Imperial diamond This week’s diamond jubilee celebrations will be hard-pressed to outdo those of Queen Victoria’s in 1897. — A diamond jubilee was supposed to be a 75th anniversary, but it was brought forward by the government as an excuse for a mass celebration aimed at promoting British trade. — On 22 June, the Queen
Home The government revised plans announced in the Budget to put VAT on warm Cornish pasties and supermarket rotisserie food, and reduced the proposed 20 per cent VAT on static caravans to 5 per cent. It launched an £82 million scheme to lend money (typically £2,500) to people aged between 18 and 24 who want
As Britain prepares for a week of peaceful celebration, Syria will be bracing itself for more bloodshed. The Assad regime, perhaps emboldened by the knowledge that the west has no appetite to intervene in Syria, is becoming ever more brutal in its repression. The massacre in villages around Houla, where 108 were slain, most of
One of the funny men behind Spitting Image, HIGNFY and the website Newsbiscuit, John O’Farrell is this week’s shelf lifer. He reveals which comic writers were his childhood staples, that he might pity-date Miss Haversham and what usually happens when he finds one of his own books in the bargain bin. John O’Farrell’s latest novel,
…here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Peter Hoskin says the IMF is losing patience with Greece, reports on UK Uncut’s protest outside Nick Clegg’s home, looks at the expenses allegations against Baroness Warsi, and watches the continuing tragedy in Syria. James Forsyth sees a shift in the government’s thinking about
