From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: [TO THE EDITOR OF THE “SPECTATOR.”] SIR,—It is a self-evident proposition that an army recruited by voluntary enlistment is, caeteris paribus, more efficient than one compulsorily obtained. It is also true, though not so self-evident, that voluntaryism must in the end deleteriously affect national character far more than compulsory
From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: AN old explanation of the phrase “at loggerheads”—whether true or not we do not attempt to say—runs as follows: When two armies met in what we should now call entrenched positions, those positions were spoken of as leaguers. The leaguers were pushed on, from both sides just as the
Ukip has arrived at Westminster. Douglas Carswell held his Clacton seat after defecting from the Conservatives, and in Heywood and Middleton Ukip came just 617 votes short of victory. Which was the more startling result, and what does it all mean for the parties’ chances at the general election? Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth discuss in
From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: As we go on in life we do, as a rule, learn our place more or less truly, and we find it is not the one we should have chosen. It may not be lower, but it is almost certainly different from what we expected. As we look over
‘You can’t trust British elections — they’re all about bribery.’
‘That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it? “When they publish the Chilcot report.” ’
‘Good, great, super. Now everybody say, “sleaze”.’
‘I love him as a pet — I’m just saying he is rather high-maintenance.’
‘If anyone calls, I’m in the bath.’
‘Uh oh, looks like their creative accounting has crept into their special offers.’
‘We had a blazing row about Gone Girl, then she just disappeared.’
‘Well, I think we can rule out bipolar.’
‘These boots on the ground aren’t much of a threat, are they?’
