Society

Thursday

Dean Godson

The post-Brexit crisis in Northern Ireland is finally over

Rishi Sunak, with almost daily input from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the Democratic Unionist Party leader, has just delivered a deal on the Windsor Framework that is notably pro-Unionist. He has managed to do so in the face of EU intransigence, an unhelpful White House, the ‘resistible rise’ of Sinn Fein in the Republic of Ireland, hard-line Loyalist rejectionism, and purist Brexiteer scepticism.  All this is the antithesis of the Anglo-Irish Agreement of November 1985 – the 40th anniversary of which falls next year – both in the substance of what has been negotiated and also how it was negotiated. To restore the devolved institutions on these terms represents a memorable achievement, considering the demographic

The Spectator

Letters: is the Scottish ‘McMafia’ model still better than Westminster?

Scot free Sir: In last week’s piece on the SNP, Fraser Nelson was critical of the Covid scenario in which ‘civil servants were enlisted in the SNP secret state’ (‘The Covid clan’, 27 January). Fraser makes comparisons with Whitehall but fails to ask the obvious question: is the Scottish model preferable, where the civil service and state media join a ‘mafia’ run by elected politicians? Or is Westminster governance since 2010 better, where the elected government pontificates and the civil service, quangocracy and state media continue to do what they like? Now Nicola Sturgeon has time on her hands, perhaps she can hire herself out as a consultant to Rishi Sunak

Anthony Seldon

Why are politicians so ignorant about history?

The news over the weekend that Russell Group universities are letting in students from overseas on lower grades than home students has provoked understandable fury. Having been the proud vice-chancellor for five years of the university Margaret Thatcher helped found, Buckingham, I wince at the story. The fact that undercover journalists for the Sunday Times winkled out the widespread practice made it sound even murkier than it is. The response of the Russell Group that the lower offers applied to ‘foundation’, not undergraduate degrees, and that numbers of domestic students are rising more quickly than overseas students, has been lost in the noise. Universities need to get their act together

The Spectator

Which ministers have complained publicly about their own poverty?

On their uppers The former science minister George Freeman claimed that he resigned from the government last year because he couldn’t afford his mortgage repayments – which had risen from £800 to £2,000 a month – on his ministerial salary of £118,000. – There is a precedent for a minister complaining publicly about his own poverty. In September 1985 the arts minister Grey Gowrie (who was a member of the cabinet under the auspices of Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster) resigned from the job complaining that his £33,000 salary was ‘not what people need for living in central London’. He was subsequently appointed chairman of Sotheby’s on a salary reputed

Anna Somers Cocks

Don’t believe Emirati promises of editorial freedom

Should the Emirati government be allowed to buy The Spectator and the Daily Telegraph? The government is considering this important question and has hinted that it may allow the sale if promises are made about editorial independence. Fine words, but what would this mean in practice? Assurances of editorial freedom mean nothing when they come from an autocracy like the United Arab Emirates. You simply cannot cross the Emirati royals: they call all the shots, down to the smallest detail. It’s the way it works. I should know. My story starts in 2007 when France and the UAE agreed to create the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a great universal museum on

Peter Jones

How Cleon became a cautionary tale

Last week in a piece on populism, Pericles’ and Cleon’s methods of persuading the Athenian assembly to do their bidding were analysed: Pericles calm and persuasive, Cleon taking to court or viciously slandering his elite rivals for power. But Cleon did also have his moment of glory, in circumstances quite extraordinary even by the standards of Athenian democracy. It was described by the historian Thucydides, a contemporary but in exile for an earlier military failure. In 425 bc, in the lengthy war between Athens and Sparta, the Athenians – who ruled the sea – had trapped 400 Spartans on the island of Sphacteria. They wanted to take them hostage, but

Harry Mount

The grim life of a Roman legionary

Over the heather the wet wind blows, I’ve lice in my tunic and a cold in my nose. The rain comes pattering out of the sky, I’m a Wall soldier, I don’t know why. The mist creeps over the hard grey stone, My girl’s in Tungria; I sleep alone. W.H. Auden was right. Life for a Roman legionary on Hadrian’s Wall was bloody miserable. The Vindolanda letters sent to and from legionaries living near the wall – on show in a new British Museum exhibition – chime with Auden’s lines in ‘Roman Wall Blues’. The Romans hated the English weather. In one letter found at Vindolanda fort, near Hexham, Northumberland,

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Ignore the reactionaries who oppose assisted dying

‘If I’d known where it would take me I might never have started.’ This need not be an expression of regret. There are journeys where the final destination is best hidden from the traveller, due to the psychological difficulty he may have in embracing the future until we’re nearly there. This column will move on to assisted dying, but I start with a look back at the fight for equal rights for same-sex couples. I played a minor part in this. We played down the idea of noisily assertive gay pride, knowing it would hinder our campaign Ever since the 1950s, brave souls – at first just a few –

Susan Hill Susan Hill

Could prayer cure a sore throat? 

This Saturday, go to London’s oldest Catholic church, St Etheldreda’s in Ely Place, Holborn, and you will find a gathering of singers, along with actors, announcers and other public speakers, who have come to have their throats blessed. Two crossed candles are held up by the priest and either these or a piece of wick soaked in holy oil are touched to each kneeling suppliant, as a special prayer is said. ‘Oh God deliver us, by the intercession of thy holy Bishop and martyr, Blaise, from all evils of soul and body, especially from all ills of the throat.’ As with most saints in the early history of the church,

Toby Young Toby Young

I nearly died on my gap year

By the time you read this, my son Ludo will be in South America, where he’s gone for what remains of his gap year. He deferred his university place and has been working in a pub since he left school, trying to earn enough money to go travelling. I made the mistake of telling him I’d match whatever he managed to save, imagining he’d struggle to put aside more than £500. Turns out, the little bugger saved more than £5,000! Still, he’s going to need £10,000 to pay his expenses. He’s spending the first four months in Brazil and doesn’t speak a word of Portuguese, so will struggle to get

Lawrence Osborne

The handmade suit I’ll never wear

Someone somewhere must surely have calculated that Bangkok has more doctors and tailors per capita than anywhere on Earth. These two industries, healthcare and clothing, must account for a prodigious share of tourist revenues, and they both operate on similar principles: make the customer feel pleasant even as the results disappoint. It’s a formidable business model, not least because it persuades thousands of customers that they have scored a bargain and therefore cannot be as disappointed as they actually feel. Deeply gaslit, the customer fervently believes in what he has purchased – even if his new suit would not look amiss on a Jacques Cousteau research boat or his ‘world-class’

Melissa Kite

When did the world become so overwhelming? 

When the clouds come down and the mountains disappear I feel myself disappearing too. As long as I can see the beautiful scenery I never regret coming here, but on days when a white-out envelops us it’s no consolation that the horizon is still out there somewhere. I feel trapped and lonely and lost and disorientated. The frightening things of the world are overwhelming. ‘I need to get out. I can’t sit here all day,’ I told the builder boyfriend who came through the French windows beaming with the satisfaction derived from cutting out old stock fencing to make way for the all-weather gallop he’s promised me. Just like in

Robin Oakley

How to become a successful racehorse trainer

Cheltenham’s end of January meeting is supposed to be an amuse-gueule to give us a few form lines for the four-day Festival in March. Instead, this one gave us everything including emotional victories for an 18-year-old jockey and a 92-year-old owner, a demonstration round by a new female hurdling superstar and defeat by inches for the most popular horse in training. It also underlined the many qualities needed to be a successful racehorse trainer. To keep a 12-year-old like Paisley Park relishing his racing the way he clearly still does takes a special talent First things first. The Clarence House Chase, run at Cheltenham after being frosted off at Ascot

Angus Colwell

Your country needs you, Gen Z

Gen Z doesn’t look like it wants to fight for Britain, but last week, General Sir Patrick Sanders, the Chief of the General Staff, said we might have to. He suggested that people my age should be prepared to join a ‘civilian army’ in case we go to war with Russia. But could we handle being cut off from our phones and friends? Do we have the fellow-feeling necessary to defend our country? What if we won’t submit to authority? There are any number of reasons why my generation might reasonably not want to enlist. Accommodation will be uncomfortable and the food will be grim, according to army discussion forums.

Andrew Sullivan

The Trump farce is America’s tragedy

We’ve just found out the core message of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. It is the same as his original election message: I’m not Donald Trump, who, if re-elected, will be Hitler 2.0. This is a message destined to inspire the Democrats’ base and MSNBC viewers but suffers from one obvious constraint. The truth is that we already had four years of Trump, and he wasn’t Hitler 1.0. He was, rather, a Mel Brooks version of Hitler, performative, reactionary and, ultimately, lazy and toothless. All the grim authoritarian threats – his pledge to deport 11 million immigrants, to prosecute Hillary Clinton, to reinstate torture, to abscond with Iraq’s oil – fizzled

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

Why are bosses so suspicious of remote working? 

The swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with 28 medals, 23 of them gold. He is a former world record holder in the 200m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 400m individual medley. But let’s just analyse his world-record time for the 200m freestyle – an amazing one minute and 42.96 seconds. Amazing, that is, until you do the maths. Over 200 metres I make that 6.99km/h or 4.34mph. Here’s my problem. I am a fat 58-year-old man, and I can run faster than that. In wellies. In Alabama there are 300lb, heavily tattooed chain-smokers who can pull a Mack Truck for

Luke McShane

Tata for now

Wei Yi had just won a riveting game in round 11 of the Tata Steel Masters event (see puzzle no. 786). His post-game interview ended with the question: ‘With two rounds to go, do you still have energy?’ ‘No,’ replied Wei, smiling. And yet China’s second strongest grandmaster (after the world champion Ding Liren), somehow rallied himself to win the final two games. His opponents must have been running on empty too. I was present in the playing hall on the final day, when apart from the matter at hand, the players also had to contend with a persistent tooting noise made by climate change protestors outside the playing hall. They were

Mary Killen

Dear Mary: how can we stop friends inviting ‘locals’ to their house party?

Q. At my request, a friend arranged an invitation to lunch at an exclusive sporting club in a well-known resort. The friend did not accompany us, and on arrival my wife and I discovered our host to be a very senior member of the club and we were expected to join him at his own table. As lunch drew to a close and conversation flagged, I asked if I could walk around and inspect the various pictures of celebrity members, sportsmen, statesmen etc, which adorned the walls. In the course of my peregrination I was recognised by other club members who were eager to engage me in conversation. After a

Luke McShane

No. 786

White to play. Maghsoodloo-Warmerdam, Tata Steel Masters 2024. Maghsoodloo’s situation looks desperate, but he found a surprise winning move here. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 5 February. 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 Rxd7! Qxh4 2 Rxd8+ Kh7 3 Rcc8. Black resigned, e.g. 3…Qxf2+ 4 Kh2 g5 5 Rh8+ Kg7 6 Rcg8# Last week’s winner Alan Bracher, Claygate, Surrey