to 2441: To and Fro
FRANCIS THOMPSON, born in PRESTON, wrote THE HOUND OF HEAVEN and a poem, AT LORD’S, remembering the run-stealers that flicker…
Costing the Earth
After being sacked as the chairman of the COP26, the UN climate conference which is to take place in Glasgow…
Portrait of the week
Home The United Kingdom quietly left the European Union at 11 p.m. GMT on 31 January. Boris Johnson, the Prime…
Barometer
Mumbo jumbo The Prime Minister called opposition to imports of US-produced food ‘mumbo jumbo’. The expression was introduced to the…
Objects of desire
‘Homosexuality without the cant’, by Simon Raven, 14 June 1968: ‘All virile societies,’ writes Mary McCarthy à propos the Florentines,…
Letters
The chance to fail Sir: Matt Ridley’s article ‘Risky business’ (1 February) offers a variety of reasons why innovation has been…
to 2440: Dizzy tiny blonde
The unclued lights (paired at 5/8, 24/3, 30D/30A and 42/35, and the singleton at 37) are titles of series of…
A new ally
The moment of Britain’s departure from the EU was always likely to be an anticlimax, both for those who expect…
Portrait of the Week
Home Using a Parker fountain pen (a brand now made in Nantes), Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, signed the EU…
Barometer
In the beginning How did Britain mark its entry into the European Economic Community on 1 January 1973? There were no…
Letters
Enemies on the left Sir: James Forsyth’s article ‘Labour must change to win’ (25 January) describes how little appetite the…
to 2439: More nuts
The statement, ‘HINDSIGHT IS ALWAYS (10/17) twenty-twenty’ was made by the FILM DIRECTOR (48/21) BILLY (4) Wilder (suggested by the…
Stopping traffic
The news this week could easily have led with the deaths of 14 Afghan and Iraqi migrants in the English…
Portrait of the week
Home The Duke of Sussex left England to join his wife, Meghan, in Canada. This followed an agreement that stripped…
Barometer
Parliamentary motions The government floated the idea of moving the House of Lords permanently to York. Until it was found…
Mr Pooter goes to Europe
By Leo McKinstry, The Spectator, 17 August 2002: The modern MEP is a titan of tedium, a figure whose every…
Letters
Royal travails Sir: The travails of the royal family outlined by Penny Junor (‘In check’, 18 January) may be public…
to 2438: Shining Bright
The unclued lights can be linked with GOLDEN, at 30D, which had to be highlighted. The trio is GOLDEN EYE…
Treating oil companies as pariahs will kill off any green revolution
When fossil fuel divestment was merely a gesture by universities, the Church of England and the Prince of Wales it…
Portrait of the week: Harry and Meghan quit, America avoids war and the Labour leadership race begins
Home The Queen agreed to ‘a period of transition’ during which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would spend time…
How can Harry and Meghan cash in?
Royal flush The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have registered the trademark ‘Sussex Royal’ as part of their plan to…
Letters: I was once on Prince Harry’s side. Not any more
On child care Sir: Your recent editorial deplores, among other things, the cost of child care, to which you attribute…
‘A perfect knight’: Remembering Roger Scruton
Daniel Hannan Roger Scruton changed the course of my life. He addressed my school’s philosophy society when I was 16,…
There will never be a better time for Tory radicalism. Is Boris ready?
What is the point of a Conservative majority? The answer might once have been to implement Conservative policies. But now…
Portrait of the week: Crisis in Iran, fires in Australia and Manchester rapist jailed
Home Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, who had not been told in advance of America’s killing in Iraq of Qassem…
