The Spectator

Letters | 25 June 2011

Gove’s moves Sir: If Michael Gove (‘On the edge of his seat’, 18 June) really wants to do something about exams, then he would bring back O-levels in place of GCSEs. But that would entail denouncing the Prime Minister who made the change, formerly the education secretary who closed more grammar schools than were left

Barometer | 25 June 2011

Phreaks and geeks Police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of hacking into the government computers containing data from the entire 2011 census. — Hacking evolved in the 1960s from phone ‘phreaking’, manipulating telecom systems to gain free calls. In 1972, one John T. Draper succeeded in accessing US telecoms systems by transmitting a 2600 hertz

Portrait of the week | 25 June 2011

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, reversed the suggestion by Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, that prisoners who had pleaded guilty at an early stage should have their sentences halved. Earlier he had said that he saw no reason why Britain should be ‘dragged in’ to support a Greek bailout. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of

Leading article: Opportunity in crisis

How we all miss the drachma! If Greece still had a sovereign currency, that currency would probably have halved in value, thereby providing cheap holidays for the rest of us. Greece would then have defaulted on its debt, in a way that would have inflicted minimum financial damage on its neighbours. A few banks would

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The week that was | 24 June 2011

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. Fraser Nelson dispels the myth of cuts. James Forsyth explains when U-turns matter, and watches Mark Hoban wobble in the House of Commons. Peter Hoskin witnesses Cameron muscle Ken Clarke from the stage, and listens to Michael Gove re-affirm his faith in

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 20 June – 26 June

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no

Just in case you missed them… | 20 June 2011

…here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson gives his take on David Cameron’s attack on bad dads. James Forsyth reveals that George Osborne is throwing his weight behind education reform, and says that enshrining the military covenant in law might not be a good idea. Peter Hoskin reports on Michael