The Spectator

Yesterday

The Spectator

The Alternative Covid Inquiry: the speeches in full

From our UK edition

At The Spectator’s Alternative Covid Inquiry last night, science writer and journalist Matt Ridley; Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford; Jonathan Sumption, writer and former Supreme Court Justice; Christopher Snowdon, journalist and head of lifestyle economics at the IEA, and Tom Whipple, science writer and special correspondent at the Times, had their say on what went wrong – and

Wednesday

The Spectator

The Alternative Covid Inquiry

From our UK edition

Watch The Spectator’s Alternative Covid Inquiry. Six years after the world shut down, we’re still examining what happened and why. As the official Covid Inquiry finally comes to end, our panel asked the questions the experts didn’t – or wouldn’t. The Spectator’s commissioning editor Lara Brown was joined by science writer and journalist Matt Ridley; Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical

Nicholas Murray

My Cavafy Poem

From our UK edition

We are all, you might say, waiting for those barbarians even though we lack particulars, even an approximate profile, mug-shot, card-index summation, press cutting. Nothing exists but the vague sense that it should, that our time is up, we have held on too long, making the same points, using the identical words to describe this

The Spectator

Is it still worth going to university?

From our UK edition

When self-styled ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis gate-crashed Kemi Badenoch’s Good Morning Britain interview to reprimand the Conservative leader over her plans to cut the interest on student loans, he failed to mention that she was addressing a crisis for which he carries a little of the blame. For years, Lewis has encouraged prospective students

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Andrew’s arrest, tariff rulings and Boris in Ukraine

From our UK edition

Home Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and released under investigation. The King said: ‘The law must take its course.’ The government proposed introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession, and agreed to a motion compelling ministers to release information relating to

The Spectator

2738: First-rate third-rate – solution

From our UK edition

The ship was HMS Bellerophon, nicknamed BILLY RUFFIAN (11A/14A), whose BATTLE honours included THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, THE NILE and TRAFALGAR and whose most famous passenger was NAPOLEON who surrendered to her after Waterloo. Her final role was as a prison HULK (23D). Title: having 74 guns she was a ‘third-rate’. First prize D.C.

The Spectator

Letters: Why I love my Jellycats

From our UK edition

Defence agreement Sir: If (a big ‘if’, I know) our politicians really would like to address the parlous state of the UK’s defences (‘Indefensible’, 21 February) but refrain from the necessary tax increases and/or spending cuts out of fear their unpopularity would open the door to their opponents, they should consider adopting a device the

The Spectator

Who has been removed from the line of succession?

From our UK edition

Out of line Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may be removed from the line of succession. When was the last time this happened? — The Abdication Act of 1936 not only removed Edward VIII from the throne; it also removed his heirs from the line of succession. In the event, however, he didn’t have any. The last alteration

Thursday

Nicholas Shrimpton (With apologies to Sir Francis Hastings Doyle)

The Private of the Bluffs

Last night among his fellow roughs, He plotted, schemed, and swore; An anxious statesman of the Bluffs, Who never looked before. To-day, beneath the foeman’s frown, He stands in Charles’s place, Ambassador from Britain’s crown, And type of all her race. Rich, reckless, posh, well-born, well-taught, Bewildered and alone, A heart with leftish instinct fraught,

Nicholas Murray

The Death of the Autocrats

The world, the young woman said, is ruled by old men with hard, brutal faces and an ugly lust for power. Nothing that gym bars or strictures of the personal physician can offer will help them in the end when the dark fog drops to cover the formerly sentient mind, its edicts like arrows that

Wednesday

The Spectator

Can Keir Starmer keep us safe?

From our UK edition

‘Shape without form, shade without colour. Paralysed force, gesture without motion.’ T.S Eliot’s lines from ‘The Hollow Men’ sum up in 11 words the emptiness of Sir Keir Starmer’s administration. Nowhere is the shade darker and the force more paralysed than in our government’s defence policy. At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, the Prime

The Spectator

2737: 19×24 inches – solution

From our UK edition

The unclued lights can precede or follow ROYAL. The preamble should have read: Seven unclued lights (two of two words) follow and four precede a word defined by the title. Doc apologises for the error. First prize Andrew Bell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire Runners-up C.R. Haigh, Hassocks, W. Sussex; Paul Elliott, London W12

The Spectator

Letters: Nicky Haslam should fix the Palace of Westminster

From our UK edition

Growing pains Sir: It was reassuring to learn that Wes Streeting is a reader of The Spectator and also shares the view of many that his government has ‘no growth strategy’ (‘To lead or not to lead’, 14 February). However, it is a shame that following the October 2024 Budget he did not take up

The Spectator

How much do graduates owe in student loans?

From our UK edition

Toxic legacy Analysis by scientists at Porton Down suggested that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been killed using epibatidine, a neurotoxin found in dart frogs from South America. — Using naturally occurring neurotoxins goes back further than anyone thought. In January scientists at Stockholm University reported that they had found traces of alkaloids from

Monday

The Spectator

Speaker Series: An evening with John Rhys-Davies

From our UK edition

Watch the live recording of Toby Young in conversation with John Rhys-Davies. Widely regarded as having one of the most recognisable voices in film history, the legendary actor has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the past 40 years, including The Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. In this exclusive in-depth conversation with Toby Young,

Wednesday

The Spectator

Keir Starmer can only delay the inevitable for so long

From our UK edition

Wes Streeting is known to be a Spectator reader. Pinned on the Health Secretary’s office wall, as he revealed in an interview last Easter, is a leading article of ours asking whether he was ‘the Hamlet of the Health Service’. Streeting was ‘so riled’ by our suggestion of inactivity that he put it up to

The Spectator

2736: Jammy – solution

From our UK edition

Associations with BLACK were 7 SABLE, 25 BOYCOTT and 32 SOMBRE; with CUR 6A RASCAL, 14 VARLET and 20 WRETCH; and with RANT 1A HARANGUE, 15 TIRADE and 24 RAIL. First prize Brian Taylor, Horwich, Bolton Runners-up Laura Gould, Shrewsbury; A. Tucker, Winchester

The Spectator

Letters: AI won’t save the army

From our UK edition

Brute force Sir: General Sir Nick Carter is correct to point out the fragility of the UK’s armed forces today (‘Empty shell’, 7 February). He is also right to highlight the level of expenditure which will be necessary to overcome 25 years of structural under-investment in defence if the UK and its allies are to deter