The Conservative Party bears the most blame for the Brexit mess
For many people, next Friday was supposed to be a celebration. Boris Johnson spoke about an ‘independence day’ marking the…
Portrait of the week: Brexit delay, terror in NZ, and a very expensive pigeon
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, wrote to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, asking for a delay…
The biggest explosions in history
The march of time If we leave the EU on 29 March, with which historic events will that date be…
to 2397: Obit V
Albert Finney, a fine ACTOR (13), died on 7 February 2019. His legacy includes SATURDAY NIGHT (10) and SUNDAY MORNING…
The Tories are squandering the opportunity of Brexit
In all the madness of the Brexit voting, it’s easy to forget that Philip Hammond revealed a mini-Budget this week. Even…
Portrait of the week: government defeat, the spring statement and a fatal airplane crash
Home The government was defeated by 149 votes — 391 to 242 — on the EU withdrawal agreement presented by…
Will no-deal Brexit fears lead to cheaper flights?
Cox’s codpiece Attorney general Geoffrey Cox returned from Brussels without even a ‘codpiece’, the name used by some Tories for…
to 2396: Reader …,
Unclued lights were husbands (40A) of Jane Austen’s heroines. First prize Alison Hinder, Sholing, SouthamptonRunners-up Janet Dibley, Polegate, East Sussex;…
Why MPs must hold their nose and back May’s Brexit deal
It is becoming painfully clear that on Tuesday the House of Commons will be asked to vote on an EU…
Portrait of the week: Britain’s knife crime epidemic, a trip to Brussels and Emmanuel Macron’s EU plea
Home Two 17-year-olds were stabbed to death in London and Manchester, bringing the number of teenagers killed in knife crime…
Is knife crime rising everywhere?
Trolley dollies Virgin Atlantic dropped its requirement for air hostesses to wear make-up at work. What was required of the…
Kingsley Amis on Lolita: It’s not pornographic enough
From ‘She was a child and I was a child’ by Kingsley Amis, 6 November 1959: The only success of…
2395: Concise Crossword
The seven concise clues lead to: heALth centre (3,31), HEARTbreak (9), midrIFf (26), last of alL (40), out of afRIca…
Who will safeguard our democracy if local news dies?
The announcement this week that Capital, Heart and Smooth radio are cutting back their local news shows might not in…
Portrait of the week: More Brexit discussions, Trump meets Kim Jong-un and India launches strikes on Pakistan
Home Theresa May said in the Commons that if MPs voted on 12 March against her draft withdrawal agreement with…
How much do you think it costs to travel from London to Manchester?
Success of the SDP The breakaway Labour MPs would have an uphill task emulating the SDP’s early success. It fought…
to 2394: Opening time
‘Never eat an oyster unless there’s an R in the month’ (Brewer). Eight unclued lights (in appropriate order) start with abbreviations…
Female unemployment has just hit an all-time low. So yes, Britain is working
At any other time, news that Honda intends to close its Swindon plant in two years’ time with the loss…
Portrait of the week: Resignations galore, Honda’s announcement and Islamic State’s brides
Home Seven MPs resigned from the Labour party and sat in the Commons (next to the DUP) as the Independent…
Letters: the history of centrist parties does not bode well for the ‘breakaway seven’
The breakaway seven Sir: ‘In both parties there are fools at one end and crackpots at the other, but the…
to 2393: Monster Mash-up
HORROR FILM (1D) ACTOR (15) BORIS (10) KARLOFF (26), né PRATT (21A) died on 2 February 1969. Most famous for…
The EU and UK are one sentence away from a Brexit deal. Why the games?
Even the most fervent Brexiteer would have to admit to being impressed at the cohesion and chutzpah of the European…
Portrait of the week: More Brexit talks, more French protests and less horse racing
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, returned from a trip to Brussels and Dublin and hurried to the Commons to…
![[GETTY IMAGES]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/GettyImages_902938812A.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
Brexiteers have ‘a special place in hell’ – but who else has a spot there?
Places in Hell President Donald Tusk said there must be a ‘special place in Hell reserved for those who promoted…
to 2392: Beknighted
The unclued lights (10/1D, 11, 23/38, 29D/28 and 39) received knighthoods or a DBE in the recent New Year’s Honours List.…
