Mausoleum
‘My ancestors — the box set!’
The Spectator
Thursday
Letters | 28 January 2016
Levelling the cricket pitch Sir: As a cricket addict and believer in state education, it pains me to agree with Michael Henderson’s assertion that the future of England’s Test side rests in the hands of private schools (‘Elite sport’, 23 January). The high-performing, 1,700-strong school where I am the head teacher has a grass area for
Barometer | 28 January 2016
So near and yet so far Henry Worsley died in a Chilean hospital of peritonitis after being airlifted from Antartica, 30 miles short of what would have been the first solo unaided crossing of the continent. How does this compare with Britain’s other heroic failures? — Scott and his two surviving companions died 11 miles short
Portrait of the week | 28 January 2016
Home Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, prepared a paper on the four areas of concern between Britain and the European Union, as formulated by David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, for the EU to chew on at a summit in February. Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the Scottish National Party, said that
‘In’ trouble
David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start
Why does EU ‘in’ campaign insist on insulting voters’ intelligence?
David Cameron wants to get the European Union referendum over with quickly — and understandably so. Things are still going well for him, and his political opposition is in disarray. The ‘in’ campaign will draw heavily upon his personal authority and the public is not (yet) fed up with him. Ideally, he wants to start
The Spectator Podcast: Melanie Phillips on gender, Simon Barnes on bad sport and James Forsyth on Europe
In this week’s issue, Melanie Phillips writes on the issue of gender. She argues that not all children are gender fluid and that it can be dangerous to try and persuade them otherwise. On this week’s podcast, Isabel Hardman is joined by Melanie and trans activist and civil servant Jacqui Gavin to discuss whether we
Disciplined brutality
From ‘The Crimes of Germany’, The Spectator, 29 January 1916: It would be a relief, a partial solution, if only one could say that the Germans broke loose from their officers and their habits in a lust of blood and violence. But the terrible fact is that throughout the war we have heard no word
Thursday
Mermaid
‘Don’t you hate it when a siren goes off next door and there’s nothing you can do about it?’
Taste
‘Bit of an anomaly. I’ve just been told there’s no accounting for taste.’
Colouring
‘When you’ve finished your colouring-in would you mind resuming the parental role?’
Sprat
‘...his wife would eat no lean, no dairy, no grains, no wheat, no gluten, no soya, no lactose, no refined sugar, no nuts, no yeast, no...’
Problem
Angel 2
‘You are 27,345,004th in the queue, please hold.’
Superfood
Pirate
‘I’m looking for a hook-up.’
Look Left
‘Is this something to do with Corbyn?’
Oxford
‘We razed the university to the ground, just to be on the safe side.’
Letters | 21 January 2016
Bureaucratic tyranny Sir: As James Forsyth points out (‘Scary Monsters’, 16 January), David Cameron and other ‘In’ campaign supporters wish voters to base their decision on the short term, as this enables them to highlight the uncertainty and fear factor. But this vote is about the long term, and in 20 years’ time one thing