The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

How often has a general election been held on a Monday?

From our UK edition

A Monday poll? The government was considering a general election on 14 October — a Monday. This raised eyebrows because general elections have been held on Thursdays since 1935. There are various theories about why — that it gives an incoming PM a weekend to form a new government, that it was market day in many towns, that fewer voters would be drunk than at the weekend, that by Thursday churchgoers would have forgotten the previous Sunday’s sermon at parish communion. But there is no single reason — each PM has been free to decide. — Until 1918, general elections were held over a period of four weeks. Elections were then held on Saturday (1918), Tuesday (1931), Wednesday (1922 and 1924), and Thursday (1923 and 1929).

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to 2421: Tina

From our UK edition

Fats WALLER (5), who has been called ‘THE BLACK HOROWITZ’ (40/37/1A), was born in NEW YORK (28) and died in KANSAS CITY (30/36). He was a reluctant ‘guest’ at CAPONE’s (16) 27th birthday party. SLOUCHY (22) and KEROSENE (43) combine to form an anagram of HONEYSUCKLE ROSE, while the title of the puzzle suggests AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’. WALLER (5) was to be shaded.

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School portraits: snapshots of four notable schools

From our UK edition

      Stoke Newington school  This Hackney school — lovingly known as Stokey School — has a strong reputation for both the creative arts and academia. In 2006, it unveiled its new sixth form, and this year students received record-breaking A-level results, with 83 per cent achieving A*–C grades. In 2002 the school was awarded a Media Arts specialism, and until 2013 it was a designated ‘media arts and science college’. The focus on the arts still lies at its heart, with links to organisations such as the Barbican and the BBC, and extracurricular activities ranging from workshops (including a self-esteem workshop with TV presenter Miquita Oliver, pictured) to theatre and museum visits, and even opportunities abroad.

The Spectator

School report: a round-up of recent stories from the front line in education

From our UK edition

      Unconditional Offers  In the last Spectator Schools, Ross Clark wrote about the dangers of ‘unconditional offers’, whereby a university offers a student a place irrespective of their exam results. The topic has come back into the news following this year’s A-level results, with headmasters bemoaning the apathy among students that unconditional offers can create. A number of heads blamed unconditional offers for the drop in top A-level results, with Universities Minister Jo Johnson writing that unconditional offers risk ‘undermining the faith which rests in our education system’. Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, confirmed that it was concerned over the rise in such offers.

Tuesday

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Full list: the Tory MPs who rebelled against Boris Johnson

From our UK edition

Rebels against the government have succeeded in their first step of stopping a no-deal Brexit this evening, as MPs voted (by 328 votes to 301) to seize control of the Commons order paper. The House of Commons will now debate a bill tomorrow aimed at preventing Boris Johnson taking the UK out of the EU without a deal, while Boris Johnson will attempt to call a general election. 21 Tory MPs voted against the government tonight, defying Boris Johnson's threat to deselect them at the next election if they rebelled. Number 10 has confirmed this evening that every one of these MPs will lose the whip.

The Spectator

Full list: the Tory MPs rebelling against the government

From our UK edition

The full list of Tory MPs who rebelled against the government in tonight's vote is here. This week is shaping up to be the ultimate battle between parliament and Number 10, as rebel MPs attempt to stop a no-deal Brexit in law before parliament is prorogued next week. On Tuesday the rebels are expected to table an emergency motion to seize control of the parliamentary timetable, and if they succeed, they will then put forward an anti-no deal bill and try to rush it through the House of Commons and Lords. It is likely that several Tory MPs will rebel against the government on Tuesday, to give parliament the opportunity to stop no deal. But the costs have never been higher for them.

Thursday

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Letters: Prince Harry has been searching for purpose since he left the army

From our UK edition

Harry’s army career Sir: I believe Jan Moir has misread the situation over Harry and Meghan (‘By royal disappointment’, 24 August). Shortly after Prince Harry left school he was filmed leading drill as a cadet. He was grinning ear to ear, clearly enjoying himself. Harry flourished in the army, which made his leaving it in 2015 such a surprise. In an interview at the time, he related the struggles of ‘trying to get the balance right’ between royal and military life. Prince Harry’s army career was a tremendous boon to the monarchy, and I never understood why the royal family gave that asset up. All of the Duke of Sussex’s ‘woke’ entanglements have been a search for a new sense of purpose after his vocation was denied him.

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Is Trump’s suggestion to bomb hurricanes really that stupid?

From our UK edition

Blowing against the wind President Trump was ridiculed for suggesting that hurricanes could be impeded on their passage across the Atlantic by bombing them. Yet there is nothing new in trying to stop or reduce the power of hurricanes by artificial means. — Between 1962 and 1971 the US government ran an experiment called Project Stormfury to try just that. The idea was to spray the eye of a hurricane with silver iodide crystals in the hope that it would stimulate the development of a second ‘eyewall’ of cloud, in competition with the first, thereby helping to break up the storm. The method was tried on four hurricanes over eight separate days.

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The G7’s doomed effort to preserve the hegemony of white power

From our UK edition

When the G7 was first convened in 1976 it made sense for those countries to gather. In a world divided between democratic capitalism and authoritarian socialism, as well as between industrialised countries in the West and an almost universally poor ‘developing world’, the US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada were the wealthy nations who could best solve problems. After the age of imperialism, a summit of the powerful seemed to symbolise a more enlightened way of doing things. More than four decades later, a meeting of the same seven countries is an anachronism. What right have Italy and Canada (respectively the world’s eighth and tenth largest economies) to be at the top table when China (second), India (seventh) and Brazil (ninth) are excluded?

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Portrait of the week: Prorogation fury, cricketing glory and the PM’s pork pie

From our UK edition

Home The government sought to prorogue parliament on 10 September and have the Queen’s Speech opening the new session of parliament on 14 October. The Budget would be brought forward to 4 September. The prorogation caused much fury among Remainers. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, had met other opposition party leaders to hatch a plan to pass legislation to stop Britain leaving the European Union on 31 October without a withdrawal agreement. Mr Corbyn had proposed becoming prime minister for a bit, but few fancied that prospect. Bury was expelled from the English Football League after the company trying to buy the club pulled out.

The Spectator

to 2420: Crafty

From our UK edition

1, 4, 23 and 30 are livery companies (33/22). They are found in The 21 and 2 (the singular of a fifth unclued light). 18 is partly thematic (DYERS), 3 was a high officer, while 7 and 28 show status.

Wednesday

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Full text: Boris’s plan to prorogue Parliament

From our UK edition

Dear Colleague, I hope that you had an enjoyable and productive summer recess, with the opportunity for some rest ahead of the return of the House. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on the Government's plans for its business in Parliament. As you know, for some time parliamentary business has been sparse. The current session has lasted more than 340 days and needs to be brought to a close — in almost 400 years only the 2010-12 session comes close, at 250 days. Bills have been introduced, which, while worthy in their own right, have at times seemed more about filling time in both the Commons and the Lords, while key Brexit legislation has been held back to ensure it could still be considered for carry-over into a second session. This cannot continue.

Thursday

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Letters: civil servants have ruined our trains

From our UK edition

Travelling in discomfort Sir: I don’t agree with much of what Matthew Parris says these days, but he was spot on with his piece about train seats (‘Who’s to blame for my terrible journey?’, 17 August). I think his hunch about where the blame lies for such uncomfortable seats is correct. In these parts, our train service provider is GWR, which has introduced new trains with bum-numbingly unforgiving seats that are wholly unsuited to typical journeys of four to five hours. When questioned, the always helpful staff respond that: ‘This is what happens when you get civil servants to design the trains.’ To add insult to injury, the new GWR trains also have no buffet carriages. Instead there is an elusive, poorly stocked trolley.

The Spectator

How did Richard Braine become Dick Braine?

From our UK edition

Name calling Richard Braine was appointed leader of Ukip, leading to jokes about the party being led by a ‘Dick Braine’. How did the name Richard come to be shortened? — There was a common practice in medieval England for rhyming slang, with the first letters of many common names being interchanged, hence Robert became ‘Bob’ and Edward ‘Ted’. It is believed the practice may have come about as a result of Anglo-Saxons finding it hard to pronounce Norman names and vice versa. — Dick was established by Shakespeare’s time — the bard referred to ‘every Tom, Dick or Francis’ in Henry IV, Part 1. — For the first few centuries there was nothing rude about ‘Dick’.

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Portrait of the week: back to the backstop, PC Harper’s death and the wrong kind of lightning

From our UK edition

Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, wrote to Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, saying: ‘The backstop cannot form part of an agreed withdrawal agreement. That is a fact that we must both acknowledge.’ Mr Tusk said that those who opposed the Irish backstop ‘in fact support re-establishing a border. Even if they do not admit it’. Mr Johnson, after an hour of failing to agree with Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, on the telephone, prepared for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Emmanuel Macron of France. An atmosphere of plotting hung over prospects of an election on a date close to 31 October, when the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union.

The Spectator

To get a deal Boris needs to show (or fake) some humility

From our UK edition

There were many Brexiteers who were urging Boris Johnson to travel to Washington before he went anywhere else, to underline that Britain’s most important relationship is with the United States. And if the EU felt nervous seeing the UK cosy up to America, so much the better. But the Prime Minister’s first visit was to Berlin, and then to Paris, to see if a Brexit deal can be negotiated and the needless disruption of a no-deal exit avoided. It seems, at present, a rather long shot. Theresa May famously said little in one-to-one meetings with European leaders. Boris Johnson can be a lot more forthright, and should speak with candour about his own lack of room for manoeuvre.

The Spectator

to 2419: Figures in place

From our UK edition

The unclued lights are English place names which include a number in their spelling. These words appeared as figures in the grid — eg BRENTWOOD appears as BREN2OD in the grid. Ruyton XI Towns needed no change!   First prize Peter Gregson, Amersham, Bucks Runners-up J. Smith, Beeston, Norfolk; L.

Thursday

The Spectator

Where’s Boris?

From our UK edition

Before Boris Johnson became Prime Minister there was widespread expectation that his government would be chaotic. It was thought that he would be good at articulating the broad sweep of government policy, but that his administration would quickly sink into turmoil. In the event, the opposite has happened. Three weeks on, the government appears to be running with almost military precision. Preparations for no-deal Brexit seem to be well under control, to the alarm of Philip Hammond, who had thought the task impossible. Yet the Prime Minister himself seems to have gone underground. He is not on holiday — his government is working all hours. But he has not been as big a feature of it as many expected.