When the letters ‘NHS’ appeared to the world above the dancing nurses at the Olympic opening ceremony, many in Britain will have imagined two darker words hovering alongside: ‘Mid Staffs’. Few of those affected will have been able to forget what now seems to be one of the greatest scandals in the history of British
Is the RSPCA morphing from animal welfare charity into an animal rights group? In this week’s Spectator, Melissa Kite writes that following the charity’s successful prosecution of the Heythrop hunt, its chief executive Gavin Grant now has his sights set on the racing industry: Buoyed by the success of his prosecution of the Heythrop hunt,
‘Do you think that we’ll eventually leave the UK?’
‘I imagine you are going on the run - can I interest you in our travel insurance?’
‘Hang on - just going into a tunnel...’
‘My boyfriend paid for them.’
‘The gas is off tonight, so it’s gazpacho.’
‘You know it’s been a dream of mine to go fox-hunting, but it’s too expensive so I’m improvising.’
‘I’ve upgraded my phone.’
‘You idiot - you set it for 35 seconds instead of the recommended 30. It’s ruined.’
‘What’s this about, then?’
‘Military marchpasts aren’t the same in the era of drone warfare.’
‘We’ll have everlasting peace in Jerusalem once we’ve got rid of this lot.’
‘It’s a British Army knife. Cuts all around.’
‘Well I’ll be burgered.’
‘I recommend becoming corrupt.’
Moore for less Sir: Niru Ratnam (Arts, 19 January) is wrong on a number of counts and omits much else. The sale of Henry Moore’s ‘Draped Seated Woman’ would be most unlikely to raise the £20 million he claims; £5 million is thought to be much nearer the market value — 0.3 per cent of
Four sworn Barack Obama achieved a remarkable feat last week: he managed to take the oath of office for a fourth time. Under the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution, which was passed in 1947, no president may be elected to office more than twice. — In 2009 Obama took his oath a second time,