Harry Mount

The National Trust – once an admirable institution dedicated to saving historic buildings and landscapes – appears to have let those aims slide long ago. These days, the Trust seems much more interested in politics, as visitors to the Labour party conference in Liverpool discovered this week. When delegates came out of Lime Street Station, they were confronted by a huge poster for the National Trust. What did it show? One of its sublime country houses, perhaps, or one of those beautiful ancient landscapes? Nope. Instead, there was a bleak picture of Dunwich Heath, Suffolk, scorched by wildfires this summer. Along with it were the words ‘Climate Change is Here – The Government must do more to restore nature, for all our futures.

The poor old Establishment! In the 71 years since the expression was first coined in The Spectator, it’s never taken such a kicking. In his speech this week, calling for a by-election in his Clacton constituency, Nigel Farage declared: ‘This will be a people versus the Establishment by-election.’ He added: ‘The Establishment have now decided that they can't beat us fairly – so they've chosen to use foul means.’ Surely Nigel Farage, a fabulously rich, Dulwich-educated MP, and Prince Harry, the Old Etonian son of the King, are the Establishment Prince Harry hates the Establishment, too. When he lost his legal challenge over getting government security in May 2025, he described his court defeat as a "good old-fashioned Establishment stitch-up".

The catastrophic dumbing-down of the National Trust has plumbed new depths. The latest initiative by the infantilised morons who run what was once the world’s greatest conservation charity? ‘Pokémon in Partnership with National Trust.’ ‘Are you ready for an adventure?’ the Trust’s website declares. ‘Get outdoors with our Pokémon Trading Card Game Mega Evolution Trails. Complete the trails to find Mega Evolution Pokémon, discover their powers and complete fun challenges.’ From 23 May, 15 of the Trust’s sublime houses, with their Elysian landscapes, will become a playground for a vast Japanese media franchise. Those heavenly landscapes, carved out by man at his aesthetic heights, will be blighted by man at his trashy, commercial low.

And so, slowly but regularly, the BBC loses touch with British national life. The BBC has just lost the radio broadcast rights to the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race to Times Radio, which will cover the event for three years. It comes after Channel 4 won the deal last year for TV rights for the next five years, meaning it will cover the 200th anniversary of the first boat race in 1829. What was once the finest broadcaster in the world becomes a navel-gazing, self-obsessed purveyor of frivolous rubbish Until now, the BBC had broadcast the radio commentary of the race since 1927, except for a brief spell from 2005 to 2010, when LBC had the radio rights. The BBC had televised it (with interruption between 2005 and 2009) since 1938.

This week, there’s a strange absence in Oxford. For years, in December, you’d suddenly see a strange invasion of the streets of the university town. White-faced, terrified 17-and 18-year-olds, preparing for their university interviews. Colleges, tea rooms and restaurants were haunted by these poor, clever souls, mumbling equations and gerundives to themselves. Well, no more. If candidates clam up on screen, it’s much harder to respond to even the kindest don, hundreds of miles away The teenage geniuses are still applying to Oxford – but from the comfort of their bedrooms at home. In-person interview was temporarily halted, quite understandably, in 2020 because of Covid. But Covid came and went.

What’s the quickest way to make the two most famous universities in the world go wrong? Make it easier to get in. That’s exactly what Oxford and Cambridge appear to have done in recent years. And so – no surprise – it’s just been announced that neither university was in the top three British universities for the first time since the records, produced by the Times, began 32 years ago. Oxford's slipping standards don't just apply to those trying to win a place This decline must at least partly be blamed on the universities offering ‘contextual offers’ or using ‘contextual data’ in assessing applicants who may have lower grades.