Freddie Sayers

Something remarkable is happening at the world’s oldest weekly magazine. After years of relatively flat subscriber numbers, The Spectator has surged past its Covid-era peak and now has more paying subscribers than at any point in its 198-year history. Today’s ABC circulation figures show that, while most of our competitors have been on a downward trajectory in recent years, The Spectator is bucking the trend. Even more remarkably, new readers are increasingly choosing to get the print edition – it is our fastest-growing type of subscription. Meanwhile, our American edition is growing every week and has also achieved its highest-ever subscriber numbers. The foremost reason for this is, of course, the sheer quality of our writing.

One important piece of information missing during these dramatic Brexit manoeuvres is what the voters actually want. Rory Stewart, one of the only ministers doing a decent job of selling the Prime Minister’s plan, speculated that ‘80 per cent of the British public support this deal’ and was promptly forced to apologise. Meanwhile opponents of the deal point to polls taken since the details were revealed suggesting that as few as 19 per cent of the public support it. So what is the truth? I think Theresa May’s deal is fundamentally much more in line with public opinion than polls suggest and that it will become more evidently so over time. It would win a two-part referendum hands-down. Here’s why.

This has been the week of unanimous public lynching of famous wives. Am I the only person in the world who has found them unsettling? The first victim was Hillary Clinton, in Tuesday's Democratic Debate at Drexel College, Philadelphia. Ahead of her rivals for the nomination by over 30 points in national polls, there seems to have been a collective decision that it was time to turn nasty. For two hours, we witnessed the televised equivalent of the murder of Caesar as colleagues from the Senate - Obama, Edwards, Biden, Dodd - competed to stick the knife in more effectively. It was the 'try to kill Hillary' debate, only encouraged by the moderator Tim Russert, a spectacle of male egos revealing their rage at the success of this intelligent, diminutive woman. Now Hillary's a tough lady.

Last week Prince Albert II, ruler of the tiny Mediterranean state of Monaco since his father’s death in 2005, came to London to unveil his vision for the principality. The playboy of the gossip columns was nowhere to be seen: on display at a press conference at the Ritz hotel was a softly spoken, Amherst-educated, 49-year-old man with a plan. Using words such as ‘turnover’ rather than ‘GDP’, the Prince made it quite clear that the oldest luxury brand in Europe is under new ownership, and that its new CEO plans to develop it with all the skill and science of the private equity generation. ‘Monaco,’ he says, ‘is open for business.’ Prince Albert’s plan can be seen as a model five-point case study of a post-buyout company relaunch.