Call for common justice Sir: Rod Liddle’s piece on the true desires of Palestinians was rare in its acceptance of the complexity of aspiration (‘What Hamas promised its electorate’, 28 October). People cleave to those who stand for their best hopes. They voted for Hamas. Rod ends saying only Israeli Arabs in his experience did
Andrew Motion Something old made new: The Iliad in Emily Wilson’s muscular and moving new translation, the first by a woman, is truly what it claims to be – a version for our time (Norton, £30). And something new made immediate: Hannah Sullivan’s second collection of poems, Was It For This (Faber, £12.99), ambitiously extends
Side hustles David Solomon, chief executive of Goldman Sachs, said he would stop DJing in clubs, following criticism from the bank’s board. For years he had performed under the alias D-Sol, playing electronic dance music. Some other unlikely side hustles: – In 2017 King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands revealed that for the past 21 years
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on his return from Israel (where he spoke with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister) and to Saudi Arabia (where he spoke with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince), told the House of Commons: ‘Hamas is not only a threat to Israel, but to many others across the region. All
For years the government has appeared to be setting itself up for failure with its promises to crack down on illegal immigration. The plan to process asylum claims in Rwanda was always going to excite immigration lawyers. Sure enough, it remains mired in the legal process. Even if the government wins its case in the
The unclued lights and the four lacking their definitions (7, 20, 35 and 36) are MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. First prize Wendy Meredith, Exeter, Devon Runners-up C.S.G Elengorn, Enfield, Middlesex; Rhidian Llewellyn, London SW14
End the war Sir: Timothy Garton Ash’s article on Ukraine evokes echoes of the first world war, with interviews of brave soldiers who have lost limbs in Russian minefields (‘Europe’s problem’, 21 October). He acknowledges that Ukraine’s losses have been huge, yet supports bullish calls for the war to continue ‘for years, or even decades’.
The Spectator may be the oldest magazine in the world, but we pride ourselves in keeping our readers up to date. In that spirit, we’ve just launched a new WhatsApp channel so that you can get our latest and best articles directly. What is a WhatsApp Channel? If, like 2 billion others, you use WhatsApp,
The recent election in Poland has been presented by some as a triumph of liberalism over the dark forces of populism, but this is a misreading of events. It’s said that the Law and Justice party, which has ruled Poland for the past eight years, was trounced, but it won the largest share of votes
Home Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, spoke on the telephone with the rulers of Qatar and Saudi Arabia about Israel’s war against Hamas. The annual rate of inflation remained at 6.7 per cent. Wages in the period of June to August rose at an annual rate of 7.8 per cent. The United Kingdom’s Competition and
The unclued Across lights are fictional captains and (Down) their ships. 10/24 (20,000 Leagues under the Seas), 11/30 (C.S. Forester series), 13/33 (Moby-Dick), 21/20 (BBC children’s TV) and 22/17 (Treasure Island). First prize Linda Manson, Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk Runners-up K.G. Osgood, London Colney, Herts; Caroline Sutton, Rhiwbina, Cardiff
Gaza in history Gaza is no stranger to territorial conflict. Originally settled around 3000 bc as a fortress and trading post between Egypt and Canaan, the city of Gaza declined and was rebuilt several times during the Bronze Age. After serving as an administrative centre in ancient Egypt, it became one of five ports used
The least deserving Sir: In your leading article (‘All that glitters’, 14 October) you point out that Keir Starmer avoided mentioning inflation and illegal migration at the Labour conference because the Labour party has historically been weaker than the Conservatives on the two issues. On the first of these issues, the current administration, and indeed the
Home At the Labour party conference, cheerful in the hall but overshadowed by the war in Israel, Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, said that in government he would build 1.5 million homes and a host of ‘Labour new towns’. He wanted to spend £1.1 billion a year on higher overtime payments within NHS England to
In hibernation and a huff. No work for six months. Will I have to invent an illness as explanation? My desires are simple — a pot of English breakfast tea, a piece of nougat. I can’t affect ‘a lifestyle’. I am sick, though, of this view. Brick wall. Drainpipe. Grey tracksuit pants on clothes line.
It is remarkable that in his conference speech in Liverpool, Sir Keir Starmer hardly mentioned the government’s biggest failures. There is burgeoning public debt, caught in a feedback loop by soaring gilt yields. It didn’t even feature. We have persistent inflation but although Starmer mentioned the ‘cost of living’ crisis several times, he missed out
The puzzle appeared on 23 September 2023. The unclued lights reveal TWENTY TWENTY-THREE’S AUTUMN EQUINOX OCCURS TODAY AT SIX-FIFTY AM, GMT. First prize Sally Reeve, Bath Runners-up John Pugh, Ely, Cardiff; J. Gill, Warlingham, Surrey
Court creep Sir: As a former foreign secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind gives eloquent voice to the conventional wisdom that the UK should remain within the ECHR not for our own sake but for the good of others (Letters, 7 October). On this view, membership of the ECHR has always been about foreign policy, not our
The next generation will never be allowed to buy cigarettes. So we asked some of our writers for their favourite moment with a fag. Rory Sutherland One of the last ever cigarettes I had on a plane, I think. Looking back, it was kind of insane that you could ever smoke on aircraft (I think
The history of education reform is a graveyard of acronyms: TVEIs, GNVQs and so on. There have been many well-meaning initiatives that made sense at the time but struggled to gain acceptance. Rishi Sunak needs to proceed with caution before he launches into yet another reform of school qualifications, especially if it means the end
