Portrait of the week: ‘Project Fear’, Labour’s anti-Semitism row (continued) and Jeremy Hunt’s wife gaffe
Home When families and doctors are in agreement, medical staff will be able to remove tubes supplying food and water…
Are Britain’s railways really the envy of the world?
Ranking railways A director of the Rail Delivery Group claimed that Britain’s railways were the ‘envy of Europe’. Could it…
Victory is nigh
From ‘The fifth year of war’, 3 August 1918: There are those who think that Germany will try to regain…
Letters: What is the point of pandering to children?
Memories of drought Sir: I read your leading article with interest as I well remember the hardship caused by the…
to 2367: When pigs fly
The quotation ‘NEVER (1A), NEVER (35), NEVER (41), NEVER (7), NEVER (32)!’ is from King Lear (V.iii.310). Lear was the…
We need to turn the tide on poor water planning
The year 1976 rises like a spectre whenever the sun shines for more than a few days. That long, dry,…
Portrait of the week: Labour’s anti-Semitic row, public-sector pay rises and Greek forest fires
Home Dame Margaret Hodge accused Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, of being an ‘anti-Semite’ and a ‘racist’ in front of…
Who throws acid at whom?
Relax Asked about her spare time, Theresa May said she liked walking, cooking (she has 150 cookbooks) and watching the…
Hitting home
From ‘The munitions strike’, 27 July 1918: It is necessary for the Government to make it clear that the present…
Letters: Dementia may be terminal, but then so is life
The Stauffenberg plot Sir: Matthew Olex-Szczytowski argues that the German officers who tried to kill Hitler did so only to…
to 2366: The square
THE RUSSIA HOUSE, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and A MURDER OF QUALITY are novels by JOHN (41) LE CARRÉ, whose…
May’s Brexit plan has failed. She needs a new one – and fast
Handling Brexit was never going to be easy for Theresa May, given that the Tories have been fighting a civil…
Portrait of the Week: Brexit votes and Trump’s double negatives
Home The administration of Theresa May, the Prime Minister, staggered on, as Conservative MPs exchanged angry words in the Commons,…
Why is the Trump balloon known as a ‘blimp’?
Blimpish beginnings Protesters flew a ‘blimp’ depicting President Trump as a baby in central London. Why are balloons known as…
to 2365: Beds
GARDEN (at 46 Across) reveals the theme. Paired solutions are ‘gardens’ in ‘countries’; 8/10, 32/1D, 33/28+29, 12/36, 37/34, 38/2, and…
What Britain needs is a disruptor-in-chief like Donald Trump
It is appropriate that the 45th President of the United States has come to Britain this week on a working…
Portrait of the week: Theresa May’s Brexit deal in doubt as Boris Johnson and David Davis resign
Home Boris Johnson resigned as Foreign Secretary the day after David Davis resigned as Brexit Secretary, both in reaction to…
Letters: Matthew Parris’s marriage proposal is absurd
Marriage proposal Sir: Matthew Parris’s proposal that marriage be abolished, and civil partnerships installed in its place, is absurd (‘The…
to 2364: Frolicsome Threesome
WEIN (2D) suggests 21, 35 and 37 (German wines); WEIB suggests 10, 25 and 42 (Germanic female names); GESANG suggests 14,…
The Spectator stood for humour and civilised debate 190 years ago. It still does
In the basement of The Spectator office, there is a 12-volume version of the paper in its original incarnation. That…
England beat Colombia in World Cup penalty shootout
Home In an attempt to distract the nation from the toothache of Brexit, the government announced a £4.5 million scheme…
The hidden dangers of bouncy castles
Trapped Twelve Thai boys and their football coach were found in a cave ten days after being trapped by rising…
Carmakers holding back investment in Britain is not just about Brexit
Technical issues Sir: Martin Vander Weyer’s supposition that car manufacturers are holding back investment due to Brexit seems to be…
to 2363: Case ending
In Henry VI part II, Dick says to Cade: ‘The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers’, thus…
The NHS is 70 – but it’s an unhappy birthday
When Nye Bevan launched the NHS on 5 July 1948, most of the British population could not expect to celebrate…
