Society

Thursday

Raymond Keene

Olympiad | 22 September 2016

The 42nd Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, ended in a narrow victory for the USA. Having tied with Ukraine, the American team qualified for the gold medals by virtue of a superior tie-break. The critical factor in the American success, their first gold medals in the Olympiad since 1976, was the acquisition for the team of two superstars, namely Fabiano Caruana, formerly of Italy, and Wesley So, who had represented the Philippines. So, in particular, distinguished himself by winning a second gold medal for best performance on board three.   The top five teams were: 1.USA 2.Ukraine 3.Russia 4.India 5.Norway (England finished a respectable ninth.)   In the parallel Women’s

Raymond Keene

No. 427

White to play. This position is from Heredia-Videnova; Women’s Olympiad, Baku 2016. Can you spot the White continuation that enabled her to emerge with a decisive material advantage? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 27 September 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 Qe6 Last week’s winner Stewart Reuben, Twickenham, SW London

Peter Jones

Pericles vs Juncker

The hopelessness of the EU is well demonstrated by the current rhetoric issuing from its inner chambers: that Britain must be punished for the ‘crime’ of leaving it. What sort of message does that send out to the world, let alone other EU members, about the value that the EU places on liberality and freedom? In his funeral speech in 430 BC over those killed in the war against Sparta, Pericles hymned not so much the dead as the city of Athens itself, describing ‘the way of life that enables us to pursue our objectives, and the political institutions and national character that made our great achievements possible’. One of the central themes

Dot Wordsworth

Niche

Jonathan Swift, in his satirical poem ‘An Epistle to a Lady’, says modestly: ‘If I can but fill my Nitch,/ I attempt no higher Pitch.’ This notion of a social alcove was identical 300 years later when a character in Bill the Conqueror by P.G. Wodehouse finds she has grown used to ‘his undynamic acceptance of his niche in the world’. But how would Wodehouse have pronounced the word? Certainly like Swift, to rhyme with itch. Yet today, when speaking of a niche market, we say it to rhyme with some French word like fiche. This is a case brought up by the brilliant John Simpson, not our man in the

Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 22 September 2016

Q. How can I tactfully request that well-meaning old friends stop toasting my (new) husband’s hospitality? It seems ungrateful but, during a week’s stay at our new house in France, these much loved friends did it at least once a day, to the point that the other members of the house-party became irritated. I admit they were slightly out of their depth socially and had obviously read some sort of misinformation that this behaviour was required. My husband tells me he likes them but that I shouldn’t ask them again unless they stop the toasting. I hesitate to tell them this as I know they are insecure enough to take

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 22 September 2016

Home Theresa May was ‘quite likely’ to invoke Article 50 in January or February 2017, Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said she had told him. A Brexit agreement limiting EU people’s right to work in Britain would be vetoed by Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister. At a UN summit, Mrs May said there should be a greater distinction between refugees and people trying to enter a country for economic reasons. Diane James was elected leader of the UK Independence Party. Two men who sold tooth whitener with 110 times the legal limit of hydrogen peroxide at the

Toby Young Toby Young

What’s right about Momentum Kids

Forgive me if I don’t get too worked up about Momentum Kids. For those who haven’t been following Labour’s internal politics too closely, Momentum is a Trotskyist faction within the party that was instrumental in getting Jeremy Corbyn elected last year and, barring an upset, re-elected this weekend. Momentum claims the main purpose of its new kiddie wing, will cater to three-year-olds and upwards, is to offer childcare facilities to women so they can get more involved in campaigning. But it also acknowledges that Momentum Kids will play an ‘educational’ role. ‘Let’s create a space for questioning, curious children where we can listen to them and give them a voice,’

The Spectator

Barometer | 22 September 2016

Underbooked David Cameron is said to be struggling to get a good price for his memoirs, with talk of a £5 million advance shrinking to just £1.5 million. How does that compare with the advances for previous political memoirs? Greenland’s former prime minister said he had no regrets about the country’s vote to leave the EU in 1982, though it took three years to negotiate an exit. What happened to the economy before the vote, during negotiations and after departure from the EU in 1985? Tony Blair, A Journey (2010) £4.6m Lady Thatcher, the Downing Street Years (1993) £3.5m Alistair Campbell, the Blair Years (2007) £800,000 John Major: the autobiography

Pabulum

2279: Where it’s at II

Four pairs of unclued lights suggest the constituent parts of a name (two words). Elsewhere, ignore three accents.   Across 1    Chapel always including prayer unknown (8) 9    Zoological region’s evolved arcane goat (10) 14    Fate of Abram’s companion (3) 16    Brother, say, and mother’s skull part (6) 17    Train carrying Academician into college (5) 18    Excuse by one after jumping bail (5) 22    Colour of sorcerer with unnatural tan (7) 24    Maybe Shaw engages street performer (7) 25    Peanuts absorbing a Japanese monkey (5) 26    Vessels containing wine Spain imported (5) 28    Veteran mixed with 26 (7) 33    Ray stocks Arabian plants (7) 38    Acaudate rodent over in Finland

Naomi Caine

Parents shoulder the burden of university costs for their children

If your child is about to head off to university they can expect to leave with a debt as well as a degree. The typical student in England graduates owing more than £44,000, according to the Sutton Trust – and that’s a lot of debt. But student debt isn’t like ordinary debt, because you don’t necessarily have to pay it back. Students don’t start to repay their loans until they earn at least £21,000 a year. They then pay back a fixed 9 per cent of the amount above the threshold. In other words, if your child leaves university and lands a job earning £22,000, they would pay £90. Anyone

Pabulum

to 2276: Iron Man

Clues with misprints were 16, 22, 24 and 34 Across and 2, 3, 6, 26, 31 and 36 Down. Corrections spelt WELLINGTON. Unclued lights were: Oceanian capitals (1A and 8A); Wellington’s battles (18A and 13D); beef dishes (7D and 19D) and types of boot (37A and 38A).   First prize Mrs L. Ashley, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex Runners-up Chris Butler, Borough Green, Kent; Andrew J. Watt, Edinburgh

Ed West Ed West

The immigration debate shouldn’t be sugar-coated

Do you like Skittles? Do you like them so much you’d eat one from a packet even if you knew a couple were poisoned? Makes u think, ey? This was the analogy Donald Trump Jr made this week about refugees and terrorism, a tweet which caused anger, not least from the company that makes Skittles, who responded: ‘Skittles are candy. Refugees are people. We don’t feel it’s an appropriate analogy.’ This image says it all. Let's end the politically correct agenda that doesn't put America first. #trump2016 pic.twitter.com/9fHwog7ssN — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 19, 2016 This particular meme seems to have originated among feminists, who were making the point

Steerpike Steerpike

Oxford’s Rhodes Must Fall co-founder in hot water again – ‘I should have whipped that white student’

Earlier this year, Oxford’s Rhodes Must Fall co-founder Ntokozo Qwabe made the news after he revelled in making a waitress shed ‘white tears‘ at a restaurant in Cape Town. The incident occurred after his friend wrote a note to the waitress explaining they would only tip her when she ‘returned the land’. Since then, the Oxford law student has completed his studies in Britain and returned to South Africa. However, time has not been a healer. Qwabe has hit the headlines in South Africa after he and his fellow activists disrupted a law lecture at the University of Cape Town. Qwabe hit a smartphone out of the hand of a ‘white student’ after

Helen Nugent

Brexit, insurance, debt and help to buy

Fears that Britain will slide into a post-referendum recession have been allayed after a Guardian newspaper analysis showed the latest news on the economy has confounded analysts’ gloomy expectations, with consumer spending strong, unemployment low and the housing market holding steady. The finding comes as a leading think tank toned down its earlier dire warnings of economic turmoil for the UK and its neighbours in the event of a leave vote. The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said prompt action by the Bank of England to cut interest rates had cushioned the blow from June’s Brexit vote but it still believes the UK will suffer a sharp slowdown next year

Julie Burchill Julie Burchill

Divorce is a far greater invention than either the wheel or the Pill

The late Mrs Merton, bless her, would never have seen fit to ask Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: ‘So, what first attracted you to each other?’ Perhaps the most beautiful film stars of their generation, they also possessed a devil-may-care air which combined with their charity work to make them seem both reckless and righteous – not an easy look to pull off. And then there was the Sex Angle. The bottom line about Classic Hollywood is that you knew the stars were having far better sex than you; what Lana and Gable and Ava got up to barely bore thinking about without benefit of a waterproof sheet. These days,

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

The stupidest target in British transport

Two books to recommend to my fellow transportation nerds: Travel Fast or Smart? A Manifesto for an Intelligent Transport Policy by David Metz, formerly chief boffin at the Department for Transport; and Are Trams Socialist? Why Britain Has No Transport Policy by Christian Wolmar. The first is excellent throughout, the second is excellent right up to the final pages when, as many British transport commentators are liable to do, Wolmar rhapsodises about European approaches to city planning with their ‘bicycle superhighways’ and, yes, those bloody trams. You know the kind of thing: ‘In the Norwegian port of Slartibartfast, all cars are banned from the city centre before midnight, and the

Bruce Anderson

Winemaking with convictions

Any Australian who admits to not having convict ancestors loses caste. When granted a coat of arms, the smart ones always include fetters. It is the Oz equivalent of claiming that your ancestors came over with William the Conqueror. But it was not always thus. In the Adelaide of the 1890s, there was a family called Strangways Wigley, who had paid for their tickets and never stopped swanking about it. But they had a blot on the escutcheon in the form of young Robert. He was determined to rectify the lack of criminal blood. In those days, a pieman — as opposed to a swagman — used to sell his

The Spectator

Turning the tide

From ‘The Battle of the Somme’, The Spectator, 23 September 1916: It may prove to be the fact that the battle of last week was, indeed, the most important fought by British troops in the whole war. For it is possible that just as our men advanced on to the forward slope of the ridge the German moral slipped backwards down the slope, there and then, with the final, if secret, conviction that it could never recover itself… Our losses, of course, have been heavy, but there is not a shadow of evidence that they have been disproportionate to the ends accomplished.  

Lucy Vickery

Right-on rhymes

In Competition No. 2966 you were invited to filter popular nursery rhymes through the prism of political correctness. Some years ago, CBeebies came under fire when it took all the fun out of ‘Humpty Dumpty’ by changing the words to give it a happy ending. And it wasn’t just Humpty;-Little Miss Muffet and the spider lived-nauseatingly happily ever after too. Now that this culture of avoidance has well and truly taken hold, with the explosion of safe spaces and trigger warnings, it felt like high time to invite you to recast other favourite rhymes into a format that will be acceptable to the offspring of Generation Snowflake. The first five