Classic 2
‘Not that one, dear — that’s the design classic. Use the one that works.’
The Spectator
Thursday
Mitre
‘It’s a Philip Treacy mitre.’
Inspection
Swimmer
‘If women can be bishops, I want to be a synchronised swimmer.’
Figures
‘In light of these figures, I will be doing the honourable thing and standing on someone.’
Letters: Lord Lawson is not banned from the BBC, and Wales is wonderful
No ban on Lawson Sir: You write that the BBC ‘has effectively banned’ Lord Lawson from items on climate change unless introduced with ‘a statement discrediting his views’ (Leading article, 12 July). There’s a lot of muddled reporting of this story. Lord Lawson hasn’t been in any sense ‘banned’, and the Editorial Complaints Unit finding didn’t suggest
Portrait of the week: ministerial musical chairs, women bishops, giant snails
Home In a ministerial reshuffle, William Hague, who promised to leave Parliament at the election, was made Leader of the House, being replaced as Foreign Secretary by Philip Hammond, who was replaced as Defence Secretary by Michael Fallon. Sir George Young Bt, aged 73, was sacked as Chief Whip. Michael Gove was demoted to Chief Whip.
What Germans are worst at
What Germans do worst Some things Germans aren’t very good at: — Making reliable car engines. According to a survey by Warranty Direct last year, Audi came bottom, BMW seventh from bottom and Volkswagen ninth from bottom out of 36 manufacturers for engine failures. — Making love. According to a spurious website survey of 15,000 women in 2009, German men were
Have David Cameron’s Etonians just given up on state school reform?
During his time as Education Secretary, Michael Gove would often have occasion to quote a passage of Machiavelli: ‘There is nothing more difficult, more doubtful of success or more dangerous than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm
Books and arts – 17 July 2014
What Germans do worst
Yes, alright. It turns out that Germans are pretty good at football. But they aren’t quite so good at everything, as our Barometer column this week points out. Here are some things Germans aren’t very good at: Making reliable car engines. According to a survey by Warranty Direct last year, Audi came bottom, BMW seventh from bottom and Volkswagen
BREAKING: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 ‘shot down’ in Ukraine
There are reports from Russian agency Interfax that a passenger airliner, believed to be Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, has been ‘shot down’ in eastern Ukraine by a ground-to-air missile, 50km away from Russian airspace. 295 passengers and crew are reported to have been killed. Malaysia Airlines confirms that it lost contact with flight MH17, from Amsterdam to
Podcast: a misogynistic reshuffle, punishment for ministers and why right-wing women are sexier
In this week’s Spectator, Melissa Kite argues that David Cameron’s reshuffle has been soured by misogyny. The PM doesn’t want the new women in his cabinet to do anything but look nice, she says. Louise Mensch begs to differ. She argues that talented women are rising to the top because they are impressive, and it’s
Tuesday
View from 22 podcast special: reshuffle review
In this View from 22 podcast special, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman round up some of the key stories from the reshuffle, including Gove’s shock demotion, the increased number of women in the Cabinet and whether the government has become more Eurosceptic and less green. listen to ‘Reshuffle special – with Fraser Nelson,
As it happened: the 2014 government reshuffle
18.59 The reshuffle is over and the dust is settling in Westminster. Catch up on all today’s events in our Evening Blend email, which has just gone out. if you don’t yet subscribe to this free daily update of all the key political events, you can read it in full here and subscribe here. Thanks for following
Monday
The 2014 government sackings – as they happened
For all of today’s reshuffle updates, including the new appointments and podcast reactions, follow our liveblog here. 23.44 That’s it for tonight. We’ll be back at 6am tomorrow, with more news of the reshuffle. Will Esther McVey, Liz Truss and Priti Patel become the new faces of David Cameron’s government? And will any of them much welcome