The Week
Diary
‘Devon, Devon, Devon/ Where it rains six days out of seven.’ Nothing beats a British seaside holiday. And north Devon…
Muscular economics
From ‘War bonuses’, The Spectator, 4 September 1915: War means a demand for human muscle… At the moment the brain-worker is…
Portrait of the week
Home The Government decided after all to retain the rules preventing ministers and their departments from publishing campaign material, ‘with…
George Osborne has bet the house (and other people's houses) on there being no new crash
When George Osborne visited Sweden, Finland and Denmark the stock markets of each country promptly fell by about 5 per…
Portrait of the week
Home Harriet Harman, the acting leader of the Labour party, said that 3,000 people had had any votes they cast…
Val McDermid’s Diary: Facing 3,000 choices at the Edinburgh festival
There are many good reasons for being in Edinburgh in August, when the population doubles and nobody looks twice if…
How common is adultery? Much more common than getting caught
How many cheats? More data on members of extramarital dating site Ashley Madison were put online. How widespread is adultery?…
How to tell if Jeremy Corbyn is a proper republican
True to his antique, bearded ideology, guru Corbyn is a ‘republican’, a form of government invented 2,500 years ago. ‘Republic’…
Discovering Europe
From ‘A Converted Peace-Man’, The Spectator, 28 August 1915: We have brought the present war upon ourselves in a great measure…
Spectator letters: Cutting the Lords, and a defence of Edwin Lutyens
Trimming the ermine Sir: I am a new boy in the House of Lords compared with Viscount Astor — though…
Gamblin’ man
When George Osborne visited Sweden, Finland and Denmark the stock markets of each country promptly fell by about 5 per…
Just how republican is Jeremy Corbyn?
True to his antique, bearded ideology, guru Corbyn is a ‘republican’, a form of government invented 2,500 years ago. ‘Republic’…
Barometer
How many cheats? More data on members of extramarital dating site Ashley Madison were put online. How widespread is adultery?…
Diary
There are many good reasons for being in Edinburgh in August, when the population doubles and nobody looks twice if…
Discovering Europe
From ‘A Converted Peace-Man’, The Spectator, 28 August 1915: We have brought the present war upon ourselves in a great measure…
Portrait of the week
Home Harriet Harman, the acting leader of the Labour party, said that 3,000 people had had any votes they cast…
At last, Britain can have its shale gas revolution
Over the past week, the government has finally made a decisive move to kickstart a fracking industry in Britain. Licences…
Portrait of the week
Home Andrew Burnham described calls from Yvette Cooper, a rival candidate for the Labour leadership, for him to withdraw from…
How many asexuals are there?
No sex, please Several friends of the late Sir Edward Heath asserted that he could not be guilty of sexually…
What Tacitus would have made of the Heath rumours
The press and police have been condemned for the way they fall on mere rumour and plaster it across the…
Field studies
From ‘Education and the War’, The Spectator, 21 August 1915: War is a time in which a shortage of labourers can…
Letters
Justified bombing Sir: A.N Wilson’s suggestion that the 1945 nuclear bombing of Japan was “without any military or moral justification”…
Get fracking
Over the past week, the government has finally made a decisive move to kickstart a fracking industry in Britain. Licences…
Tacitus on Edward Heath
The press and police have been condemned for the way they fall on mere rumour and plaster it across the…
Andrew Marr’s diary: The summer of Corbyn — and other things we didn’t see coming
Andrew Marr 22 August 2015 9:00 am
This is the Corbyn summer. From the perspective of a short holiday, my overwhelming feeling is one of despair at…