The latest issue of the Spectator is full to bursting with sparkling and varied book reviews. Here are some extracts from those reviews: Sam Leith reviews two new books (one by Douglas Hurd and Edward Young, the other by Dick Legend) that, to some extent, debunk the Tory legend of Benjamin Disraeli. ‘Disraeli…, as Hurd
‘A table away from any children, not next to any toilets and no wobbly legs.’
‘I’ll call you back — I’m about to go through a tunnel.’
‘We suspect it may be powering a cannabis farm.’
‘I’ll be honest with you, Lloyd: the company’s in trouble…’
‘Grandad, tell me again about the old days when we were rubbish at sport and Britain never won anything.’
‘The dog’s been on the internet again.’
‘But I always like an e-cigarette after internet sex.’
‘Oh, great — we’re stuck. I told you not to always trust the sat nav.’
‘A Life’, 1975, by Kitaj can be seen at the British Museum and at Marlborough Fine Art
‘It says here that the artist is a former hitman.’
‘Another day, another “selfie”.’
‘Will this be a cash robbery or a card robbery, sir?’
Ed Miliband’s relationship with Len McCluskey was defined in a brief camera shot at the Labour party conference in 2010. After praising trade unions, Miliband added that he would have no patience with ‘waves of irresponsible strikes’. Several rows back, McCluskey, who three days earlier had helped Ed defeat his brother David in the leadership
Tax breaks for families Sir: Hugo Rifkind is wrong to imply (6 July) that the current income tax system is indifferent to family structure, and thus the Conservative party’s attempt to give tax breaks to married couples is ‘a blatant attempt at social engineering’. Is it not social engineering when the current system demands more tax
Family games Andy Murray said that as a child he lived in the shadow of his elder brother Jamie, who was then thought the better tennis player. Some other sporting brothers: — As a teenager Wayne Lineker was thought to be more talented than his elder brother Gary. While Gary went on to captain England,
Home There was a fine game of hunt-the-issue over the process to find a replacement, as parliamentary candidate in Falkirk, for the Labour MP Eric Joyce (who had decided not to stand again after being convicted of assaulting a Labour whip in the Strangers’ Bar). The union Unite was accused by Ed Miliband, the leader
Let me start by saying how pleased I am to be here at the St Bride’s Foundation. Only a few hundred yards from where the Labour Party was founded over a century ago. And especially to be here with so many community organisers and Labour Party members from right across the country. I am here
