The Spectator

Home The country went to the polls to elect Members of the European Parliament and express its loathing for the two main political parties. On the eve of polling, Theresa May, the Prime Minister, appealed for MPs’ support for the Withdrawal Agreement Bill to be introduced shortly, saying that it would contain a provision for a vote on another referendum. In response, those she meant to woo reacted with hostility. The 1922 Committee had promised to have another little word with her about resigning after the bill’s fortunes became clear. Lord Heseltine had the Tory whip removed after saying he would vote for the Lib Dems in the EU elections.

Milkshakes and other missiles What can the man who threw a milkshake over Nigel Farage in Newcastle expect as a punishment, from past precedent? — Tony Blair was struck by a tomato in Bristol in 2001. His attacker was given a two-year conditional discharge. — In the same year, John Prescott had an egg thrown at him in Wales. The attacker was punched in the face by Prescott. — In 2004 Tony Blair had a condom full of purple-dyed flour thrown at him in the House of Commons. The assailant was given a two-year conditional discharge. — In March, a man was jailed for 28 days for throwing an egg at Jeremy Corbyn.   Eurovision failures Did the UK come last in Eurovision because of Brexit?

The group is ‘Les Nabis’ (anagram of ALBINESS (18)). Its members were VALLOTTON, DENIS, ROUSSEL, RANSON, SÉRUSIER, BONNARD and VUILLARD. The seminal work was THE TALISMAN (appearing diagonally from row thirteen). THE TALISMAN was to be shaded.

Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said that the EU withdrawal bill would be introduced in the Commons in the first week of June (just when President Donald Trump of the United States is making his state visit). If parliament did not vote for it, Britain would leave without an agreement, or its notice to leave under Article 50 would be revoked. Parliament sat for its 301st day, the longest session since the Long Parliament in the English Civil War. Olly Robbins, the civil servant who is chief negotiator for exiting the European Union, was sent to Brussels for no clear reason. May had a meeting with Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition, after the cabinet agreed to let talks with Labour on Brexit continue.

This week the Institute for Fiscal Studies announced a five-year study into inequality in Britain, to be led by the economist Sir Angus Deaton, a Scottish academic who recently won the Nobel prize for economics. It is to be welcomed, because it will widen the scope of a debate that has been too narrow for too long. Britain’s problems with inequality stem not from an unfair distribution of income but from patchy provision of public services, which are often far better in wealthier areas than in poorer ones. As the IFS makes clear in a report to launch its initiative, income inequality in Britain is not rising — how-ever much the Labour party would like to tell us it is.