Society

Saturday

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Slaves to the network

It is a common lament that the British are bad at languages. At first glance, this is inarguably true. Few educated Brits can chat unselfconsciously in French. Yet ordinary Swedes or Dutchmen can tell jokes and explain complicated ideas in perfectly idiomatic English. It’s our fault, isn’t it? Well, not quite. Let’s leave the matter of individual competence behind and zoom outwards to look at the wider ‘network effects’ of learning a foreign language. Let’s assume you are Dutch. It is immediately obvious which foreign language to learn first — English. But for a native English speaker there’s a quandary. Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese or Malay could all make a

Taki

High life

It is very still as I sit down to write, the atmosphere heavy and oppressive. They say time flies, but less so if one looks backwards. One thousand years before Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, Emperor Justinian was embarrassed to discover that his Greek subjects were not paying their taxes. Cheating officialdom has become a trademark of modern Greece, and is often attributed by philhellenes to the 400-year Turkish occupation, and subsequent Greek resistance. Not necessarily, says famed historian Taki. Byzantium’s government officials closely resemble Greek government agents of the present day. Two thirds of the revenues extorted from the taxpayers during Byzantium’s heyday never reached the Treasury.

Paul Wood

‘If no one helps us, we will turn to the devil’

Homs province Between the distant pop of the mortar when it’s fired, the pressure wave, and the roar of the blast five or six seconds later when it lands, the rebel fighters recited the Shahadah, the Muslim declaration of faith. ‘There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger.’ ‘We do this in case one hits us,’ the group’s leader tells me, smiling. ‘So we go straight to paradise. No delays.’ The rebels and I were hiding out in the apricot orchards along Syria’s border with Lebanon. Every night, the Syrian army sent a few dozen mortars crashing down. And although the rebels had no heavy weapons of

Michael Henderson

Whispering death

It is midsummer, and England are playing the West Indies at cricket. The teams have completed a three-Test series, which England won 2-0, and they are now playing five matches of 50 overs a side, a form of the game that suits the big-hitting Caribbean batsmen. You would have thought that West Indian supporters would be flocking to the ground, yet they are staying away in their thousands. At Lord’s, Trent Bridge and Edgbaston, which staged the Test matches, the West Indian supporters could have arrived on a decent-sized bus. Returning to Lord’s last week, for a one-day game against Middlesex, played in excellent weather, you could count the black

Christopher Booker

Butterfly effects

Under such headlines as ‘British butterfly defies doom prediction to thrive in changing climate’, the usual suspects (e.g. the Guardian and the Independent) recently publicised a study claiming that, thanks to global warming, ‘a once-rare British butterfly’, the Brown Argus, ‘is becoming a common sight in the English countryside’. A paper from York University, it was reported, showed that these butterflies have moved so far north that they can now be seen ‘within a few miles’ of York. Not for the first time on reading similar claims, I wondered how it is that their authors seem to know so little about butterflies, My battered copy of the best book on

Paul Mason

From bailout to bailout

After covering the Spanish bailout, I fly from Madrid to Athens. In the taxi rank at Athens airport, iPhone wedged between ear and shoulder, I realise I have crossed both borders without showing my passport. Welcome to Schengenland — how long will it last? Reuters has just published a leak of EU contingency plans for a Greek exit: they involve suspending free movement under the Schengen Agreement, as well as imposing limits on ATM ­withdrawals and controls on cross-border movement of cash. Somebody texts me: ‘This is irresponsible — it could start a panic in Greece.’ But the Greeks are not flustered. Most of the hot money is long gone

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

An encounter with the God of niceness and biscuits

I write this freshly back from a reactionary weekend in the Scottish Borders, where I was made a godfather in a christening and did not have to renounce Satan. Which was a relief. It’s not that I have any objection to renouncing Satan per se. It’s not like we’re on speaking terms. It’s just that whenever I’ve heard new godparents do just that, in church, I wonder at the point. Surely Satan would be okay with you just lying about it. Isn’t that rather the point of Satan? ‘I can’t believe you fibbed in a church!’ the Prince of Lies would not say. You know? It just doesn’t seem like

Friday

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Introducing Spectator Life

Your Spectator will be a bit heavier this week. Free with every issue is a free copy of Spectator Life, our new quarterly magazine, full to overflowing with the kind of features you might not find in the main Spectator. Peter Hoskin, late of this parish, writes the cover story: an interview with the film star (and Shakespearean actress) Rebecca Hall. Ed Smith, a former England cricketer, profiles Roger Federer, and the photographer Mario Testino tells us what he owes to Peru. We explain why Cartier dropped its sponsorship of International Polo because the event was being taken over by a clientele more interested in the after-hours party. We ask

David Blackburn

A Jubilee moment of historic significance

Martin McGuiness will meet Her Majesty the Queen and shake her hand in Northern Ireland. This is a seminal moment. It does not change McGuiness’s commitment to a united Ireland, but it is a strong statement from the Republican side that bygones are bygones. It is also a sign, perhaps, that the sacrifices Britain made over the Bloody Sunday Inquiry where worthwhile, because McGuiness is making a brave sacrifice by doing this: there will be those who condemn him for it. It is also significant that the Palace has achieved this. The conflict in Northern Ireland and the dark historical relations between Britain and Ireland are causes close to the

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

In praise of Real Life

“I have some thanks and apologies for my parents,” said Melissa Kite at her book launch last night. “Apologies?” said her dad, from the corner. “Yes, I’m afraid so. For years, you have been telling people that your daughter is a successful journalist in London. Now, the world knows that I’m a complete car crash.” The book in question was Real Life, drawn from Melissa’s column for The Spectator over the years, charting her various disasters and occasional triumphs. As her loyal army of readers will attest, it’s utterly compelling, a column carried by the quality of her writing. It’s a journal of modern Britain: struggles with the council in

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The problem with government

David Frum offers a useful caution politicians might heed. Amidst the stupidity and vanity of politics it’s occasionally worth remembering that government is an impossible business. It is much like George Kennan’s description of the hazards faced by even weekend farmers: Here a bridge is collapsing. No sooner do you start to repair it than a neighbour comes to complain about a hedge row which you haven’t kept up half a mile away on the other side of the farm. At that very moment your daughter arrives to tell you that someone left the gate to the hog pasture open and the hogs are out. On the way to the

Martin Bright

Who funds think tanks?

I was very interested to see the launch of the Who Funds You? website today. This is an intriguing new initiative to examine the transparency of think tanks. The tendency over recent years to outsource political policy to these micro-institutions makes it ever more important for the public to know the sources of their funding.   In keeping with the spirit of the exercise, the website’s founders are entirely transparent about the sources of its funding (it has none). And in the same spirit, I should disclose that one of the people involved is a friend of mine, Paul Evans, the founder of Political Innovation and editor of Local Democracy

Jonathan Jones

More pupils, fewer schools

On Tuesday next week, The Spectator will hold its third annual Schools Revolution conference. On the agenda will be the striking failure of new ‘free schools’ to keep pace with the rising pupil demand. Michael Gove, the education secretary, will be our keynote speaker. To book tickets, click here. A couple of month’s ago, Fraser warned that the recent baby boom would lead to a schools crisis, with demand for places outstripping supply. Today’s new figures from the Department for Education show that the crisis has already begun. This year, there are more primary school pupils than there were 30 years ago, but 3,800 fewer primary schools. Since last year,

Mark Lehain

Obstruction overruled

The Spectator’s Schools Revolution conference is being held on Tuesday next week. One of the speakers, Mark Lehain, writes below about his experience setting up a free school. Other speakers include Michael Gove, Michelle Rhee and Barbara Bergstrom, all of whom will take questions from the floor. There are still tickets available: to book, click here. When I’m asked why I’m setting up a free school, or why I think they’re necessary, I tell a story about a Trades Union Congress meeting on the subject that I went to in December 2010, a few months into our campaign to open a new school in Bedford. I knew the teachers’ unions

Wednesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Greece has a government, of sorts

Greece has a new Prime Minister. But no one could call the coalition that he is set to unveil this evening stable. For the other two parties, Pasok and the Democratic Left, are both stressing that none of their members will become cabinet ministers, leaving New Democracy and various worthies to carry the can for the austerity measures. Pasok is also saying that it has entered coalition to take on ‘the burden of responsibility to renegotiate the bailout agreement’. This suggests that if Prime Minister Samaras is incapable of extracting many concessions from the Troika then the coalition will be in deep political trouble. Syriza , meanwhile, sit and wait,

Jonathan Jones

Who’ll partner Mitt?

Will Mitt Romney choose an ‘incredibly boring white guy’ to be his vice presidential nominee? The main alternative has long been Hispanic Florida Senator Marco Rubio, but ABC’s Jonathan Karl reported yesterday that Rubio is not being vetted by Romney’s VP search team, suggesting that he is not on the shortlist. Karl wrote: ‘Knowledgeable Republican sources tell me that Rubio is not being vetted by Mitt Romney’s vice presidential search team. He has not been asked to complete any questionnaires or been asked to turn over any financial documents typically required of potential vice presidential candidates.’ If true, that certainly makes it sound like Romney is not seriously considering picking

Jonathan Jones

A step in the right direction

Another snippet of good news after yesterday’s inflation stats. Unemployment has fallen, and now stands at 2.61 million. It’s not a big fall, to be sure — down just 51,000 on the previous quarter (within the survey’s margin of error) — and there are still 185,000 more unemployed people than this time last year. But it is, as Chris Grayling told Sky News this morning, ‘a step in the right direction’. The fall is thanks to pretty strong growth in the private sector, where 205,000 jobs were added between December and March. In fact, private sector employment is now just 133,000 off its pre-recession peak. Jobs are being shed in

Markus Uvell

Swedish for-profit schools — what’s the story?

Ahead of The Spectator’s schools revolution symposium next Tuesday (click here for details and tickets) we are running a series of articles about school reform. The below is a Swedish take on Swedish reform. Is the Swedish model of profit-making schools going wrong? Michael Gove’s critics have started to say so, and British teachers unions warn that it has been shown to lead to all manner of ills — social segregation, deteriorating school results and simply bad schools — and that it would be a calamity for Britain to copy a failing model. We Swedes listen to the British debate with fascination. The issue of profit-seeking schools was truly divisive

James Forsyth James Forsyth

PMQs without the PM

PMQs today wasn’t the usual bun fight. With Cameron and Clegg away, it was missing its usual bite. Instead, Harman and Hague started off with some very statesman-like comments on Burma. Even when discussion moved to the NHS, things didn’t really heat up. Hague had some good jokes at Ed Balls’s expense but Balls wasn’t there to heckle back.  The laid-back atmosphere got to a couple of the questioners. Simon Hughes, the Lib Dem deputy leader, called Hague the ‘Deputy Prime Minister’ before catching himself. Luciana Berger went one better, addressing Hague as Prime Minister. One possible moment of tension came when Peter Bone called on Hague to ‘divorce the