Society

Sunday

Mark Galeotti Mark Galeotti

Russia’s fake news machine has a fresh target

There is a certain perverse cachet in one’s words being wilfully distorted by someone who thinks it gives their argument weight. Increasingly, the Russians are adopting this as a tactic. But the target of their disinformation appears not to be foreign audiences, but Russians themselves. I’ve never really subscribed to the view that being banned from Russia on the charge that I was ‘involved in the deliberate dissemination of false and one-sided information about Russia and events in Ukraine,’ and ‘contributing to fueling Russophobia in British society’ was a badge of honour. It would be tempting to run with it and market myself as ‘the man Putin fears’ or some

Saturday

Sam Leith Sam Leith

Martin Amis: 1949-2023

Over the next few days, people will be reaching for certain set phrases about Martin Amis. That he was ‘era-defining’ (though he defined more than one era); that he was ‘genre-defying’ (he defied more than one genre); that he was an ‘enfant terrible’ (it will be wryly noted that he remained an enfant terrible, somehow, into his eighth decade). It’s poignant, I think, that a writer who vigilantly waged the career-long battle he called ‘the war against cliché’ will go to his grave heaped with the garlands of the old enemy.  Still, he deserves the content of those tributes if not their form. And it’s not much of a surprise that nobody can write as well

Kevin Cook

The rise of the golf rebels

Golf wasn’t supposed to be this much fun. Now in its second season, LIV Golf keeps upping the stakes in its revolt against the game’s establishment. The two sides kept things polite at April’s Masters, where LIV’s Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka made a run at the green jacket only to finish second behind PGA Tour pro Jon Rahm. Still, there is plenty of bad blood between golf’s warring camps. ‘There’s lot of animosity,’ said Tiger Woods, who has ghosted ex-friends who defected to the breakaway tour. There is also a whole lot of money. Woods, still the game’s top star at 47 despite injuries that have hobbled him, turned down an

Serhii Plokhy

There’s one way to avoid repeating the horrors of Hiroshima

This weekend the leaders of the G7 countries meet in Hiroshima to discuss the most urgent issues facing the world today. The Russian aggression against Ukraine and the ban on the use of the nuclear weapons are among the key items on the summit’s agenda. When I visited Hiroshima last month the war in Ukraine and the nuclear issues were also at the top of my personal list of concerns. At the site of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also known as the Atomic Dome, a visitor can hardly avoid being taken aback or evenshocked by the contrast between the stark skeleton of a magnificent building destroyed by the nuclear explosion

Colin Freeman

Confessions of a royal paparazzo

I can still remember the shock of watching the news on Sunday, 31 August 1997 and learning that Lady Diana had been in a car crash in Paris. The Beeb’s royal reporter, Nicholas Witchell, had just confirmed that she’d died, and that five French photographers who’d been chasing her had been arrested. My own feelings that day, though, weren’t so much for the Queen of Hearts, or the two young princes she left behind. Instead, I was preoccupied with a nagging guilt – having been part of a Fleet Street army that had hounded her round London that very summer. Or, as Prince Harry later put it, the ‘pack of dogs’

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Britain’s rivers are filthy

The name Chris Whitty will forever be associated in people’s minds with Covid-19. But in a recent cri de coeur he reminded us not only that he continues to exist following the end of his daily appearances on our TV screens, but that there are many other ways in which pathogens are out to get us. In a newspaper piece written with the chairs of Ofwat and the Environment Agency, the Chief Medical Officer raised the subject of Britain’s filthy rivers. While Britain’s environment has improved in many ways, with cleaner air, more trees and some species returning after centuries’ absence, our rivers have defied the trend, being more afflicted with sewage

Gareth Roberts Gareth Roberts

The shameful decline of BBC Radio 4

Radio 4 is in trouble. Listening figures for the station have dipped to their lowest level since 2007. The Today programme, Radio 4’s flagship morning show, is doing particularly badly: its audience fell 12 per cent year on year, from 6.5 million to 5.7 million, according to Rajar. For anyone who has tuned in to Radio 4 recently, this decline won’t come as a surprise. ‘I’ll just stick Radio 4 on’ was the default habit of my life when bored, from about the age of ten in 1978 to fifty in 2018. It felt like the still, reliable centre of the nation. It was also handy as a blood pressure reducing

Simon Hunt

How Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse gamble backfired

Less than two years ago, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg bet the house on the metaverse. Zuckerberg believed that his virtual reality world was the future. Now, with the rapid progress of Artificial Intelligence (AI), he appears to have made a calamitous mistake. The metaverse isn’t yet dead – but it’s future looks far from rosy. Having recently taken a trip to the metaverse, I can’t say I’m surprised that Zuckerberg’s pet project has failed to catch on. At Meta’s shiny new offices in London’s King’s Cross, large black headsets were strapped over our eyes. Before long, by the wonders of Meta’s technology, we were transported from our real meeting room

Friday

Kara Kennedy

What’s the truth about Harry and Meghan’s car chase story?

Recollections may vary when it comes to Meghan and Harry’s car chase. The Sussexes’ statement this week supplied fodder for the front pages, and, more importantly, my group chats. ‘Near fatal is such a great phrase,’ one friend said, ‘anything can be near fatal if you squint hard enough.’ She’s referring to the press release put out by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Wednesday, which claimed that they were ‘involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi.’ ‘This relentless pursuit,’ they said, ‘lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and

Thursday

Lara Prendergast Lara Prendergast

Migration nation: Brexit has meant more immigration than ever

45 min listen

This week: Spectator editor Fraser Nelson writes in this week’s cover story about how Brexit has led to Britain having more, not less, immigration – Rishi Sunak’s government is masking dysfunction in the welfare system by bringing in people to fill vacant jobs. To make his case, Fraser joins us alongside our economics editor Kate Andrews. (01:04) Also this week: Novelist Elif Shafak writes about the Turkish elections in the diary for this week’s magazine. Ultranationalism and religious fundamentalism were the real winners in last Sunday’s poll. To tell us all about it. Elif joins us alongside Spectator contributor Owen Matthews. (23:18) And finally: Is reality television ruining sport? The Spectator’s online editor Tom

Steerpike Steerpike

Carole Cadwalladr to pay million-pound costs

Oh dear. It seems that FBPE’s (Follow Back, Pro EU) favourite journalist is paying the price for her accusations against Arron Banks. The Court of Appeal costs have just come through against Carole Cadwalladr after making claims about Banks’ ties to Russia. And with costs on both sides in the region of £1.6 million, the judge has said that the Observer hack has to pay for 60 per cent of Banks’ costs – as well as 100 per cent of her own.  That could put Cadwalladr’s total costs in the region of £2 million or so. Ouch. Steerpike caught up with Banks earlier this afternoon and spoke to the multi-millionaire mogul as he

Matthew Lynn

Britain should get out of the electric vehicle business

A frantic round of last-minute lobbying is already underway. Officials are trying to stitch together a deal. And the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is pushing hard to find a compromise that works for both sides. There are lots of negotiations over ‘rules of origin’ for electric vehicles that will allow Vauxhall to keep its plants open. But hold on. Although we should expect a deal to be done, as it usually is between the UK and the European Union, that should not obscure the bigger point. We are not going to be big players in EVs, and there is no point in trying to become one now.  We are not

Ross Clark Ross Clark

BT replacing jobs with AI is nothing to be scared of

BT has announced that it will cut up to 55,000 jobs by the end of the decade. The company currently employs 130,000 staff, and it could cut up to 42 per cent of its workforce. BT has struggled in recent years as the one-time nationalised giant has had to keep up with a rapidly-evolving communications business. The fact remains that no technology yet invented has prevented employment reaching new highs But the greatest comment will be caused by the 10,000 jobs that BT says it will replace with artificial intelligence. AI can indeed help perform some functions that were previously performed by humans, making staff redundant. In BT’s case, the

Brendan O’Neill Brendan O’Neill

Does Harry and Meghan’s car chase story add up?

Anyone who has ever visited New York City will be scratching their heads over Harry and Meghan’s claims about a car chase. The Duke and Duchess of Montecito have said paparazzi subjected them to a ‘relentless pursuit’ and ‘near catastrophic’ chase that lasted for ‘two hours’. In NYC? Where you famously can’t drive so much as a couple of blocks without getting stuck in traffic or held up by lights?  I’ve caught cabs in Manhattan many times. It’s an infuriating experience. You stop constantly, sometimes on every block, to let armies of pedestrians cross the street. Very often it makes more sense to get out and walk – you’ll get to

Tom Goodenough Tom Goodenough

TV dramas like Welcome to Wrexham are spoiling sport

Wrexham had never seen anything like it: thousands of fans cheering their team as an open-top bus made its way through the city’s streets. On board, Wrexham’s footballers celebrated their side’s promotion back to the English football league. The club’s star owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, were there too – and with them, as usual, came the cameras. The rise of Wrexham has become the subject of a hit Disney+ documentary, Welcome to Wrexham. It’s a feel-good story about Ryan and Rob, two rich and handsome actors from the other side of the Atlantic, taking over a down-and-out club in a depressed industrial heartland and giving it hope. Wrexham

Bruce Anderson

Tinta de Toro: the Spanish red that helped Columbus make waves

I am assured that this is not a legend. But a few years ago, an Irishman’s life was twice saved by a raging bull. The Irish fellow was running with the bulls at a town near Pamplona. He tripped and was virtually impaled. The bull’s horn went into one side of the chap’s stomach and out of the other. He was rushed to a neighbouring hospital, which was accustomed to bull wounds, and the surgeons saved his life. While they were doing so, the aeroplane that he should have been catching took off. There were no survivors. Fifteen years later, the Irishman developed gut rot. One doctor wondered whether scar

Robin Oakley

My summer Twelve to Follow

Usually in May I am still casting an enviously nostalgic eye backwards to Aintree and Cheltenham, reluctant yet to pack away my stouter shoes and rainproof Barbour. This year it is different: I have rarely looked forward more to the Flat. It all began with two glorious races for the Guineas. Rock-star wrinklies make farewell tours an annual event, but this really is to be Frankie Dettori’s last year in the saddle and in this year’s 2000 his victory on Chaldean was a perfect reminder of his skills. Andrew Balding, scoring his second training success in the race in four years with the first horse sent to him by Juddmonte,

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

How to bag the best spot in the supermarket car park

Our local Sainsbury’s, though admirable in every other way, has a slightly inflated estimate of the disabled population of Seven-oaks, with all the plum parking spaces near the entrance reserved for blue badge holders. Every time I drive in, a voice from my inner bastard says: ‘Jeez, if it weren’t for all these bloody disabled spaces, I’d be able to park right next to the door.’ This of course is rubbish, because if those spaces were not designated as disabled, other people would have parked in them first. It is a perfect example of asymmetry of perception. In fact, next time you go shopping, it might pay to adopt the

Wednesday

Debbie Hayton

Is Sadiq Khan right about the UK’s LGBT rights regression?

Happy International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. The occasion has probably passed most people by – but the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan was quick to wave the rainbow flag this morning. Khan said it was ‘unacceptable’ that the UK has fallen to 17th place in a European league table of LBTQ+ rights. ‘LGBTQ+ people’s fundamental rights are under attack around the world,’ he warned. Khan continued: ‘If we’re not vigilant, the progress that has been made in the past century can be reversed. I urge the Government to take the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community seriously. My message to the LGBTQ+ community in London and around the world

The Spectator

Why Britain is falling behind in the global universities race

Our country still excels when it comes to higher education. Britain has seven of the world’s top 50 universities. In spite of many claims that Brexit would lead to a reduction in the number of foreign students, the intake has never been higher. In 2021-22, there were 680,000 overseas students in higher education in Britain, an increase of 123,000 in just two years. That’s good news for the British economy. A report by London Economics estimated that one year’s intake of students would, by the time their courses had finished, bring in £29 billion in revenue from tuition fees and other income. Importantly, the benefits are spread all over the