Barometer
Parliamentary objections The US Capitol was raided by Donald Trump supporters trying to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election…
Portrait of the week
Home The government, in the face of overwhelming numbers of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospital, told everyone to…
Sir David Barclay, 1934-2021
When Sir David Barclay, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, bought The Spectator in 2004, the magazine came as…
What have we learnt?
So great have been the government’s failures over Covid that it would be easy to forget to give credit where…
Letters
Veritas vincit Sir: Professor Dawkins eloquently and engagingly defines true truth for us (‘Matters of fact’, 19 December). It seems…
Barometer
A ferry tale Gerry Marsden, who died aged 78, was credited with making the ferry across the River Mersey world-famous.…
Portrait of the Week
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced harsher coronavirus restrictions in England, resembling those last March, except that bubbles continued.…
Solution to 2486: Ghost Companions
Unclued lights are nicknames of works by Beethoven, born 250 years ago. The title referred to the Ghost piano trio,…
Why Brexiteers should support this deal
When Britain voted on whether to leave the EU or remain within it there were valid arguments on both sides.…
Portrait of the Year
January Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, signed the EU withdrawal agreement, sent from Brussels by train. Sajid Javid, the Chancellor…
Letters
Joy Sir: Alexandra Coghlan identifies the coincidence between the rise of recording and broadcast technology and the flourishing of the…
Ring out, wild bells
Save for those old enough to have lived through the second world war and its immediate austere aftermath, it would…
Barometer
Now and then Were households allowed to mix at Christmas during the plague? Samuel Pepys’s diary entry for 25 December…
The highlights of history
Which moment seems most significant or interesting?
Solution to 2485: Triplets
Each of the unclued lights includes the same letter three times in succession. First prize Tom Rollinson, Borehamwood, Herts Runners-up…
Christmas quiz – the answers
Out of the ordinary 1. Canada 2. Leighton Buzzard 3. Death Valley, California 4. Krakatoa 5. Malta 6. Angola 7.…
Farewell, Donald
Madeleine Kearns To Trump or not to Trump? Whether ’tis nobler on the page to be a morbid cynic or a self-righteous…
Barometer
Last orders The new tier restrictions have made life difficult for pubs. How many are closed? — According to the…
Letters
Eton mess Sir: As much as I am a great admirer of Charles Moore, as a former Eton master and…
Solution to 2484: Troubled
The unclued lights are characters in Much Ado about Nothing. First prize Keith Norcott, Cheltenham, GlosRunners-up Mrs E. Knights, Wisbech,…
Portrait of the week
Home The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine began, rather slowly, to be given to some old people in hospital and health workers.…
A shot of optimism
At the beginning of the Covid crisis, some expressed the hope that a pandemic might at least bring a divided…
Solution to 2483: In my soup
Unclued lights are anagrams of animals: PRAENOMINA (1A: Pomeranian), MARTIAN (18: tamarin), LARBOARD (21: Labrador), SHORE (28: horse), PROTEIN (42:…
Letters
Left vs left Sir: Your leading article (‘Comfort spending’, 28 November) makes the classic mistake about modern politics which prevents…
Portrait of the Week
Home The Commons voted by 291 votes to 78 for new coronavirus regulations putting 55 million people in England into…
