Society

Thursday

Peter Jones

Socrates on expertise

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, raises his growth forecasts and suddenly everyone believes the ‘expert’. So is it wrong to say that people ‘have had enough of experts’? Yes, totally wrong. Expertise exists: the question is, with what scope? Socrates dissected the problem. In debates in Athens’ democratic Assembly, he pointed out, topics such as building or ship construction were taken to be the business of builders and shipwrights, and anyone who, though no expert, attempted to give advice in those areas was jeered off the platform. But when the debate moved on to deliberation about a course of action, then ‘any builder, smith, cobbler, merchant or

Susan Hill Susan Hill

Diary – 9 February 2017

February Fill-Dyke. But north Norfolk is dry, at least in terms of rain. Instead we have coastal flooding. Three years ago, a tidal surge caused major damage and destruction to sea defences, wildlife habitats, paths and buildings. Another surge last month was less dramatic but still reached the gate of a friend’s house, set well back, behind marshes and road. It is terrifying to experience this unstoppable force and hear its mighty roar. Whole shingle banks were flicked aside. As a small child, I stood on the cliff top above raging seas in Scarborough, and the storm seemed biblical. You never underestimate the force of nature, and possibly the wrath

Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 9 February 2017

Q. A (very attractive) man I knew at university invited me to a party given by him and his girlfriend. When I got there I found the girlfriend has reinvented herself as a hat designer and there was a pop-up shop at the party. I was bullied into buying one even though, patently, none of them suited me. Because of the social nature of the event I was embarrassed into pretending I thought it was wonderful and I shelled out a lot of money. What should I do now? — Name and address withheld A. Offer the hat to a pushy and aggressive friend. If she says she doesn’t like

Dot Wordsworth

Trope

A law I’d like to see passed would exact severe penalties for the use of the word trope. It is as welcome in our language as toxic particulates are in the air we breathe. I saw a piece in the Guardian about a dramatic monologue called The Encounter offering ‘a recognised narrative trope: the white interloper introduced to a new way of being via an encounter with the other, the magical native’. Here trope seems to mean ‘a story in miniature, a recognisable theme’. The notion of a trope pops up all over the place these days. ‘How jazz ruins a young white man’s life,’ observed Caitlin Moran in the

Taki

High life | 9 February 2017

When I was young my recurring nightmare was that I would die and be reincarnated as a polo pony. I squeezed in lots of polo during the years I played, at least three matches per week, mostly in Paris, and I felt that polo ponies had the kind of deal the mass media are now handing Trump. I wasn’t mad about the people I played with either. Back then, in the Sixties and Seventies, fat businessmen who cantered hired good Argentines to carry the can, but picked up the cup after strolling around the field and yelling quite a lot. Well, now I’m over it, but have an even worse

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 9 February 2017

Dr Ivan Mindlin was the in-house casino doctor at the Stardust in Las Vegas in the early 1970s. Mention any of the main characters in Nick Pileggi’s true-crime classic Casino: the Rise and Fall of the Mob in Las Vegas and the Doc knew them well, including the central characters Lefty and Geri Rosenthal. The mob monster Tony ‘the Ant’ Spilotro he didn’t know personally. He went out of his way to avoid him in fact, he says. But he and Spilotro shared a maid who was forever complaining about the mess Spilotro and his Hole in the Wall gang made when they were relaxing at home. Doc took me

Susanna Gross

Bridge | 9 February 2017

It’s so hard not to whinge when you’ve had bad luck at bridge — it’s just one of those things you’ve got to get off your chest. One thing’s for sure, though, if you’re going to be a moaning Minnie, pick an example that proves your point, not one that betrays the limits of your skill.   I made that mistake the other day. Sally Brock and I had failed to qualify for the Lady Milne (and, by the way, many congratulations to Fiona Brown and Helen Erichsen, who won the trials). Of course, I made the usual quota of mistakes, but we both felt we’d been unlucky. On the

The Spectator

Barometer | 9 February 2017

Match of the knights Emails emerged suggesting David Beckham would rather appreciate a knighthood. How many goals do you have to score for England (or what else do you have to do in football) to gain the honour? — Alf Ramsey (knighted 1967): 3 goals for England, won World Cup as manager — Bobby Robson (2002) 4 goals, took England to World Cup semi-finals — Trevor Brooking (2004) 5 goals, was chairman of Sport England — Stanley Matthews (1965) 11 goals — Tom Finney (1998) 30 goals — Bobby Charlton (1994) 49 goals (David Beckham scored 17 goals for England. Other prominent England players who were not, or have not

Melissa Kite

Real life | 9 February 2017

The builder boyfriend declared himself very happy with his £65 pee. He insisted it was good value for money because it was reduced from £130 if we paid within 28 days. Some would say that is still extortion, but the BB insisted he was a totally satisfied customer. He was also unfazed by the fact that Transport for London issued me with two fines for stopping on a red route in Elsynge Road for 30 seconds so he could relieve himself. This is because he didn’t have the bother of sorting it all out. The two fines had two different serial numbers so the total cost of the pee might

Doc

2296: Men of note

The unclued lights, which include the German eighth, are of a kind. Ignore all accents.   Across 1    Lines fish in strips (8) 6    Dads receiving trophy before drinks (6) 10    Being against work place on outskirts of Arundel (12) 11    Children are a bone of contention (5) 17    Sentence lout over pinching high-class rescue aid (8) 21    Disorder of a pair on a seesaw (8) 23    Middle-Easterner troubled earls in team (7) 25/26    Digital extremity with nothing missing in part of fortification (6) 28    Goodness! Nessie’s tail seen in harbours (7) 29    Antelope back at turning by dead hoofed animal (8) 34    Mayor leaves money-changers confused by EU agreement (8)

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Sales of The Spectator: 2016 H2

UK print sales up 10pc in a year – fastest of any UK magazine or newspaper UK newsstand sales up 13pc. Growing popularity of digital/print bundle Last year, we revealed that The Spectator had broken its previous circulation record and was selling more copies than at any time in its 189-year history. That momentum has kept building and the figures we release today are nothing short of extraordinary: print subscriptions are up 9pc year-on-year. Print circulation is now rising at the fastest rate since 1989. To have sales at a record high is one thing: to have print circulation growing at the fastest rate for almost 30 years is quite another. There

Coffee House

Could Brexit be sweet? The British beet sugar industry after the European Union

With Britain’s exit from the European Union looming and no sign of trading instructions from Downing Street, Britain’s domestic producers and exporters are still in the dark as to whether Brexit will free them up or tie them down. Sugar is one of these sectors, but, with British sugar beet farmers already providing over half of the country’s supply, Brexit could be very sweet for their industry. What opportunities might deregulation afford? And will Britain get a seat at the global sugar industry’s top table? Spectator editor Fraser Nelson is joined to discuss all this and much more by Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar, Michael Sly, farmer and NFU

Doc

to 2293: Topping

The unclued lights are items of headgear.   First prize Tony Watson, Twyford, Berkshire Runners-up Philip Berridge, Spalding, Lincolnshire; R.C. Teuton, Frampton Cotterell, Bristol

Laura Whitcombe

What you need to know about the Lifetime ISA

Eight weeks today the Lifetime ISA will launch to help people save towards buying their first home or retirement. In reward for their efforts, some savers could receive a government bonus of up to £32,000. But seeing as more than two thirds of people don’t even know what a Lifetime ISA is (according to pension specialist Aegon), here’s a guide to the new account. What is it? The Lifetime ISA – or LISA – is a tax-efficient savings account for people aged 18 to 40 wanting to buy their first home (up to the value of £450,000) or build a retirement nest egg. How does it work? Savers and investors can

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Britain needs a statute of limitations for sex offences

In contrast to the many stranglers and IRA terrorists who have become cause célèbres for justice campaigners over the years, there has been no audible campaign claiming that Rolf Harris, jailed in 2014 for 12 historic sex offences, is a victim of a miscarriage of justice. Nevertheless, the failure yesterday of an attempt to convict him on further charges ought to raise the question: should we really be spending vast amounts of time and money prosecuting offences which are pretty low down the scale and which happened decades ago but were never reported until recently? Of course it is an offence to put your hand up the skirt of a

Helen Nugent

Rents, broadband, earnings and energy

Rents have been in the news this week thanks to the Government’s Housing White Paper. Now the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says that rents will continue to rise with shortage of stock a key factor. ThisisMoney reports that rents will soar by 25 per cent over the next five years. Meanwhile, as far as house prices are concerned, chartered surveyors say they anticipate a rise of just under 20 per cent. A recent stamp duty increase for landlords and other tax changes have combined to make buy-to-lets as potential investments less attractive. According to the January 2017 RICS UK Residential Market Survey, 28 per cent more surveyors said they felt landlords are more likely

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Javid’s home truths

Just before Christmas, Sajid Javid performed a ritual he has observed twice a year throughout his adult life: he read the courtroom scene in The Fountainhead. To Ayn Rand fans, it’s famous: the hero declares his principles and his willingness to be imprisoned for them if need be. As a student, Javid read the passage to his now-wife, but only once — she told him she’d have nothing more to do with him if he tried it again. ‘It’s about the power of the individual,’ he says. ‘About sticking up for your beliefs, against popular opinion. Being that individual that really believes in something and goes for it.’ As Communities

Aidan Hartley

Wild life | 9 February 2017

 Laikipia plateau, Kenya My great-grandpa Ernest Wise was an engineer who sailed to South Africa towards the end of the 19th century to build Cecil Rhodes’s Cape-to-Cairo railway. Although that project never took off, he decided to stay on in the continent — and he prospered. A cousin recently sent us a photograph of Ernest and his six children, taken in the 1890s at his home in Pretoria. Ernest wears a humorous expression and he looks as if he is about to speak to me, still in Africa 130 years later. I imagine him saying, ‘What, my boy — still there?’ The Wise family image is among the photographs and

Bruce Anderson

Bloody Marys and glorious Jean

To the Western Isles, or at least to its embassy in Belgravia. Boisdale restaurant always claims to be extra-territorial. There was an awards ceremony, and the principal recipient was a remarkable old girl. Ninety-four years into an extraordinarily diverse life, Jean Trumpington is one of the funniest people I have ever met. She is also one of the bravest. She was born in easy circumstances, a child of the affluent upper middle classes, and the first disruption occurred when her mother lost a lot of money in the Great Crash. Her family did not exactly become poor, but she had her first lesson in adversity, and on the unwisdom of