All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
One of the enduring charms of British politics is how slight the pecuniary rewards are for taking up the job of prime minister. American presidents can look forward to stonking great advances on their memoirs. (Barack and Michelle Obama received a joint up-front payment of £47 million from Crown publishing group.) They claim rock-star appearance
When the pandemic struck, we at The Spectator adopted the brace position. Like many publications, we furloughed staff and prepared for the worst. When subscription growth picked up, we became the first company in Britain to return the furlough money to the taxpayer and say we’d instead trade our way through the storm. Our last
It wouldn’t be credible to say that this year’s A-Levels grades are comparable with 2019’s: almost 45 per cent of entries got an A or A* compared to 25 per cent two years ago. But, as I say in the magazine this week, the problem is that you can’t simply snap back to normal next year. Many
It is just short of 30 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and suddenly there comes a reminder of how the world used to be. A member of staff at the British Embassy in Berlin has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia. The arrest took place in Potsdam, which
Since being formed in May 2018, the eco-warriors of Extinction Rebellion have done their best to endear themselves to commuters across the country. Known for their outlandish stunts, apocalyptic rhetoric and garish attire, members of the movement have deployed new forms of non-violent civi disobedience – much to the irritation of those whose roads and bridges they blockade.
The SNP’s nationalist outriders, the Scottish Green party, are reported to be within touching distance of agreeing the terms of a formal cooperation agreement that will see them enter government for the first time. What will this mean for Scotland and its governing party? On the face of it, not a great deal. Some Green
Tear gas and rubber bullets hold off the protestors marching to Government House in Bangkok. They’re looking for Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha, who they blame for Thailand’s Covid plight. As Covid cases continue to rise in Thailand, the protestors have three demands: the resignation of Prayut, more funding for the country’s Covid response, and for
It’s not just the hospitality sector struggling to recruit this summer. Steerpike has been amused to see a number of job postings appear on the ‘Working for an MP’ website in recent months for the exciting opportunity to work for the member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, Margaret Ferrier. Ferrier of course has been suspended from the
The latest casualty in the culture wars is an innocent-sounding word: ‘curry’. Apparently it’s inappropriate to use it, and incorrect to use it to refer to all spicy Indian food. It’s far too broad as to be misleading, doesn’t even have pan-Indian usage, and it remains tainted by its colonial origins. This is the widely reported opinion
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Andrew Cuomo has resigned as governor of New York after an inquiry found he sexually assaulted multiple women. Why was the Governor so loved by Democrats, should he really have resigned over the state’s care homes scandal, and might we soon see him as a CNN contributor? Freddy Gray speaks to Spectator World contributor Grace
Tapping out some code in the back garden. Working on a sales presentation while watching the school sports day. Or even better, traveling though a continent or two while still pulling down a ritzy six figure salary. Over the last year, middle class professionals have bought into the Work From Home Dream – or WFHD
‘There’s more than one way to burn a book’, wrote Ray Bradbury, in a coda to the 1979 edition of his anti-censorship classic, Fahrenheit 451. The case of Kate Clanchy, the Orwell Prize-winning author, currently rewriting her book after a particularly strange fit of identitarian pique, shows us just how true that is. The story of
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Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch could replace Gavin Williamson as education secretary in the next reshuffle, according to reports today. Should he be moved, and how is he making his case for staying? Cindy Yu speaks to James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman.
John le Carré, the master of British spy stories, may have died last December, aged 89. But the dastardly world of double agents he relished in exposing lives on. A British man has been arrested in Germany on suspicion of spying for Russia. German federal prosecutors allege that the man — named only as ‘David
The royals are dab hands at navigating crises. They’ve had no choice but to develop the necessary skills. Their armoury of responses include hunkering down, ensuring the stiff upper lip doesn’t quiver and – when all else has failed – taking firm, corrective action. In the past, this rule book has served them well, as
Tensions between Westminster and the devolved parliaments have been a constant feature of the Covid pandemic. Up in Edinburgh, the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has made full use of the crisis – hinting constantly at closing the English border and peppering her daily press conferences with pointed jibes at London. Such actions are of course merely
It is already known that there will be a campaign of booster shots in the UK this autumn to boost immunity among the over-50s. But it now looks like the government is planning one for autumn 2022 as well. Steven Swinford reports in the Times today that the UK has ordered 35 million doses from
Poland was the largest state in Europe for over two centuries. It was a multi-ethnic commonwealth, a refuge for Jews, a bulwark of the counter-reformation with religious liberty and an elected monarchy. Jan III Sobieski, King of the Republic of Poland, reversed the millennium-long expansion of Islam at the gates of Vienna in 1683. If
Earlier this week, Mr S brought you the BBC’s internal guide to talking about climate change and how to win audiences over to the ‘correct’ side of the issue. Now he can report that the Corporation’s commissars of language appear to have also redefined what it means to be gay. That redefinition comes in the BBC
The wildfires raging across Greece for what is by now more than a week, show no sign of abating. High temperatures continue in what is the country’s worst heatwave in almost four decades. While no region of the country has been spared, the images coming from the northern part of Evia island are particularly striking.
The divide between the rich and the poor is obvious in Britain today. Whether in terms of income, geography or political outlook, the cleavage between the haves and have-nots widens conspicuously. It has become a source of much snobbery and resentment. But there is another field in which this division can be witnessed, yet all too often
It may be recess but diplomacy does not stop. Last week Boris Johnson welcomed one of the main Belarusian opposition leaders Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to Downing Street to show his support for the cause. According to a No. 10 readout of the meeting, the Prime Minister claimed that the British people shared with Belarusians ‘fundamental values such as
Predictably enough, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report has been greeted with hyperbole about fire, flood and tempest. It is ‘code red for humanity,’ according to UN general-secretary Antonio Guterres. ‘This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels before they destroy our planet.’ As ever with IPCC reports, the content doesn’t
Try explaining the British university admissions system to a foreigner. They look at you as if you’re mad. ‘What you do is, you apply to university in January on the basis of what your teacher thinks you will get in a series of cliff-edge exams you sit in May/June called A-levels. Only once you get
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A record number of students got As or A*s in their A levels this year. After last year’s fiasco, teachers were given the responsibility of grading their own pupils. Has leniency put less well-off kids at a disadvantage, and will the achievements of future students now look worse? Katy Balls speaks to James Forsyth and
There’s something grimly familiar about the case of little Alta Fixsler, the brain damaged toddler whose parents are contesting the decision of the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to withdraw her life support treatment. She hasn’t eaten or spoken since she was born, tragically prematurely, a misfortune that left her with permanent brain damage. The hospital
On 11 August, at Russia’s initiative, an ‘extended troika’ will meet in Doha, Qatar to take stock of the Taleban’s major offensive to take over Afghanistan. The United States, scheduled to withdraw its forces by the end of this month, has been invited to this ‘Moscow format’, as have China and Pakistan. As of yesterday,
An eight-year-old Hindu boy is currently in custody in the southern Punjab. He is the youngest person in Pakistan to be charged with blasphemy. The boy, accused of urinating in a local madrassa, was released last week on bail — in retaliation, a Muslim mob vandalised a local Hindu temple. Meanwhile, on Thursday, a day
Hatun Tash is recovering well after being assaulted at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park last month. The attacker, who is still at large, appeared to aim for her neck, but Hatun deflected the knife so that it broke off in the folds of her clothes. Her bandaged right hand and scarred forehead are the only visible
It’s not just David Cameron who has been making a mint from his time in No. 10. The BBC’s revelations yesterday that the Old Etonian earned around £7 million from Greensill came just days after Theresa May’s eponymous company published its first set of accounts since being incorporated in November 2019. Cameron’s successor has chosen to focus her
It’s A-level results day today as students across the country eagerly await their results. But for Gavin Williamson the day began with a morning media round worthy of an F as the education secretary repeatedly refused to tell LBC host Nick Ferrari what he got in his own exams. The South Staffordshire MP seemed to
Today’s A level results are unprecedented, but not unexpected. On Friday, Professor Alan Smithers of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham said, ‘The early signs are that it will be another bumper year for grades.’ He went on to suggest that this might be, ‘justified as compensation for all
The world was turned upside down in 2020. Schools closed, shops shut, and planes were grounded as the global health crisis hit the world. The great institutions of our society seemed to crumble under the pressure of the pandemic. This was particularly the case for the UK’s education system, which is still failing students 18