Boris won't be forgiven if he caves on Brexit now
It now looks increasingly likely that lockdown will end on 2 December, after all. The decision to impose further restrictions…
Portrait of the week: Vaccine hopes up, Zoom shares down and Biden calls Boris
Home Pfizer and BioNTech announced a vaccine against Covid-19 of 90 per cent efficacy from two injections three weeks apart.…
Books of the Year II — chosen by our regular reviewers
David Crane If nothing else, this has been a good time for catch-up. Theodor Fontane’s Effi Briest (translated by Walter…
2479: Shielded solution
The unclued lights are heraldic terms. First prize J.P. Carrington, Denchworth, OxfordshireRunners-up David Shields, Merthyr Vale M.E. Bosence, Bournemouth Got…
Letters: Wales has been betrayed by Westminster
Woeful Wales Sir: Allison Pearson succinctly points out the absurdity of the so-called Welsh government and its assembly, now trying…
Portrait of the week: England’s lockdown, America’s meltdown and houses fall down
Home The government imposed a lockdown on England to last until 2 December. On television, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister,…
No one has made a clear and logical case for this lockdown
The benefit of having a lockdown announced some days in advance is the ability to savour what is about to…
Who came up with ‘lockdown’?
The start of lockdown The earliest known use of ‘lockdown’ in its current sense was in a 1973 story in…
Books of the year, chosen by our regular reviewers
Reviewers choose the books they have most enjoyed in 2020 – and a few that have disappointed them
2478: Namesakes - solution
The lyrics of the perimetric I’M POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN and FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN were written by Sammy Lerner,…
Where is there water in the solar system?
The Moon under water Nasa scientists using spectrometers claim to have found good evidence of water on the surface of…
Portrait of the week: Shopping bans in Wales, soft drinks in Scotland and stowaways at sea
Home Wales, entering a 17-day ‘firebreak’, closed most shops by law but then tried to stop supermarkets selling ‘non-essential’ items…
A Biden victory would be no great boon for Britain
It is remarkably uncommon for a US president to fail to be re-elected. It has happened just twice in the…
Letters: How Nicola Sturgeon outdoes Boris
Ask the English Sir: Toby Young rightly criticises the juvenile posturing of the devolved governments of the Union over Covid-19…
Why is the Republican party symbol an elephant and the Democratic symbol a donkey?
Political animals Why is the Republican party symbol an elephant and the Democratic symbol a donkey? Both go back to…
2477: Rendezvous - solution
The unclued lights take an extra letter to make BRAMBLING (1A), BUDGIE (12A), STARLING (14A), REDSTART (23A), BRANCHER (27A), TURACO…
How many school teachers are male?
Special Offa A regulation passed by the Welsh government to prevent people travelling from Covid hotspots in England has brought…
We deserve to know what Sage is saying
At the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis it was easy to see why the Prime Minister was so keen to…
Portrait of the week: A Manchester stand-off, a Presidential showdown and a Brexit culture clash
Home After ten days spent trying to persuade Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, to accede to the city…
Letters: why Scots want independence
State of the Union Sir: Writing in a week that an opinion poll shows 58 per cent support for independence…
The final 2020 presidential debate — live blog
8:30 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Hello and welcome to The Spectator’s live blog for the second and final debate between…
Portrait of the week: new alerts, birthday honours and fires on Kilimanjaro
Home ‘The weeks and months ahead will continue to be difficult and will test the mettle of this country,’ Boris…
Mind the gap: how wide is the North-South divide?
Red light, green light The three tiers of Covid restrictions have been described as a ‘traffic light’ system. — The…
Britain is a successful melting pot – and the government should say so
When the Black Lives Matter protests struck London in the same week that Public Health England published a report into…
Letters: what unites the two sides of the mask debate
Wind worries Sir: You are right to side with the 2013 version of Boris Johnson, when he claimed that wind…
