Society

Monday

Steerpike Steerpike

Downing Street cat fight: round II

Oh dear. After weeks of bubbling tensions, things have come to a head between Theresa May’s resident cat Larry and Palmerston, the Foreign Office’s chief mouser. The feuding duo — who have been engaged in a turf war for some weeks — got into such a scrap this morning that fur flew and the felines had to be physically separated. With the fight just one of many this month, Mr S hears a rumour that Battersea Dogs and Cats Home — who provided the animals — have now been called in to try and mend the cats’ relationship. If they fail, it may well be time for Cameron to put his money where his mouth

Charlotte Gill

Pokémon Go is a symbol of Generation Y’s worst trait

Pokémon Go makes me wonder about Generation Y, which will surely be remembered as one of the most childish collectives of all time. I am part of this contingent of people born in the 1980s and 1990s – the offspring of the baby boomers – characterised as a digitally-savvy cohort, among other things. We have been an incredibly lucky lot, thrust into a technological renaissance of sorts – where computing breakthroughs take place all the time. But in spite of this evolution, young people have slowed down. We have become self-indulgent, silly and reluctant to grow up. We are the Peter Pan Generation. At least, that’s what the mobile game Pokémon Go

James Lewisohn

In praise of the banger: Why it’s time for Brits to stop splashing out on new cars

Last week, visiting friends in Italy, I had an epiphany in two car journeys. The first ride was in a spiffy-looking new Fiat 500 I’d rented. I’d been excited about driving this pretty update of a classic Italian design. Yet the brand new cinquecento was wheezy even as I drove it off the airport, and arthritic on the autostrada, petulantly ignoring my demands on the accelerator even as I bullied it with gearbox and clutch. Challenged by the steep ascent to a hilltop trattoria, it sputtered to a halt and demanded the eviction of two of my passengers (my hosts; a faux pas). This was a voyage of shattered dreams.

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Cronyism isn’t great, but it’s better than corruption

If there was any remaining doubt that David Cameron’s resignation honours list was drawn up shamelessly to reward political flunkies it was removed this morning by Desmond Swayne, or Sir Desmond Swayne as we are now supposed to call him following the knighthood bestowed on him in the New Year’s honours. Sir Desmond said: ‘The reason we have a resignation honours list is because over a period of government, particularly difficult government in a coalition, a prime minister has to cajole and get the support of a number people and he builds up a debt of honour. ‘I think that frankly an honours list is a relatively light way of

Violet Hudson

Money digest: Britain braced for ‘Super Thursday’ interest rate cut

Britain’s financial status could be downgraded this week amid reports the Bank of England will cut interest rates on Thursday. The Guardian says that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will examine the latest growth forecasts and inflation report, and then make a decision on whether to cut interest. If they do, it will be the first time the rate has changed since it was set at 0.5 per cent in March 2009. Mark Carney, the governor, warned that a vote for Brexit could tip the UK into recession and the figures seem to back up this pessimism, according to the paper. In May, growth was forecast at 2.3 per cent, but economists now

Saturday

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

The Spectator Podcast: Summer of terror | 30 July 2016

After a week where both Germany and France suffered terror attacks, the question of the relationship between Islamic terrorism and Europe’s refugee crisis is once again rearing its head. In his Spectator cover piece, Douglas Murray argues that whilst the public knows that ‘Islamism comes from Islam’, Europe’s political classes are still refusing to tackle the problem at its core. So how can we bridge this gap between what politicians are saying and what the public are thinking? And does Europe have to come to terms with a new reality of domestic terrorism? On this week’s podcast, Douglas Murray speaks to Lara Prendergast. Joining them both to discuss Europe’s summer of

Lucy Vickery

Spectator competition winners: Donald Trump on making heaven great again

The invitation to submit a conversation between St Peter and a well-known figure who is demanding admission to heaven. Although the brief asked for a dialogue, Janice Harayda’s Donald Trump made the cut despite St Peter not getting a word in edgeways. Given that Trump doesn’t come across as the greatest listener — when asked who he consults on foreign policy he replied that his primary consultant was himself — this struck me as an altogether plausible scenario. It was a strong performance all round: your supplicants, who ranged from John Bunyan to Hitler, deployed wit, guile and barefaced cheek in trying to wiggle their way past the keeper of

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Revealed: doggy drama at No.11 Downing Street

It’s been a tumultuous month for Her Majesty’s Government — and that’s just regarding their pets. As well as an ongoing turf war between No 10’s cat Larry and the Foreign Office’s chief mouser Palmerston, there is now a third feline on the scene. The Treasury have today announced that they have fostered their own cat, by the name of Gladstone. However just in case that wasn’t enough animal mayhem for Westminster hacks to take, Mr S understands that a new top dog may be about to enter the frame. Philip Hammond is considering moving his pet Welsh Terrier Rex to No.11. However, Steerpike hears that the Chancellor of the Exchequer has been

Violet Hudson

The brakes are put back on Hinkley Point

The Times has investigated train fares and found that millions of passengers have been paying more for a whole journey than they would for its constituent parts. The findings come as rail company bosses set up meetings with the Department for Transport to seek approval for a new airline-style booking system. ‘Any measures to address the problem of complexity is good news,’ said Stephen Joseph of the Campaign for Better Transport. However Mark Smith, founder of seat61.com, has warned that fares will not necessarily decrease. ‘Simplification is not a panacea,’ he cautioned. More travel news and British Airways owner IAG has cut its profit forecast and targets, blaming Brexit and

Merryn Somerset-Webb

A warning from the small print on negative interest rates

Mostly I wouldn’t suggest that too many of us pay any attention at all to letters noting minor looking changes to the terms of conditions of corporate deposit accounts at Natwest and RBS (which owns Natwest). Not so this week. This week we all need to pay a lot of attention. The letter in question notes that ‘global interest rates remain at very low levels’ – something I think we all know. But goes on to say that ‘this could result in us charging interest on credit balances’ in the event that the UK base rate falls below zero. Yes, instead of paying its business customers interest on their money,

Thursday

Raymond Keene

Bilbao

Magnus Carlsen, the world champion, has added yet another tournament to his extensive list of victories. Although he must have been annoyed to incur a rare loss against Hikaru Nakamura in the first round, Carlsen then scythed through the field to emerge ahead by a substantial margin. Bilbao was one of those events where the organisers chose to award three points for a win, one for a draw and nothing for a loss. The final scores were: Carlsen 17, Nakamura 12, So and Wei Yi 11, Karjakin 9 and Giri 7. The fact that Sergey Karjakin, who has qualified to challenge Magnus Carlsen for his world title, and Anish Giri,

Raymond Keene

No. 419

White to play. This position is from So-Giri, Bilbao Masters 2016. How did White make the most of his active rook and knight? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 2 August 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 Nxe6 Last week’s winner J.A. Gammon, Brent Eleigh, Essex

The Spectator

Barometer | 28 July 2016

Capitalist faces A report by the Business and Pensions select committees described Philip Green as the ‘unacceptable face of capitalism’. That was a description first coined by Edward Heath as Prime Minister in 1973 and applied to Tiny Rowland. — Rowland at the time was engaged in a boardroom battle with fellow directors of Lonrho, the mining conglomerate of which Rowland was managing director. They accused Rowland of making decisions without consulting them. Rowland, for his part, dismissed non-executive directors as ‘Christmas tree decorations’. — Rowland had also offended Heath’s government by breaching sanctions against Rhodesia, then under unofficial independence declared by Ian Smith. Olympic boycotts Russia narrowly avoided being

Taki

High life | 28 July 2016

Rosa Monckton is married to my old editor Dominic Lawson and they have two girls. Rosa was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales and one who never spilled any beans about her. I once had a good laugh with Rosa over the stuff written about Diana and her Egyptian so-called boyfriend who died with her in Paris. Rosa knew the truth and I think I did too, but let’s leave it at that. Those who will go to any lengths for self-promotion will always be with us. Diana was a gift from God for them, and everyone knows how the jackals feasted on the ‘last romance’ for their

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 28 July 2016

We returned to the house early the next morning, on the way pleading special permission to pass through the police roadblocks. A strip of blackened hillside about one kilometre away showed the extent of the blaze before it was extinguished. The online local newspaper said that 500 firemen had tackled a blaze that had destroyed 400 hectares of forest — roughly speaking the two round Provençal hills between the house and the nearest village. It seemed a small result for so much smoke. And I wondered why the French state should have gone to so much trouble and expense to protect perhaps a dozen properties, including our breezeblock shack. (A

Melissa Kite

Real life | 28 July 2016

The colourful banners at the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais spell out the words Treat Shop Relax Refresh Eat. But it would be more truthful if they said Queue Panic Scream Scavenge Fight to the Death. For reasons best known to the French authorities, there is only one restaurant inside the Eurotunnel building at Calais and that is a small Burger King. Now, consider that you have hundreds of hungry travellers arriving in this place, and all of them have either grown used to excellent French food during a holiday, or they are habitually accustomed to it as standard because they are French. Now add to that the fact that, due

Alexander Chancellor

Long life | 28 July 2016

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that Sir Philip Green’s knighthood is under investigation because of his part in the destruction of BHS, which is costing 11,000 people their jobs and threatening to reduce the pensions of 20,000 others. The Honours Forfeiture Committee, which decides whether people should be deprived of any honours or titles bestowed by the Queen, is keeping Sir Philip’s case under review. Honours are usually removed from people who have been jailed for at least three months for a criminal offence or been struck off an official or professional body, the Cabinet Office explains. But it adds: ‘The committee is not restricted to these criteria, and any

Susanna Gross

Bridge | 28 July 2016

The rise of Donald Trump in the US presidential race has had at least one very peculiar consequence: millions of American bridge players are suddenly bidding no-trump contracts with great gusto. A recent New Yorker cartoon encapsulated it perfectly, depicting four players at a table with the caption: ‘One no-trump. Oh, please, God, no Trump.’ And it hasn’t stopped there: at tournaments up and down the country, vendors are doing a roaring trade in jaunty hats declaring ‘No Trump’. Meanwhile, a team of social scientists has caused a stir by publishing a study showing that no-trump contracts are being bid with greater frequency than ever. Admittedly, that study has turned

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 28 July 2016

Home The collapse of BHS after Sir Philip Green had extracted large sums and left the business on ‘life support’, with a £571 million pension deficit, was ‘the unacceptable face of capitalism,’ said a report by the Business and the Work and Pensions select committees of the House of Commons. The British economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the quarter ending in June. A man was shot dead at a commercial pool party in Headley, Surrey, organised by Summerlyn Farquharson, known as the Female Boss Krissy, and the Jamaican reggae artist Jason White, known as Braintear Spookie. HMS Ambush, a Royal Navy Astute-class nuclear-powered submarine, was in a ‘glancing collision’ with

Toby Young Toby Young

Paddy Ashdown’s magical thinking

The dog days of July probably aren’t the best time to launch a new political movement, but then the people who campaigned for Remain in the EU referendum aren’t known for their media savvy. Consequently, Paddy Ashdown made a surprise appearance on Marr last Sunday to announce the creation of More United, a ‘tech-driven political start-up’ that takes its name from a phrase the late Jo Cox MP used in her maiden speech: ‘We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.’ More United’s website doesn’t explicitly say that the organisation’s raison d’être is to overturn the result of the