Harry’s army career Sir: I believe Jan Moir has misread the situation over Harry and Meghan (‘By royal disappointment’, 24 August). Shortly after Prince Harry left school he was filmed leading drill as a cadet. He was grinning ear to ear, clearly enjoying himself. Harry flourished in the army, which made his leaving it in 2015
Blowing against the wind President Trump was ridiculed for suggesting that hurricanes could be impeded on their passage across the Atlantic by bombing them. Yet there is nothing new in trying to stop or reduce the power of hurricanes by artificial means. — Between 1962 and 1971 the US government ran an experiment called Project
When the G7 was first convened in 1976 it made sense for those countries to gather. In a world divided between democratic capitalism and authoritarian socialism, as well as between industrialised countries in the West and an almost universally poor ‘developing world’, the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada were the wealthy nations
Home The government sought to prorogue parliament on 10 September and have the Queen’s Speech opening the new session of parliament on 14 October. The Budget would be brought forward to 4 September. The prorogation caused much fury among Remainers. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, had met other opposition party leaders to hatch a plan
1, 4, 23 and 30 are livery companies (33/22). They are found in The 21 and 2 (the singular of a fifth unclued light). 18 is partly thematic (DYERS), 3 was a high officer, while 7 and 28 show status. First prize Elizabeth Hardcastle, York Runners-up Angus Ross, Old Portsmouth, Hants; Tim Hanks, Douglas, Isle
Dear Colleague, I hope that you had an enjoyable and productive summer recess, with the opportunity for some rest ahead of the return of the House. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the Government’s plans for its business in Parliament. As you know, for some time parliamentary business has been sparse.
Travelling in discomfort Sir: I don’t agree with much of what Matthew Parris says these days, but he was spot on with his piece about train seats (‘Who’s to blame for my terrible journey?’, 17 August). I think his hunch about where the blame lies for such uncomfortable seats is correct. In these parts, our
Name calling Richard Braine was appointed leader of Ukip, leading to jokes about the party being led by a ‘Dick Braine’. How did the name Richard come to be shortened? — There was a common practice in medieval England for rhyming slang, with the first letters of many common names being interchanged, hence Robert became
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, wrote to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, saying: ‘The backstop cannot form part of an agreed withdrawal agreement. That is a fact that we must both acknowledge.’ Mr Tusk said that those who opposed the Irish backstop ‘in fact support re-establishing a border. Even if they
There were many Brexiteers who were urging Boris Johnson to travel to Washington before he went anywhere else, to underline that Britain’s most important relationship is with the United States. And if the EU felt nervous seeing the UK cosy up to America, so much the better. But the Prime Minister’s first visit was to
The unclued lights are English place names which include a number in their spelling. These words appeared as figures in the grid — eg BRENTWOOD appears as BREN2OD in the grid. Ruyton XI Towns needed no change! First prize Peter Gregson, Amersham, Bucks Runners-up J. Smith, Beeston, Norfolk; L. Coumbe, Benfleet, Essex
Before Boris Johnson became Prime Minister there was widespread expectation that his government would be chaotic. It was thought that he would be good at articulating the broad sweep of government policy, but that his administration would quickly sink into turmoil. In the event, the opposite has happened. Three weeks on, the government appears to
Girls only Polish village Miejsce Odrzanskie was reported not to have had a single boy born in the past decade, though 12 girls have been born in the same period. However, such an imbalance is far from a freak occurrence: — Assuming a 50-50 chance of a baby being male or female, the probability
God Sir: In his defence of Christianity (‘Losing our religion’, 10 August), Greg Sheridan writes as if Christianity and religion are interchangeable terms. His claim that the vast majority of people who have ever lived have believed in God may be true, but most of them were or are not Christians. And when he mentions
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, proposed an extra 10,000 prison places and the expansion of stop-and-search powers. PC Stuart Outten, 28, was cut in the head with a machete after he stopped a van in Leyton, east London, in the early hours; Muhammed Rodwan, 56, of Luton, was charged with attempted murder. While trying
Unclued lights are all sweet wines. WESTERNISED, an anagram of DESSERT WINE, was to be highlighted.   First prize Erin Barrack, Beeston, Nottinghamshire Runners-up Jane F. Adongo, Canterbury, Kent Kiran Parekh, Wayne, Illinois, USA
The Spectator, which has published weekly out of London since 1828, will launch a US edition this fall. Spectator USA has had a successful digital-only presence in America since the spring of 2018. It will publish its first monthly US print edition on October 1, only 191 years after the launch of the London edition. ‘Better late than never,’
