The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Turtle

‘Me, too. I can remember exactly where I was when I heard that President Lincoln had been shot.’

The Spectator

Letters | 25 October 2012

The toxic centre-ground Sir: I found it hard to be convinced by Matthew Parris’s claim (‘The centre holds’, 20 October) that David Cameron has ‘brilliantly understood’ that old ‘nasty party’ problem. It is held by the soft wet left of the Conservative party that Mrs Thatcher’s party was that ‘toxic’ nasty party. However, the figures

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 25 October 2012

Home Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative chief whip, resigned, still denying that he referred to police as ‘plebs’ for refusing to allow him to cycle through the main gate to Downing Street three weeks ago. The Chancellor, George Osborne, was caught in a first-class carriage with a standard-class ticket. One of his aides paid £160 for

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Policing the police

Public officials, even retired ones, should not as a general rule attempt to undermine democracy. Imagine if, for example, a permanent secretary in the Home Office took to the airwaves to persuade the public to sit on their hands in a general election, in the hope that a low turnout would remove legitimacy from the

The Spectator

Barometer | 25 October 2012

Electric dreams Manganese Bronze, the manufacturer of the most familiar model of London taxi, went into administration, putting a question mark over the black London cab. — Although they enjoy the status of a timeless icon, London cabs only became universally black after the second world war, while their less welcome signature, diesel fumes, only came in during

Wednesday

The Spectator

Shelf Life: Anton du Beke

Stalwart of Strictly, winner of Rear of the Year 2011 and author of B is for Ballroom: Be Your Own Armchair Dancefloor Expert, dancer Anton du Beke is on this week’s Shelf Life. He tells us what he’s reading and which self help book would make him foxtrot for the hills. He tweets @TheAntonDuBeke 1). What

Thursday