The Spectator

to 2338: Fone

The unclued lights are former and current F1 teams.   First prize Ronald Morton, Basingstoke, Hants Runners-up Revd J. Thackray, Ipswich, Suffolk; Joanne Aston, Norby, Thirsk

Nothing new at New Year

From The Spectator, 2 January 1847: The New Year opens for England with heavy clouds in the sky, but with no sunless horizon. Never did the country enter upon a year with more work to be done. Ireland alone presents a task without precedent: England has there to reorganize an old country… The progress of

Theresa May’s 2018 resolution should be to look beyond Brexit

The last full year before Britain leaves the EU has been foretold by some as a time of increasingly desperate negotiation. According to this view the government is drifting towards an economically painful Brexit, so consumed by the whole sorry business that it is unable to address any of the country’s other problems. Yet there

Barometer: 2017’s missed targets

Slipping behind Some things which were supposed to happen in 2017: — Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. In 2007 Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of EDF, said that in 2017 we would be able to cook our Christmas turkeys from electricity generated by the plant. Anyone relying on his promise will have had cold

Christmas splurge: How much extra do households spend at Christmas?

Christmas splurge How much extra do households spend at Christmas? — £500, according to the Bank of England. Over the course of December our spending on food increases by 10%, alcoholic drinks by 20% and books 35%. — £645, according to OnePoll (2016), including £117 spent on a partner’s gift. — £796, according to YouGov (2015), including £159 on

Letters | 13 December 2017

Returning jihadis Sir: Coping with those who pose a terrorist threat to the UK but cannot be prosecuted for a criminal offence has been a perennial problem since 9/11 (‘Bring jihadis to justice’, 9 December). Despite various initiatives, the number of potential attackers has continued to grow. The latest twist to this story is the

Barometer | 13 December 2017

Christmas splurge How much extra do households spend at Christmas? — £500, according to the Bank of England. Over the course of December our spending on food increases by 10%, alcoholic drinks by 20% and books 35%. — £645, according to OnePoll (2016), including £117 spent on a partner’s gift. — £796, according to YouGov

Portrait of the year | 13 December 2017

January ‘No deal for Britain is better than a bad deal for Britain,’ Theresa May, the Prime Minister, declared in a speech at Lancaster House. Britain would leave the single market and customs union on leaving the European Union, she said. The Supreme Court ruled that only by an Act of Parliament could Article 50

to 2337: millefeuille

Links with NAPOLEON were his battles WAGRAM (10) MARENGO (14) JENA (36); card games BACCARAT (1A) PATIENCE (26) BRAG (30A); and gold coins DUCAT (16) EAGLE (22) BEZANT (30D). EBON (17) and AT PAR (35) made BONAPARTE. Millefeuille/Napoleon are cream cakes.   First prize Martin Dey, Hoylandswaine, S. Yorkshire Runners-up Miriam Moran, Pangbourne, Berkshire; Gerry Fairweather,

Have you heard a convincing ghost story?

  Anthony Horowitz   Novelist   I have never really believed in ghosts, but I actually had a personal experience which I still find hard to explain. I was walking beside the river Kwai in Thailand with my wife. We had been told that a steam train travelled across the famous bridge once a week

Christmas quiz – The answers

Weird world 1. Cannabis 2. Che Guevara 3. Tesco 4. Asda 5. Beauty and the Beast 6. Georgia 7. France (President François Hollande) 8. China 9. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council 10. Kirstie Allsopp I’ll say 1. Theresa May 2. Philip May, the Prime Minister’s husband 3. Sir Michael Fallon, according to

Best Buys: One year fixed-rate ISAs

Fixed rate ISAs are a good way of making sure you have some cash put to one side for a rainy day – but as with everything, you need to make sure you get the best possible deal. Here are the best one year fixed-rate cash ISAs on the market at the moment. Data supplied

Returning jihadis must be brought to justice

At first sight, the evidence presented in David Anderson’s report into the four terror attacks committed between March and June sounds damning. The security service, MI5, had had three of the six attackers on its radar. The Manchester bomber Salman Abedi, who murdered 22 people, had come to the attention of MI5 in 2014. As