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Black to play. This is a variation from Caruana-Carlsen, World Championship (Game 10), London 2018. The black queen is trapped but Carlsen had planned an ingenious counter. What is it? Answers via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk by Monday 3 December (please note early closing date). There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out
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While some may doubt Donald Trump’s claim to be a friend of Britain’s, his intervention in the Brexit debate this week has been timely and depressingly accurate. The deal that Theresa May has brought back from Brussels, and which she will put before the Commons on 11 December, is indeed a good deal for the
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Brexit Theresa May, the Prime Minister, seemed to succeed in uniting the country in opposition to the withdrawal agreement to which she and the leaders of the other 27 EU members had assented at a summit in Brussels. Sir Michael Fallon called it ‘the worst of all worlds’. The Prime Minister had ‘given up’, according
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Unclued lights, individually or as a pair (38/9), are FIREWORKS. First prize F. Whitehead, Harrogate, North Yorks Runners-up I. Livingston, Wilmslow, Cheshire; Elisabeth Johnson, Toronto, Canada
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The Spectator’s 32nd Parliamentarian of the Year awards took place at the Rosewood Hotel in London this evening. The awards were presented by Liz Truss. Here are the winners: Backbencher of the year – Maria Miller Speech of the year – Margaret Hodge Minister of the year – Geoffrey Cox Campaigner of the year – David
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There is no ‘good’ Brexit Sir: David Harper claims to know ‘what the population of the UK voted for’ in the EU referendum (Letters, 17 November), yet no definitive Brexit plan was ever offered by the Leavers. That is one reason why the government, having prematurely triggered Article 50 and recklessly established its ‘red lines’,
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Black Friday When and where did the term ‘Black Friday’ originate? — It was used to describe a collapse in financial markets on 24 September 1869, prompted by the revelation of a Wall Street conspiracy to drive up the gold price. But in modern usage it was coined by police in 1950s Philadelphia, who had
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Home Five pizza-eating cabinet ministers — Andrea Leadsom, Penny Mordaunt, Liam Fox, Michael Gove and Chris Grayling — put it about that Theresa May, the Prime Minister, could be persuaded to amend the draft withdrawal agreement with the EU before she signs it at a summit this Sunday. But Mrs May said that she had
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France has been in a state of organised uprising this week, with 300,000 motorists taking to the streets and autoroutes to protest against rising fuel taxes. One protester has died, more than 400 have been injured and even more disruption is on the way. Watching Emmanuel Macron, you wouldn’t know it. He travelled to Berlin
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The unclued lights are presenters of BLUE PETER: individually at 39; pairs are 3/2, 7/22, 15A/15D, 15A/17, 25/14, and 32/31, with PETER at 15A doing double duty. First prize C.E. Christison, Edinburgh Runners-up Alison Burban, Turkdean, Gloucestershire; Greg Watson, Great Chesterford, Essex
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After yesterday’s round of resignations, Theresa May has started announcing the replacements for her top team. Here are the PM’s choices so far: Amber Rudd is the new DWP secretary Steve Barclay, formerly health minister, is the new Brexit secretary Stephen Hammond appointed health minister Kwasi Kwarteng appointed new junior Brexit minister John Penrose appointed
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Hard bitten A British tourist died after contracting rabies from a cat bite in Morocco. Whatever happened to the prominent anti-rabies posters at British ports? — The last case of rabies contracted in the UK was in 1922 but rising cross-Channel traffic led to a fear that infected animals could unwittingly be brought in. —
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Hearts as well as heads Sir: Simon Jenkins suggests we should stop remembering and start forgetting about the first world war (‘Don’t mention the war’, 10 November). His beef is with artists in particular, claiming that art ‘drenches history in emotion’. He prefers to read history books. No one would argue against history books, but
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Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, defended a 500-page technical draft of the agreement on withdrawal from the European Union. She met immediate opposition from the Democratic Unionists, from Jacob Rees-Mogg and from Boris Johnson. Mr Johnson’s brother Jo (a Remainer) had earlier resigned as a minister, calling Mrs May’s handling of Brexit a ‘failure
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During last year’s general election campaign, Theresa May declared that ‘You can only deliver Brexit if you believe in Brexit’. Unfortunately, her deal proves this point. It was negotiated by a team of people who imagined their job to be a damage-limitation exercise. They did not see Brexit as an opportunity and this is reflected
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The quotation is 10/11/39. Remaining unclued lights are all daggers. First prize G. Snailham, Windsor Runners-up Lynne Gilchrist, Willoughby, New South Wales; Kevin Bentley, Anglesey
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From ‘The Kaiser’, 16 November 1918: What is to be done with the Kaiser? For the question must certainly be answered. If we may venture to judge the feelings of our countrymen, we should say that, though there is no trace of a vindictive hostility towards any of the Germans who may seriously be trying
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Daniel Swift I feel as though I came late to the Sarah Moss party. Nobody told me she was this divided country’s most urgent novelist. Her themes: the cycles of history, male absurdity, the forms female subversion may take, in irony, sickness and sacrifice. It helps that she’s absurdly topical, and that she’s funny. Her
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It is cricket The use of a baseball expression, backstop, for possible arrangements over the Irish border could upset some Brexiteers. Yet the concept of a ‘backstop’ can be traced to a much more British game, cricket. The use of ‘backstop’ for what we would now call a wicket keeper was first recorded in the