Society

Tuesday

Douglas Murray

Here’s more evidence that the left might be screwed

Friends of mine who still call themselves ‘liberals’ or ‘leftists’ occasionally confide in me that they think the left might be screwed.  Depending on how I feel on that particular day I tend to reply either that (a) they must stay and fight their political corner and make the left decent again or (b) one day they will realise that this is because the left is wrong. Anyhow – evidence for the (b) answer seems to grow by the day. The Labour leadership race aside, consider the Guardian newspaper, which is a pretty good weathervane for what has gone wrong with the left.  In the last fortnight the paper has

The Spectator

Come work for us: The Spectator is looking for an assistant production editor

The Spectator is looking for an assistant production editor, to help us produce our magazine and supplements. The job will be three days a week, ideally Tuesday to Thursday, and initially on a six-month contract. What kind of person are we looking for? You are a careful, rapid and sensitive text sub capable of hitting tight deadlines with grace, and comfortable creating elegant layouts from template in Indesign. Your proofreading is reliable and judicious. Your headlines are both witty and to the point; you also know to rethink them so that they fly on the web and via social media. You can keep complex publishing projects running smoothly to timetable,

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

No, Ted Heath’s ‘deeply closeted’ sexuality doesn’t mean he was a paedophile

It is of course too soon to make any meaningful response to the Ted Heath allegations. However, in reporting the ‘mystery’ surrounding the former Prime Minister’s sexuality, the media and the social media are insinuating something sinister: that Ted Heath’s unwillingnness to out himself as a homosexual is somehow in itself suspicious. Journalists are putting about all the old stories about Heath’s ‘deeply closeted’ homosexuality alongside the latest child abuse allegations, and Twitter does the rest: https://twitter.com/MylesPaynter/status/628310485226668033 https://twitter.com/55fenderstrat/status/604162519096266753 Book asks question: Was Ted Heath gay? http://t.co/IoCPwi0dcH As closet door is opened will it reveal paedophile past? #CSA — lee nichols 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇷🇺 🇮🇹 (@leenichols3) May 25, 2015 It is increasingly common to link gay

Steerpike Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Je suis Cecil

Last week there was worldwide outrage as news broke that an American dentist had killed a famous lion in Zimbabwe. Rather than a routine procedure gone wrong, the medical worker had actually paid roughly £35,000 to hunt the animal, seemingly unaware of the lion’s popularity. Now, someone has taken the fight for justice for Cecil to Trafalgar Square. One of the bronze lion sculptures in the square has been adorned with the slogan ‘Je suis Cecil’, which takes inspiration from the phrase ‘Je suis Charlie’, that was used to show solidarity with the victims of the Charlie Hebdo killings in January: Overseen in Trafalgar Square…. pic.twitter.com/LeBeXSY6vD — Pádraig Belton (@PadraigBelton) August 3, 2015 While some may argue

James Morris

The Conservatives can become the party of mental health — here’s how

For too long, Westminster has overlooked mental health. It has been languishing in funding obscurity for decades as a forgotten arm of the NHS. But thankfully, there was a shift in priorities during the last Parliament as all political parties woke up to the importance of providing good mental health care. The issue rose so far up the policy agenda that the merits of different types of long-term psychotherapy became the subject of repeated and impassioned debate in the Cabinet Office. All parties have realised that mental ill-health is a problem that affects everyone. Currently one in four people struggle with mental health issues every year and the number is

Monday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Assisted dying will make old age seem unbearable

Gill Pharaoh was a geriatric care nurse who had spent years caring for the elderly. When she herself began to grow old, she decided that she didn’t want to go through what her patients had suffered, travelled to Switzerland, and passed away at an assisted dying clinic. She was not terminally ill. She didn’t want to be elderly and infirm. Given Pharaoh worked with those who are old, she clearly knew what the lot of the elderly in this country is. And she didn’t like it. She wrote before her death on 21 July that she didn’t want to go further ‘downhill’ and that life ‘is not going to start to get

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

British teachers could learn a thing or two from the Chinese

‘Rude, bone idle… and cosseted by the welfare state! Chinese teachers’ damning verdict on British children after spending a month in UK classrooms. Yes – just about right, I reckon. Except, of course, the English head teacher at the school thinks the Chinese are completely wrong and that their teaching methods are boring. And that we need to show the kids respect, m’kay? My suspicion is that we show the kids too much respect and that teachers are not there to be clownish entertainer, to pander.

Kate Maltby Kate Maltby

In defence of doping

Apparently, I’m supposed to be shocked by doping. This weekend, the Sunday Times published files from the International Association of Athletics Federations, suggesting that hundreds of athletes had been awarded medals at top events, despite receiving suspicious blood test results. It seems that if you’re groomed from childhood in an ultra-competitive, winner-takes-all fight for glory, you’ll stop at nothing to get an edge over your fellows. I, for one, am gobsmacked. Who are we kidding when we try to crack down? Athletes, of course, push their bodies to the limit all the time. Blood doping, specifically, is banned because unlike elite gymnastics, muscle-sports or NFL training (which merely bestow distorted

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Ministers stick to the Summer Crisis rulebook on Calais

One of the most important rules for politicians dealing with a Summer Crisis is that you must be seen to be Doing Things to deal with that crisis, even if those Things aren’t really very much to do with the cause of the crisis and won’t really make much difference to it overall. Take the latest announcement, which in keeping with those rules of dealing with a Summer Crisis is in fact a re-announcement but made in a sterner voice. Landlords who do not check their tenants’ immigration status will now face a five-year jail sentence, while the immigrants themselves can be evicted without a court order. These new plans,

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

A Joe Biden run for the presidency is actually the best thing Hillary Clinton could hope for

Let’s not be too cynical. It is a touching thought that Beau Biden’s dying wish was that his father Joe, the Vice President, should have another tilt at the White House. We learn this nugget of intimate information thanks to the New York Times. The story is suspiciously well-timed to propel a Joe Biden run, coming as it does at precisely the moment when his rival Hillary Clinton looks weakest. Don’t be a cynic, I tell you. Stop it! But if you think Hillary will be rattled by the possibility of an emotionally charged challenge from Joe Biden, think again. She should be licking her lips. He may be more trusted than her, according

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: Born under fire

From ‘News of the Week‘, The Spectator, 7 August 1915: A YEAR has elapsed since the first war issue of The Spectator. We have tried elsewhere to say something in answer to the question. “How do we stand?” Here we only reply very shortly. If we cannot say all is well, we can at any rate say that no man whose mind is not blinded by panic or prejudice can fail to admit that the position is on the whole satisfactory. It is true that we are still in peril, and that, unless we strain every nerve to carry the war to a successful issue, that peril may at any

Sunday

Ella Whelan

The internet is eroding the presumption of innocence

Last week, New York magazine ran a front-cover photo of 35 of the 46 women who have accused actor Bill Cosby of sexual assault. The feature inside includes individual interviews with each woman, but argues that ‘the horror is multiplied by the sheer volume of seeing them together, reading them together, considering their shared experience’. The collation of these women’s accusations follows intense public interest in Cosby’s alleged misconduct, triggered last year when the comedian Hannibal Buress declared ‘you raped women, Bill Cosby’ during a routine. The New York feature is not an attempt to bring Cosby to justice, or even to challenge the statute of limitations that impedes any potential legal

Saturday

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: That touch of mink

From ‘Sim-sam the Mink‘, The Spectator, 31 July 1915: Sim-sam’s bath was the spectacle that revealed him at his very best. Watching him glide and twist and loop the loop under water with the utter ease of a fish made you see the reason for the webbed toes, the powerful short, double-jointed legs that bent in any direction indifferently, and for the slim, lithe body with its rippling muscles. Sim-sam, you perceived, was built expressly for quick movement under water—movement far different from the clumsy-looking bopping gallop that was his best gait on land. A bath was his supreme enjoyment. It filled him with the highest spirits. After he had

Friday

Steerpike Steerpike

Andy Burnham (finally) wins an endorsement

Although Andy Burnham started out as the frontrunner in the Labour leadership race, according to the latest polls he is now struggling to even remain in second place behind Jeremy Corbyn. What’s more, the unions Burnham hoped would endorse him have in large opted for Corbyn, with Unison this week also choosing to back Jeremy over Andy. However there is still a ray of hope for Burnham. He is at least now beginning to compete with Corbyn when it comes to celebrity fans. David Walliams has come out in support of the leadership hopeful, with the Little Britain star claiming he has known for years that Burnham ought to be Labour leader: I first

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: Debating compulsory service

From ‘News of the Week‘, The Spectator, 31 July 1915: The debate on compulsory service in the Commons on Wednesday night was remarkable for the speeches in its support made by Liberal Members. Captain Guest, who raised the question, declared that if we were to win in the present war, and to win quickly, compulsory service was the only way. Mr. Wedgwood, like Captain Guest fresh from active service in the field, vigorously supported the demand, and claimed to represent the views of all the fighting spirit of the Labour movement. What the country wanted more than money, shells, or men was a leader who could lead without fearing the

Thursday

Raymond Keene

Stormy Petroff

Alexander Petroff (1794-1867) is often remembered as the first great Russian chess master. He became the strongest player in Russia at the age of 15 and produced the first chess book in Russian. His main legacy, however, is the Petroff Defence (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6), an opening which has been seen consistently at the highest level ever since he invented it. A new book, The Petroff Move by Move (Everyman Chess) by Cyrus Lakdawala, explores this opening in great detail. Due to the potentially symmetrical nature of the positions that can arise, the Petroff has an undeserved reputation as an unadventurous opening. The following dramatic encounter shows that

Raymond Keene

No. 372

White to play. This position is from Howell-Sokolov, Staunton Memorial 2009. How can White finish off his attack with a fine flourish? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 4 August or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week there is a prize of £20. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1 … Rxh3+ Last week’s winner Alan Andrews, Liverpool

The Spectator

Letters | 30 July 2015

What we’re building Sir: I was surprised and frustrated to read Ross Clark’s piece on housing associations in last week’s edition of your magazine (‘Stop moaning, start building’, 25 July). Surprised because it seemed to misrepresent the facts concerning housing associations, and frustrated because the analysis offered by Mr Clark ignores the key role that housing associations play in ending the housing crisis. Housing associations — which vary hugely in geography, size and function — have consistently supplied tens of thousands of new homes year after year. For example, last year they built 40,000 homes — a third of all new homes — and they matched every £1 of public

Taki

High life | 30 July 2015

We all agree that a world without manners would make this a pretty grim place to live. Offensive informality is pretty much accepted nowadays, and manners are at times seen as a superficial activity. But good manners are as much a part of our culture as great books, great paintings and great classical music. At times, of course, one can carry good manners too far. My friend Timmy, a gent and a gem of a man, has exquisite manners, a couple of titled daughters, and likes to drink beer. He never fails to thank his host or hostess, and makes it a habit to thank them in print. Not so

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 30 July 2015

After Trev had mugged the mugger in the toilet we moved quickly on to another club. The Double O is frankly a horrible place, but it stays open later than any of the others, and is only a bracing ten-minute walk along the seafront. As was usual on the walk between Mandy’s and the Double O, salt air plus who knows how many house doubles equalled intoxication squared. Halfway there I took off my cashmere and silk charity-shop pullover and gave it to Trev to put on to hide the bloodstains on his shirt. It was several sizes too small for him and he needed my help getting into it.