failed to do is speak up for free speech. It is — and I deeply regret to say this about my home town — a scandal that newsagents in Liverpool are threatened by violent thugs if they stock the Sun. There was a ‘Ban

Taki

High life | 4 May 2017

I’m sitting in my office and the place is still. The rest of the house is dark. Everyone’s out and I’m here writing about the death of a friend. I haven’t felt such gloom since my father died 28 years ago. The question why did he have to die is implicitly followed by another: how did he live his life? The answer to that one is easy: recklessly. Learning how to die, according to Montaigne, is unlearning how to be a slave. Nick Scott, who died last week in India, was no slave. Nick went to Eton. He was an army man and a very talented landscape artist and gardener,

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 4 May 2017

‘Emmanuel Macron est le plus grand con du monde,’ said the elderly gent taking the vacant seat on my right at the Marine Le Pen rally last week. He had slicked-back white hair, a little hog’s-bristle moustache and broken-down white trainers. Plus grand means ‘biggest’, du monde means ‘in the world’, and con means, well, have a guess. A teenage girl and her pal squeezed past to occupy the spare pair of seats on my left. They flung themselves joyfully into the chanting and singing before they’d even sat down. The Palais Nikaia, a concert venue next to Nice airport, holds 8,000 people. Ten minutes before Marine Le Pen was

Melissa Kite

Real life | 4 May 2017

A gentleman on Twitter ‘writes’ to say I’m boring him with my house move. ‘Snooze-fest’, says this chap, and he posts a little yellow unhappy face or ‘emoticon’, which passes for articulate on Twitter. I’ve never heard of this fellow, although it is likely he is some kind of pundit with followers in the blogosphere who rely on him to tell them what is boring and what is not. I suspect I’m not alone in not knowing who he is, and that no one, including his own mother, has heard of him and that this being Twitter it is entirely likely he has not even heard of himself. However, I

Susanna Gross

Bridge | 4 May 2017

Janet likes to tease me that whenever it’s my turn to write this column, it ought to be renamed The David Gold Experience. Well, maybe I do write about him a lot, but then again, he is one of the best players in the world. Anyway, this week I’ve decided to give David’s regular partner Mike Bell an airing. Mike is also a superb player, and I’m lucky enough to be on his Nicko team. ‘Nicko’ stands for national inter-club knock out — and we’re one of several teams representing London’s Young Chelsea. It’s the first time I’ve played in the event, and I’ve had great fun driving up and

Toby Young Toby Young

It’s time you made some enemies, George

Dear George Osborne, I thought it worth passing along some advice about your new job. I’ve never edited a news-paper, but I’ve been in the business for 32 years and I’ve seen a fair few come and go. I’ve also worked for the Evening Standard in various capacities. Indeed, my first job in journalism was doing shift work on Londoner’s Diary. That’s not a bad place to start on Fleet Street (your predecessor did) and you could do worse than sit at the desk for a few weeks. Liz Smith, the veteran American newspaper columnist, describes gossip as ‘news wearing a red dress and running ahead of the pack’ and

Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 4 May 2017

Q. I have a very good cleaner who comes once a week. She is far more efficient than anyone I’ve had in the past. But recently she has begun taking off her shoes and socks at the front door and cleaning in her bare feet, which I find utterly disgusting. How do I ask her to stop this ritual without risking losing her? —M.L., London SW10 A. Leave verruca treatment creams in ‘recent use’ positions in your bathroom and walk around in bare feet yourself. With luck she will put two and two together. If not, allude to your ailment and suggest she puts on her footwear to avoid contamination.

Dot Wordsworth

Compliance

Ralph Bathurst was accused shortly after his death in 1704 of being ‘suspected of Hypocrisy and of mean Complyance’. I am not quite sure what particular hypocrisy was meant, but the accuser was Thomas Hearne, a cranky but principled antiquary in the mould of Anthony Wood. Hearne resented not being able to accept appointments such as librarian of the Bodleian because he would not take the oath to King William after he took the throne in 1689. Bathurst had felt able to accept the Deanery of Wells while retaining the presidency of Trinity College, Oxford, so he was obviously a little flexible, even if he was a great man, a

The Spectator

Barometer | 4 May 2017

Spend, spend, spend London mayor Sadiq Khan ended support for the Garden Bridge, probably killing it off. How are other public projects going? — Manchester City Council spent £3.5 million blocking a right of way with a glass pod and iron gates likened to Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. — Birmingham City Council proposes to spend £10 million on a water feature and new lights in Centenary Square. — Trafford Council spent £16,000 on a stone in Altrincham bearing the words ‘market’ and ‘1290’. — Since 2005, Belfast City Council has spent £104,650 on portraits of its lord mayors. Gap years Emmanuel Macron’s wife is 24 years older than him. How unusual is this?