Portrait of the week: Crisis talks and pizza in Andrea Leadsom’s office
Home Brexit was in crisis as the European Council (of heads of state or government) met. Theresa May, the Prime…
Mazes; royal babies; carbon data; FTSE falls
Twists and turns Jeremy Hunt, taking a group of EU foreign ministers around the maze at Chevening House in Kent,…
Letters: the Irish and Brexit; the Archbishop’s witness; meat not wheat
Ireland’s day of reckoning Sir: John Waters is more right than he knows when he talks about the Irish attitude…
to 2378: Boundary
LIMES (22), a term for a boundary of the ROMAN EMPIRE (7 30), is a DEFINITION (19) of five items…
Director’s cut: why do our taxes pay for loss-making films?
‘The role of government is not to pick favourites and subsidise them or protect them.’ So says the government’s industrial…
Portrait of the Week: EU mandarins are suspiciously cheerful about Brexit
Home EU officials were suspiciously cheerful over the prospects of Brexit negotiations running up to the next summit on 18…
Who hires the most stretch limos?
Global warnings How much time do we have to save the world from catastrophic climate change? 5 years (according to…
to 2377: Service book
The twelve unclued lights can be arranged into the sequence yielding phrases from ‘First’ to ‘Twelfth’. First 21, Second 24,…
Theresa May’s speech was good – but she still lacks an agenda
Over the next few weeks, we can expect breathless reporting about the Brexit deal and its dynamics: the state of…
Portrait of the Week: Boris mocks May and Hammond mocks Boris
Home Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, played a well-nourished Banquo’s Ghost at the Conservative party conference, where Theresa May,…
The decisive moment
From ‘News of the week’, 5 October 1918: The Western Front is now aflame from the sea to Verdun. This…
Letters: What Adam Smith would say about Trump’s tariffs
What would Smith say? Sir: Adam Smith’s writings were so definitive that it is said one can find the kernel…
to 2376: Somewhere XI
On 15 September, Costa Rica, bordered by PANAMA (31) and NICARAGUA (5), and whose capital is SAN JOSÉ (40/10), celebrated…
This should be Theresa May’s last conference as Tory leader
The worst of Britain’s post-war mistakes, ideas we thought long dead, are once more in the air. Yet again there…
Portrait of the week: Theresa May’s fury at the EU and Labour’s Brexit chaos
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, held a special cabinet to retrieve something from the wreckage of the Brexit policy…
Why the Tories are three times more welcome in Birmingham than Liverpool
Beastly crimes Police in Croydon stopped investigating a series of cat killings after concluding that foxes were likely to blame.…
Allenby’s triumph
From ‘The Eastern successes’, 28 September 1918: The glorious news from Palestine and Macedonia has exceeded all expectations. The annihilating…
Letters: Every generation is scared of new technology. We shouldn’t be
Neutral technology Sir: Jenny McCartney’s ‘wake-up call’ (22 September) reminded me of a 19th-century Scientific American piece I discovered describing a dangerous…
to 2375: 2
Unclued lights are MOONS OF (1A) SATURN (9), which are OTHERWORLDLY (2). First prize Don Young, Shaw, OldhamRunners-up Samantha Pine,…
Trade wars: The method behind Donald Trump’s madness
Donald Trump campaigned as an unrepentant protectionist and, on the face of it, he has lived up to his word.…
Portrait of the Week: Brexitry, Jaguar and the Lib-Dems’ non-leader
Home Britain was overwhelmed by Brexitry. Before flying off to an EU summit in Salzburg, Theresa May, the Prime Minister,…
How much does it cost to cryogenically freeze a person (or a pet)?
Trans mission Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt ordered research into a huge rise in referrals of under-18 girls to transgender services.…
to 2374: Watch your step
The unclued lights are DANCES. First prize K.J. Williams, Kings Worthy, Winchester. Runners-up Bridget Workman, Purley;C.S.G Elengorn, Enfield. Got something…
Why can’t the warring Tories see that a Brexit deal is within grasp?
Loyalty, it used to be said, was the Tories’ secret weapon. No longer. Self-discipline has been discarded — along with…
Portrait of the week: Tories against Brexit, the Salisbury poisoning and Sweden’s election
Home Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was said to want to throw a lifeline to Theresa May, the…
