Camilla Swift is the supplements editor of The Spectator.
If you thought that winter in Britain had gone on long enough this year, then spare a thought for the Norwegians. Winters in Norway are famously long, dark and bitter, and – for those who experience them year upon year – can be incredibly boring. During one such winter, in February 1923, two Norwegians called
Peter Lilley, the former Cabinet minister and current Tory MP, is this week’s Bookbencher over on the books blog this afternoon. He’s been sharing some of his favourite books, indulging his love for the Russian classics and revealing the allure of psychedelic fairytales.
It was a clash of the Euro titans at our latest sell-out Spectator debate: “Britain’s future lies outside the EU”. Nigel Farage led the team for the motion and the former president of France, Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, led the opposition – with Andrew Neil in the chair. Patrick Minford and James Delingpole supported team Farage, while Steve Richards
Conservative MP Nick De Bois is over on the books blog now sharing some of his favourite reads for the new year. He reveals the sinister political masterpiece he would most like to study, the surprising three books he would save from a burning British Library and the Presidential memoir he reads before bed.
As the allegations against Lord Rennard continue to emerge – and confusion continues over who knew what, and when, here is a timeline of the allegations, according to The Telegraph’s correspondence from 2010, and Cathy Newman’s Channel 4 News report from the 21st February 2013. 2003 Bridget Harris, who left her position as Clegg’s Spad
The ongoing horsemeat scandal has opened up a hugely complicated web stretching across the EU, highlighting the difficulty of tracing the origins of the meat on sale in this country. Even now, almost a month after it was announced that horse could be in beef products, no one is entirely sure of how the horses
Conservative Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Anne McIntosh is on the books blog this afternoon talking about her favourite books. She reveals her penchant for history, the dystopian novel that she thinks sums up ‘now’ and the Norwegian best-seller she’s reading in Danish.
Shadow Defra minister Mary Creagh told MPs today about her fears that a carcinogenic drug commonly used as an anti-inflammatory in horses could have entered the human food chain. Speaking in the Commons, she said: ‘I am in receipt of evidence showing that several horses slaughtered in UK abattoirs last year tested positive for phenylbutazone,
This week’s discovery that some burgers sold in UK supermarkets contain up to 29 per cent horse meat was met with a combination of concerns about the labelling and sourcing of food, and jokes about the burgers’ ‘Shergar content’. But the fact that people are inadvertently eating horse meat isn’t the only worrying part of
In this week’s Spectator, Melissa Kite spends the day with the Heythrop Hunt – David Cameron’s local hunt, and a hunt that has recently been fined £4,000 for hunting outside of the law. Much has already been written about the ‘staggering’ amount of money which the RSPCA chose to spend on the case, and the lengths to
Sparks flew this morning in the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, as Lord Patten came to verbal blows with Tory MP Philip Davies over the extent of his involvement in the BBC. Patten has previously come in for criticism over allegedly holding down 14 separate jobs – including his role of chairman of the
‘No ifs. No buts. Heathrow must have a third runway.’ This was our motion of the evening at last night’s Spectator debate, but when it came to kick-off time, it appeared the audience was there for the taking. The pre-vote count found a majority of nine votes against the motion, but with 21 undecided attendees,
The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards are being held this afternoon at the Savoy Hotel. In total 14 awards were presented by Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, who was invited to be guest of honour in recognition of his parliamentary achievement. The award winners were: 1. Newcomer of the Year – Andrea
These days, a winter holiday isn’t just about skiing. The majority of larger resorts offer a range of activities from dog-sledding to five-star spa facilities, while adrenalin-fuelled sports such as snow polo and skeleton bobsleighing are becoming increasingly popular. If you fancy doing something a bit different this year, here are some ideas: 1 If
This morning The Sunday Times revealed the existence of a ‘secret database’ holding information on 8 million schoolchildren. Information which has been uploaded by schools and social workers, and ranging from photographs to academic records and records of bad behaviour in school. The database – named ‘One’, and created and operated by a company named Capita
The King of Bahrain certainly doesn’t seem to like it up him. In this week’s Spectator, Kirsty Walker said her last complaint – before quitting journalism — was from the King objecting to her being rude about his regime. A Bahraini man has just been sentenced to six months in jail for ‘defaming’ the king on Twitter. Three similar Twitter
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin today admitted that he held himself responsible for the West Coast rail franchise fiasco, as he appeared in front of MPs to explain what had gone wrong. Describing the mistakes as ‘very regrettable and indeed very serious’, McLoughlin told the Transport Committee that both bidders and taxpayers have ‘a right to
Business Secretary Vince Cable bewildered a select committee this morning by telling members that a new sub-committee, the Growth Implementation Committee, was yet to meet, before later backtracking and announcing that it had in fact met twice. When asked by Labour MP Anne McKechin why the much-lauded new sub-committee, which was launched in September, had not
At Prime Minister’s Questions this week, David Cameron referred to today’s TUC rally as the ‘most expensive sponsored walk in history’, a joke that the Tories have now taken one step further. Ahead of Ed Miliband’s speech to marchers at tomorrow’s anti-cuts demo in central London the Conservatives have launched Red Ed’s Sponsored Walk, a satirical
The Dutch government has just banned foreigners from the country’s ‘coffee-shops’ — aka, cannabis cafés. Given how often we’re told that you can’t ban EU members from doing anything, how did they manage it? Basically, it all comes down to residency. If you live there, then you can apply for what’s being called a ‘weed
