The Spectator

Barometer | 16 May 2013

The first filibuster A bill for an in-out referendum on the EU seems doomed to be killed off by a ‘filibuster’ — a campaign by opponents to keep on talking until it runs out of time. — The filibuster is often assumed to be an invention of Westminster, yet its first recorded use was in

Portrait of the week | 16 May 2013

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, flew to Sochi, on the Black Sea, to talk with President Vladimir Putin, principally about Syria. He then flew to Washington, to support the American tour by Prince Harry and hold talks with President Barack Obama. They said that Britain and America wanted to strengthen the moderate opposition in

Escape

‘Why walk around the garden shaking dirt from your trousers? I swear he is up to something in that shed.’

Letters | 9 May 2013

One-nation Toryism Sir: When my late father, John McKee, stood as Conservative candidate for South Shields in the 1970 general election he gained 19,960 votes, more even than David Miliband in the same constituency 40 years later. In last week’s by-election in the South Shields constituency, the Conservative candidate attracted only 2,857 votes. Many things