The Spectator
Thursday
Wednesday
Farewell, Donald
Madeleine Kearns To Trump or not to Trump? Whether ’tis nobler on the page to be a morbid cynic or a self-righteous arse? That is the question those of us working in American right-wing media have been staring in the face for four years. Looking back, the Trump years feel like one of those awful
Saturday
Why Brexiteers should support this deal
When Britain voted on whether to leave the EU or remain within it there were valid arguments on both sides. But on one thing most leavers and remainers could surely have agreed: the Brexit would be a pointless and wasteful exercise unless Britain would retrieve the powers that voters wanted. A deal that left us
Thursday
Do divorces really increase after Christmas?
Now and then Were households allowed to mix at Christmas during the plague? Samuel Pepys’s diary entry for 25 December 1665: ‘To church in the morning, and there saw a wedding… which I have not seen many a day; and the young people so merry one with another, and strange to see what delight we
Letters: The case for immunity passports
Joy Sir: Alexandra Coghlan identifies the coincidence between the rise of recording and broadcast technology and the flourishing of the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge (‘Going for a song’, 5 December). Just as the publication of A Christmas Carol in 1843 coincided with cheaper books and a growing readership to forge the modern Christmas, so
Portrait of the year: Coronavirus, falling statues, banned Easter eggs and compulsory Scotch eggs
January Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, signed the EU withdrawal agreement, sent from Brussels by train. Sajid Javid, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, promised ‘an infrastructure revolution’ in the Budget. An American drone killed Qassem Soleimani, an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander, near Baghdad airport. Iran carelessly shot down a Ukrainian airliner taking off from
Ring out, wild bells: 2021 will be a year of renewal
Save for those old enough to have lived through the second world war and its immediate austere aftermath, it would be hard to remember a Christmas which felt less festive. Or a new year that brings such foreboding. In spite of the severe restraints on our lives, which have been in place for months now,
The highlights of history: a Spectator Christmas survey
Emily Maitlis Six years ago I took my son, Milo, to Bucharest for his birthday. In the baking July sun, seeking shade, we crouched on the kerb in front of the presidential palace. And I played him the footage of the crowds on that bitter December morning of 1989 as Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife
2485: Triplets – solution
Each of the unclued lights includes the same letter three times in succession. First prize Tom Rollinson, Borehamwood, HertsRunners-up Lynn Gilchrist, Willoughby, NSW, Australia; Brian Midgley, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire
2020 Christmas quiz – the answers
Out of the ordinary1. Canada2. Leighton Buzzard3. Death Valley, California4. Krakatoa5. Malta6. Angola 7. Bernie Sanders (with Joe Biden in fifth place)8. Carlos Ghosn9. Fifty pence10. China. The horse’s mouth1. The Queen, in a televised message on 5 April2. Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary3. John Lewis4. A 50p5. Mark Drakeford, the First Minister of
Thursday
Why we can be confident in the safety of Covid vaccines
At the beginning of the Covid crisis, some expressed the hope that a pandemic might at least bring a divided country back together. Instead, public discourse descended to new levels of bitterness as a fresh schism replaced that caused by Brexit. On one side were those who thought tens of thousands would die because government
Portrait of the week: Vaccine shots, Brexit stutters and a frosty reception for the royals
Home The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine began, rather slowly, to be given to some old people in hospital and health workers. Margaret Keenan, 90, was the first outside clinical trials to receive it. At the beginning of the week, Sunday 6 December, total deaths (within 28 days of testing positive for the coronavirus) had stood at
Letters: Eton is failing to protect freedom of speech
Eton mess Sir: As much as I am a great admirer of Charles Moore, as a former Eton master and head of the Perspectives lecture series (over which Will Knowland has been dismissed), I must disagree with his analysis (‘The Spectator’s Notes’, 5 December). The format of the lecture series is designed for individual speakers
Is any song more lucrative than ‘Happy Birthday’?
Last orders The new tier restrictions have made life difficult for pubs. How many are closed? — According to the British Beer and Pub Association, 16,500 of England’s 37,000 pubs have had to close for everything except takeaway owing to their being in Tier 3 areas. — Of the 21,000 pubs in Tier 2 areas,
2484: Troubled – solution
The unclued lights are characters in Much Ado about Nothing. First prize Keith Norcott, Cheltenham, GlosRunners-up Mrs E. Knights, Wisbech, Cambs; P.D.H. Riddell, London SE23
Thursday
The government is sending the high street to an early grave
Does it matter that Debenhams and the Arcadia group have gone under this week, taking 25,000 jobs with them and leaving large gaps in the high street? In normal times we would be minded to say no. The failure of businesses — large ones, included — is part of a healthy market economy. It is
Portrait of the week: Tiers, Scotch eggs and a devastated high street
Home The Commons voted by 291 votes to 78 for new coronavirus regulations putting 55 million people in England into the restrictive Tier 3 or the little less restrictive Tier 2, apart from the 700,000 or so folk of Cornwall, the Isle of Wight and the Scilly Isles. There were 55 Tory rebels, whom the
Letters: Labour’s left vs left struggle
Left vs left Sir: Your leading article (‘Comfort spending’, 28 November) makes the classic mistake about modern politics which prevents so many from grasping what is going on. You refer to Sir Keir Starmer as the leader of a battle against Labour’s left by its ‘centre’. Since Neil Kinnock’s pantomime battle with Militant in 1985,
What are the best pandemic board games?
Dangerous games Sage scientists advised against playing board games at Christmas. Some games to consider if you are feeling subversive:Pandemic Co-operative board game inspired by 2003 Sars outbreak in which players pool their talents to defeat a deadly disease. Was stocked by the unlikely gift shop at the US Centers for Disease Control.Corona Battle Against
2483: In my soup – solution
Unclued lights are anagrams of animals: PRAENOMINA (1A: Pomeranian), MARTIAN (18: tamarin), LARBOARD (21: Labrador), SHORE (28: horse), PROTEIN (42: pointer), MACLE (6: camel), MENTALISM (24: Simmental), LATER (25: ratel), CREMATE (31: meercat) and MAGYAR (34: margay). The title suggests the song ‘Animal Crackers in My Soup’. First prize A.R. Wightman, Harpenden, HertsRunners-up Roderick Rhodes,