Santas
‘Shall we join the ladies?’
The Spectator
Thursday
Munch
Munch
Scout
‘I’m also a member of Ukip.’
Manager
‘Let’s see who today’s manager is.’
Letters | 6 December 2012
The North in need Sir: Neil O’Brien’s article on the North-South divide is welcome (‘The great divide’, 1 December). As a Geordie who spent much of his working life in the West Midlands before being immersed in the Westminster bubble for the last decade, London increasingly feels like a separate country. The wealth, the economic
Barometer | 6 December 2012
Distilling a philosophy The manager of Fitzpatrick’s in Rawtenstall, the last surviving temperance bar in Lancashire, has pleaded guilty to drink-driving. His embarrassing predicament would have been understood by the very earliest members of the temperance movement, however. — When cheese-maker Joseph Livesey of Preston founded the British Association for the Promotion of Temperance in
Portrait of the week | 6 December 2012
Home In his Autumn Statement, held nearer the winter solstice, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, confronted the need to extend austerity measures for reducing the deficit to 2018. The economy would shrink by 0.1 per cent in 2012. He cut corporation tax to 21 per cent from 2014, cancelled January’s fuel tax rise
The great creep forward
It took Tony Blair about five years to work out what he wanted to do with his government and George Osborne appears to be on a similar, depressingly slow learning curve. It’s not that he lacks ideas. There were plenty of good ones in his mini-budget this week, including tax cuts for the low paid,
Wednesday
Autumn statement 2012: as it happened
Key points from the Autumn statement Working-age benefits: will only rise by 1 per cent in each of the next three years rather than by inflation Corporation tax cut: Extra percentage point cut: down to 21 per cent in 2014 compared to 28 per cent when George Osborne took office Income tax threshold: will rise by £235 more than planned, to
Shelf Life: Graydon Carter
Editor of Vanity Fair, Graydon Carter, is this week’s Shelf Lifer. He reveals a predilection for Herman Wouk, an in depth knowledge of certain sections of the Eaton’s catalogue and a fondness for a particular character in P.G. Wodehouse. What are you reading at the moment? Don’t Stop the Carnival by Herman Wouk As a
Sunday
Should we treat phone hacking victims as experts on press regulation?
Much of the response to the Leveson Inquiry has focused on the disappointment of the victims of phone hacking and other intrusions by the press that David Cameron is opposed to introducing statutory underpinning for a new system of newspaper regulation. But how much can victims tell us about how to change a system? In
Friday
Inside the mind of George Osborne’s newest adviser
Neil O’Brien’s appointment as a new special adviser for George Osborne has gone down very well in the Westminster bubble, partly because of the Policy Exchange director’s ability to look beyond that bubble. He has written a number of times for the Spectator, and as an insight into the man who will be advising the
Thursday
Gym
‘It’s great: renewing my gym membership online means I never have to set foot in the place.’
Bank 2
‘You ruled yourself out — why didn’t they appoint you?’
Newspaper
‘We’ve regulated your response to Leveson.’
Turner
Energy
Bishop 2
Toilet
‘At last! They’ve finally put up a toilet in these woods.’