The Spectator

Thursday

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Portrait of the week | 4 October 2018

Home Boris Johnson, the former foreign secretary, played a well-nourished Banquo’s Ghost at the Conservative party conference, where Theresa May, the Prime Minister, declared that Britain after Brexit would be ‘full of promise’. She had insisted that the Chequers proposals for Brexit were the only ones possible. Mr Johnson called them ‘deranged’. Mrs May felt obliged to tell Andrew Marr on television: ‘I do believe in Brexit.’ Philip Hammond, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, mocked Mr Johnson’s way of speaking: ‘Boris sits there,’ he told the Mail on Sunday, ‘and at the end of it he says, “Yeah but, er, there must be a way, I mean, if you just, if you, erm, come on, we can do it, Phil, we can do it.

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to 2376: Somewhere XI

On 15 September, Costa Rica, bordered by PANAMA (31) and NICARAGUA (5), and whose capital is SAN JOSÉ (40/10), celebrated its INDEPENDENCE (43) from SPAIN (35). Its main exports are BANANAS (36) and COFFEE (19D) and, unusually, it has no STANDING ARMY (1). CR (in the twelfth column) was to be shaded.   First prize Revd Anne Kiggell, Headington, Oxford Runners-up Frank Anstis, Truro, Cornwall; D.G.

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The decisive moment

From ‘News of the week’, 5 October 1918: The Western Front is now aflame from the sea to Verdun. This week has seen the hardest fighting of the war. Marshal Foch has launched not one offensive but a whole series, in one sector after another, so that now the battle is joined along a front of over two hundred miles. The enemy is thus hotly engaged at almost every point, and can no longer weaken one part of his line to strengthen another, since a breach at any place would be disastrous. The decisive moment has come.

Tuesday

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Conservative party conference, day three: The Spectator guide | 2 October 2018

All eyes will be on Boris Johnson when he addresses the Tory fringes this afternoon. Expect the former foreign secretary to offer plenty of advice for the Prime Minister as she prepares for her keynote speech tomorrow. And on the main stage, Sajid Javid is the pick of the speakers: Conference listings: 10.00 – 12.30 Symphony Hall A STRONGER, FAIRER UNITED KINGDOM Secretary of State for Scotland Secretary of State for Wales Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for the Cabinet Office Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentSession to include contributions from Party members 14.00 – 16.

Monday

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Conservative party conference, day two: The Spectator guide | 1 October 2018

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and the Chancellor Philip Hammond are the big draws on day two of the Conservative conference, but there is plenty of action on the fringes too. Here are the highlights to watch out for: Conference listings: 10.00 – 12.30 Symphony Hall AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Secretary of State for Transport Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Chancellor of the ExchequerSession to include contributions from Party members 14.00 – 16.

Sunday

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Conservative party conference, day one: The Spectator guide | 30 September 2018

The Conservatives return to Birmingham and Theresa May has defied some predictions by even making it this far. But can she keep the show on the road? Or will the Tory party conference be as big a disaster as last year's gathering? Here are the highlights to keep an eye out for today: Conference listings: 10.00 – 12.00 Hall 1, ICC Birmingham MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CONSERVATIVE CONVENTION 14.00 – 14.45 Symphony Hall WELCOME TO CONFERENCE Chairman of the Conservative Party Mayor of the West Midlands 14.45 – 16.30 Symphony Hall GLOBAL BRITAIN Secretary of State for International Trade Secretary of State for International Development Secretary of State for Defence Secretary of State for Foreign Commonwealth Affairs 16.30 – 17.

Thursday

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Letters | 27 September 2018

Neutral technology Sir: Jenny McCartney’s ‘wake-up call’ (22 September) reminded me of a 19th-century Scientific American piece I discovered describing a dangerous new trend ‘which robs the mind of valuable time that might be devoted to nobler acquirements, while it affords no benefit whatever to the body’. The fad? Chess. I grew up bingeing on video games and cable TV. I heard similar concerns to Jenny’s from my parents, who were scolded for listening to The Beatles. Before them, books were seen as promoting sedentary behaviour. New technologies are neutral — they reflect both the light and dark sides of human nature.

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Barometer | 27 September 2018

Beastly crimes Police in Croydon stopped investigating a series of cat killings after concluding that foxes were likely to blame. Other crimes which turned out to be the work of animals: — In 2016 a crow named Canuck swooped down and took a knife which Vancouver police had been guarding as evidence. A year later Canuck attacked a postman. — In 2008, a vandal was suspected of repeatedly fusing the lights at an aquarium in Coburg, Germany, putting many creatures at risk. In fact it was an octopus called Otto who found he could extinguish the light on his tank by squirting water at it. — Novelist Michael Peterson served eight years in jail for murdering his wife in North Carolina in 2001.

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Portrait of the Week – 27 September 2018

Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, held a special cabinet to retrieve something from the wreckage of the Brexit policy she had imposed at Chequers this summer. Mrs May had shown surprise at a summit in Salzburg four days earlier when the EU rejected her proposals. ‘The suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work,’ said Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council. He then posted a picture on Instagram of himself and Mrs May with a cakestand and the caption: ‘A piece of cake, perhaps? Sorry, no cherries.’ Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, said that this was ‘insulting the British people’.

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Left in charge

The worst of Britain’s post-war mistakes, ideas we thought long dead, are once more in the air. Yet again there are plans for ‘workers on boards’ (the govern-ment, of course decides who’s a worker), and for mandatory price caps, based on the delusion that government can make things cheaper by diktat. Intelligent people are once more agreed that British employers should pay the highest minimum wage in the developed world — a policy estimated to condemn tens of thousands to unemployment. The tax burden is at a 30-year high, yet many assume we should make that burden still heavier — as if the country can be taxed to prosperity. The Labour party has been pontificating along these lines in Liverpool all week, but these are in fact Tory ideas.

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Allenby’s triumph

From ‘The Eastern successes’, 28 September 1918: The glorious news from Palestine and Macedonia has exceeded all expectations. The annihilating victory of Sir Edmund Allenby in Palestine, and the rapid advance of the Allies against the apparently demoralised Bulgarian Army, will help very powerfully towards weakening the unity and breaking the heart of our enemies. Though it would be impossible to praise too highly these splendid achievements, it is necessary to judge them in their proper relation to the strategy of the whole war...

Wednesday

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Full text: Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour conference speech

Thank you for that welcome. I want to start by thanking the workers, the fantastic staff at the Conference Centre and hotels, the Labour Party staff who make this possible, and the people of Liverpool who have made us feel so welcome this week. And I want to thank my family, but in particular my wife Laura. Tu eres mi fuerza y mi apoyo. Gracias Laurita. And congratulations conference, to all of you on what’s been a great conference. A conference of a Labour Party that’s ready to take charge and start the work of rebuilding our divided country. This year we mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which saw eight million women getting the vote for the first time, along with five and a half million working class men.

Tuesday

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Full text: Emily Thornberry’s Labour conference speech

Conference, as we all know, this is a year of important anniversaries in the history of the socialist movement - a movement always based on the unstoppable momentum of the masses, the incredible inspiration of courageous individuals and a core belief that injustice done to any of us is injustice done to all of us wherever we are in the world. And in this year of anniversaries, we start by celebrating 150 years of the TUC: 150 years spent fighting for workers, not just in Britain but all across the globe, and stronger than ever today thanks to the leadership of Frances O’Grady, and thanks to a Labour leadership which now respects the representatives of our workers, rather than treating them with deliberate contempt.

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Full text: Keir Starmer’s Labour conference speech on Brexit

Conference, the last two years have not been easy. Like many of you, I was devastated by the referendum result. Like many of you, I’d campaigned passionately to stay in the EU. Not for the technical benefits – important though they are. But because I’m an internationalist. Because I believe that nations achieve more together than they do alone. I believe that the greatest challenges facing our nation –  armed conflict, terrorism, climate change or  unchecked globalisation – can best be met together with our EU partners. And the greatest opportunities –  medical research, scientific advancement, art and culture – can only be realised together with our EU partners.

The Spectator

Labour’s conference, day three: The Spectator guide

It's Brexit day at Labour conference: Keir Starmer will be on his feet in the conference hall this morning, detailing the party's plan for leaving the EU. Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry will also be speaking. And there's plenty of action on the fringes, including Tom Watson – who was sidelined from the main stage – popping up: Labour conference: 9:30: Morning Plenary Session: NEC and CLP Constitutional Amendments 10:10: Brexit and the economy Brexit secretary Keir Starmer 12.30: Rebecca Long-Bailey 12:40: Votes 1415: Afternoon Plenary Session: 14:45: Emily Thornberry 14:30: Security at home and abroad 17.10: Diane Abbott 17:30: Votes   Fringe events: 10:00: If Not Leave, What?

Monday

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Full text: John McDonnell’s Labour conference speech

I want to start by thanking the Treasury Team: Peter Dowd, Shadow Chief Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, Annaliese Dodds, Clive Lewis, Lynne Brown, Lord Dennis Tunnicliffe, Lord Bryan Davies and PPS Thelma Walker who won back Colne Valley from the Tories last year. This month is the 10th anniversary of the financial crash. J.K.Galbraith in his book on the 1929 crash said sure you can try to create institutions to avoid crashes in the future but the best protection is memory. So it’s worth remembering. The causes of the crash were: Yes, greed; yes, the deregulation that turned the City into a multibillion pound casino, but more importantly it was caused by the power of a small, financial elite who exercised too much power over our political system.

Sunday