Blackouts

It is not quite clear what Google did to David Cameron, but the Prime Minister seems to be exacting some sort of revenge. First, he wanted them to keep records of their customers’ emails just in case his officials wanted to snoop later. Now he wants the British government to be the first in the
EU diplomacy Sir: Lord Lamont’s article ‘The EU’s scandalous new army of overpaid diplomats’ (Politics, 20 July) revisits his oft-repeated views on the European Union. It also shows scant regard for the facts and for the reality of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. The European External Action Service (EEAS) was created by unanimous agreement
Home The Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to a boy, weighing 8lb 6oz, an heir to the crown, third in line to the throne. Great public excitement was expressed by taking photographs of an official notice of the birth posted on a gilt easel inside the railings of Buckingham Palace. Bells rang and gun salutes
The best way to weather the heat wave is to head for the shade with a copy of the new issue of the Spectator, in which you will you find some diverting book reviews to while away an hour or two. Here is a selection: Philip Hensher treads carefully around Winston Churchill’s imperialism, the subject
‘I’ll lick the spoon if you can produce a valid food hygiene certificate.’
‘He’s building his own coffin from Lego.’
‘They exiled him there when he went mad.’
‘Aren’t you worried you’ll make him obese?’
‘We insisted the garden designer devote an entire section to a play area.’
‘We produce some of the country’s finest Labour MPs.’
‘Oh no! It’s the drone ranger.’
‘Apparently he’s really J.K. Rowling.’
‘I’m slightly embarrassed by that one — no skill involved; only road rage.’
‘Who let this riff-raff in?’
‘This is the voice of what remains of the BBC, coming to you from a hidden bunker somewhere in the UK…’