God 2
‘No? Really? How absolutely fascinating...just how exactly did you expect me to look?’
The Spectator
Thursday
Rowboat
‘It was going to be pea green but there was a sale on at Farrow and Ball.’
Alice 5
Alice Through the Selfie
Stem
‘So exactly what kind of stem cells did they use in your therapy?’
Lunch 3
‘We must do lunch someday.’
Floods
‘The property has some unique features: a sunken garden, sunken garden shed, sunken patio…’
Cigarette
‘He always makes sure we get out of the car when he wants a fag.’
Smoking 5
‘There’s only one thing for it — give up driving.’
Valentines
‘Roses are red. Begonias maybe. Hello Hugh Grant. I’m having your baby.’
Floods of incompetence – why Chris Smith should resign from the Environment Agency
[audioplayer src=’http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_6_February_2014_v4.mp3′ title=’Fraser Nelson discusses the Environment Agency:’ startat=1350] Listen [/audioplayer]When Prince Charles arrived in Somerset to meet some of those caught up in the disaster which in five weeks has drowned 50 square miles of that county in floodwater, a reporter asked him whether he blamed the Environment Agency. Judiciously, he replied, ‘You may
Spectator letters: Bernard Jenkin and the cabbies fight back, rising school fees, Nigel Lawson on aid
Private pain Sir: A line in Alec Marsh’s article (‘Britain’s one-child policy’, 1 February) caught my eye; that school fees have ‘almost doubled in the past decade’. I recently found an 1823 bill for an ancestor’s attendance at dame school (broadly equivalent to a prep school) that was approximately £3 a term for full boarding.
Barometer: When Britain was good at the Winter Olympics
Our first winter Hopes will not be high for a big haul of British medals in Sochi, but we have not always been Cinderellas at winter sports. In the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1924 Britain sent 44 competitors, more than any other country, and ended up sixth in the medals, above the host
Portrait of the week: water, water, everywhere
Home The Somerset Levels continued to wallow in floods. The Environment Agency was widely blamed for not having dredged channels, and for putting the welfare of water voles before flood prevention. Its chairman, Lord Smith of Finsbury, said there were ‘tricky issues of policy and priority: town or country, front rooms or farmland?’ The Prince
Books and Arts – 6 February 2014
Monday
Michael Gove’s speech on improving schools – full text and audio
This morning Michael Gove gave a speech at the London Academy of Excellence on improving ‘bog standard’ state schools. Here’s what he said:- listen to ‘Michael Gove’s speech on improving ‘bog standard’ schools’ on Audioboo
Thursday
Food 2
‘They’ll only eat food the government wants to ban.’
Cats 2
‘Ugh! Have you seen the number of cats on the internet?’
Balls 2
‘Oh great — now nobody’s going to believe this happened.’
