Society

Thursday

Flora Neville

The Isle of Grain

Perched on the edge of the Medway about 15 miles from Rochester is the Isle of Grain, a mass of wild marshes and pastures and great industrial infrastructure. Redshanks, curlews and egrets circle and dive around turbines, tunnels and tanks. The enormous chimney of the gas turbine power station stretches up into the enormous sky. In 1629, Thomas Johnson, the father of British botany, came to Grain and wrote of its bleakness. ‘Seeing nothing which could afford us any pleasure,’ he wrote, despairingly, ‘there was not a village near, nor the smoke of a chimney in sight, nor the barking of a dog, those usual signs of inhabitants, to raise

The Spectator

to 2384: bang!

Unclued lights, individually or as a pair (38/9), are FIREWORKS.   First prize F. Whitehead, Harrogate, North Yorks Runners-up I. Livingston, Wilmslow, Cheshire; Elisabeth Johnson, Toronto, Canada

Mr Magoo

2387: On the spot

Two unclued lights give the name of a location and another a means of arrival and -departure. Other unclued lights give the names of the party arriving, including one who joins them at the location, and none who leave them there. The three instances of a certain letter appearing in the grid must be written in red, just as in the original.   Across 14         Quantity of money in pit in ground, finally hidden (3) 16         Sheets of cloud — it’s holding sailor back (6) 17         Set out after most of crew assembles (5) 18         Cover for the faithful sailor after greeting judge (5) 20         Value in novel, lacking spirit

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The moment Theresa May sealed our Brexit fate

Theresa May is in Scotland today which is one way of ascertaining the depth of the hole in which she finds herself. One day, prime ministerial visits to Scotland – or, indeed, to Northern Ireland or Wales – will cease to be considered newsworthy events in their own right. Until such time as they are not rarities, however, they are doomed to be seen as gestures. A whistle-stop tour of the United Kingdom’s northern and western extremities is not enough, no matter how much the Prime Minister might enjoy a day or two away from the Westminster snake-pit. This visit, like so many others, will be an occasion for saying

Matt Kilcoyne

Remaining in the EU would come at a big price for Britain

We’re familiar with the warnings about the cost of Brexit. The ‘People’s Vote’ campaign released an estimate yesterday suggesting that Theresa May’s deal will leave the UK £100bn worse off a year. Tomorrow, the Treasury will unveil its forecasts of the economic impact of Brexit. But what about the price of staying put in the EU? Whatever those clamouring for a ‘People’s Vote’ might claim, no Brexit does have a cost. Firstly, the price in terms of political capital will be significant. What does going back on the referendum result say to the 17.4million voters who voted Leave? What about the damage done to trust in our institutions and our

Douglas Murray

The ‘Islamophobia’ problem

This is a good time to bury bad news. And sure enough it turns out that a cross-party group of MPs and peers that includes the failed MP Baroness Warsi has chosen this moment to try to persuade the government to adopt their own definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Long-time readers will know that I have no sympathy for this term. The most succinct summary of the problem is often erroneously attributed to the late Christopher Hitchens. It is that, Islamophobia is ‘a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.’ That ‘Islamophobia’ was created by fascists is provable: the term was conjured up and pumped into the international

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

Why sex is welcome in Derby Cathedral, but the Holy Bible isn’t

Nic Roeg’s art-house thriller from 1973 Don’t Look Now was most famous, or infamous, for its lengthy and explicit sex scene. I think it’s fair to say that the lugubrious (and in 1973 near ubiquitous) Donald Sutherland gave Julie Christie a very thorough seeing-to, involving the first act of cunnilingus in a mainstream movie. Even after being trimmed a little it still received an X rating, but did well enough at the box office. It was shown again quite recently — in Derby Cathedral, for reasons which quite elude me. In its unedited form. The dean of the cathedral, Stephen Hance, observed that the film would not be showing God

Mark Palmer

Home truths | 29 November 2018

King’s Cross station at 10.30 p.m. is not a happy place. Most commuters have long returned to their centrally heated homes, leaving the concourse free for the homeless to roam randomly in search of a few coins from stragglers. I was there to catch a late train to Potters Bar last week and almost missed my Cambridge–bound service due to the numerous men and women who approached and asked for money. Some looked dishevelled, disturbed, miserable; others were polite and seemed resigned to rejection. I keep thinking about one man in particular. He said he was an ex-soldier — a ‘veteran of conflict’, as he put it — and that

Roger Alton Roger Alton

Cricket’s new radio stars

‘And I need a wee,’ said the former England fast–bowling legend Darren Gough, as tension built up during the Sri Lankans’ thrilling last–wicket stand against England in the third Test in Colombo. Not something you would normally expect to hear in cricket commentary, but this was the new kid on the block, the invigorating Talksport, and Gough is one of its stars. He has long been a consummate broadcaster, as well of course as the taker of a Test hat trick (against the Aussies), and the winner of the Strictly glitterball. Not much wrong with that CV. The BBC had things its own way for so long it just didn’t

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What if she loses?

We are heading into uncharted waters. The great hope of No. 10 and cabinet loyalists was that once Theresa May’s Brexit plan was an international agreement, the debate would change. It wouldn’t just be the Prime Minister’s plan, but a deal between Britain and 27 other countries. They thought that this would imbue it with greater authority; that the House of Commons would embrace the deal on offer rather than opting for further uncertainty. But that hasn’t happened. Opposition to May’s deal has hardened since Sunday’s summit. Five days of debate will now take place in the Commons and there is painfully little support for May’s plan. There is so

Lucy Vickery

Bad romance

In Competition No. 3076 you were invited to submit seriously misguided love poems. You seemed to embrace this task especially wholeheartedly, and I admired your powers of invention in finding so many ways of making my toes curl. Even Brexit got a look-in: ‘Let me be your Brexit backstop/ I will never set you free…’ (Ian Barker). Dishonourable mentions go to Hamish Wilson and David Shields. The winners take £25 each. The extra fiver is Brian Murdoch’s.   Let me compare thee to this bag of chips, For you are as desirable. They taste Just slightly salty, like a woman’s lips And steam invitingly, fresh, hot, and chaste. In shape each

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

How a betting business saved Stoke-on-Trent

I wrote last week of my fear that we’ll never ‘take back control of our fish’, as Brexiteers ardently wish, because the rights of UK fishermen — whose diminished industry contributes less than half a per cent of GDP — will be too easy to give away in the next negotiating phase. Sure enough, last Sunday’s Brussels summit to approve the withdrawal agreement produced an explicit warning from President Emmanuel Macron that unless the UK allows continuing access into its waters for EU (meaning specifically French) fishing boats, he may veto a wider trade deal, which means the hated ‘backstop’ would come into force instead. That’s quite a threat, reflecting

Mary Wakefield Mary Wakefield

I admit it – I’m a smartphone addict

I am often extremely dismissive of people immersed in their smartphones. I tut at the mole-ish pedestrians who step out into the traffic, faces uplit and shocked when a car goes by. Last week, in a toddler playgroup, I actually hissed at some poor father. We were in the middle of ‘The Grand Old Duke of York’, with actions, when he got stuck in an iPhone trance. There he stood amid the marching midgets swiping from text messages to email to Twitter and back again. It was when he tapped on the bus times app that I snapped. Well, what a hypocrite I am. And how is it that I’ve

Wednesday

Raffaello Pantucci

How the West failed to bring Russia into line

Moscow does not feel like a city under siege. Cracking jokes about Novichok, Muscovites are sanguine about the conflict they are currently in the midst of with the west. Rather, a sense of hardening has settled in, with most presuming the current deep freeze with the UK and west is permanent and adjusting their realities accordingly. There is little evidence that our action is having the desired effect; instead a new geopolitical alignment is settling in – something that is only confirmed by further visits to other Eurasian capitals and conversations with officials and experts from other powers like China or Iran. The longer it grows, the deeper and more

Steerpike Steerpike

The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards, 2018

Once again, it’s been another eventful year in Westminster, with 14 Cabinet resignations, a seemingly endless negotiation process with the EU, and more than one attempted coup. After making it through mostly unscathed, politicians headed en masse this evening to the Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the year awards, to celebrate their achievements – or lack thereof. Liz Truss, the Spectator’s host for the evening, had some of the best gags of the evening, saying: ‘Now I know that my jokes haven’t always gone down well with some of my colleagues and friends. So I decided that I was going to do it right this time and I was going to consult them.

The Spectator

Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2018: the winners

The Spectator’s 32nd Parliamentarian of the Year awards took place at the Rosewood Hotel in London this evening. The awards were presented by Liz Truss. Here are the winners: Backbencher of the year – Maria Miller Speech of the year – Margaret Hodge Minister of the year – Geoffrey Cox Campaigner of the year – David Lammy Inquisitor of the year – Yvette Cooper Comeback of the year – Emily Thornberry Resignation of the year (Minister) – Tracey Crouch Resignation of the year (Cabinet) – Dominic Raab; David Davis Peer of the year – Viscount Hailsham Politician of the year – John McDonnell Parliamentarian of the year – Frank Field

Steerpike Steerpike

The Guardian’s fight against a ‘class-ridden society’

In a strident editorial yesterday, the Guardian newspaper made the case for hiring people from a wider range of backgrounds: ‘Divisions between academic and vocational education are symptomatic of our class-ridden society’ the left-wing paper preached from its pulpit. The article then tutted that ‘Four out of the last five education secretaries went to the same university (answers on a postcard please).’ Terrible stuff, of course. But if it’s such a bad thing that recent education ministers went to a top university, Mr S has to wonder, has the Guardian applied the lessons to its own leadership? A look at the paper’s most recent editors and where they went to school,

Tuesday

Spectator Money

Best Buys: Regular savings accounts

Regular savings accounts mean you have to commit to paying in a certain amount every of month – but they can also offer higher rates than most other current or savings accounts. Here are some of the best ones on the market at the moment, from data supplied by moneyfacts.co.uk.

Douglas Murray

The ‘Islamophobia’ problem | 27 November 2018

This is a good time to bury bad news. And sure enough it turns out that a cross-party group of MPs and peers that includes the failed MP Baroness Warsi has chosen this moment to try to persuade the government to adopt their own definition of ‘Islamophobia’. Long-time readers will know that I have no sympathy for this term. The most succinct summary of the problem is often erroneously attributed to the late Christopher Hitchens. It is that, Islamophobia is ‘a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons.’ That ‘Islamophobia’ was created by fascists is provable: the term was conjured up and pumped into the international