Was the left right about Emperor Trump?
From our US edition
Plus: Biden givens his final presidential interview
The Spectator
Wednesday
Vow
I do not take you to be my husband or my fiancé, or even now my friend. I do not wish to have or to hold your head at the toilet’s rim. Nor keep you at arm’s length when you were other-him. I’ve had you better and the worst. I’ve certainly had you richer. As
Monday
The Tearing Ledge
Islands, illusions,our dark wrecking spell,five twisted pins at St Warna’s Well. Islands, illusionsin a Bryher of mist,Bishop Rock Lighthouse serpent-kissed. Islands, illusionsfrom East to West Porth,seas without God, skies without north. Islands, illusionsnear this world’s edge,storm petrels circle the Tearing Ledge. Islands, illusionson lost sailors’ lips,the Dogs of Scilly devour their ships.
The growing wealth gap between Britain and the US
New year predictions are always rash, but it feels as though one aspect of the story of 2025 can already be written. The gap between the economic fortunes of the US and Europe will continue to widen – and Britain will be trapped very much on the European side of the divide. In three weeks’
Portrait of the week: Reform’s rising membership, peerages and an 11lb puffball
Home Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said that the party now had more members than the Conservatives. On Christmas Day, 451 migrants crossed the Channel; another 1,000 arrived in the next three days but three died off Sangatte. Lord Mandelson, having failed to be elected Chancellor of Oxford University, was appointed ambassador to
2682: Exchanges - solution
The pairs of unclued lights (1 and 13; 15 and 11; 20 and 34; 25 and 39; 26 and 31/16 reversed) are literal anagrams of each other. First prize Justin Hughes, Petersfield, Hants Runners-up Jacqui Sohn, Gorleston, Norfolk; John Bennett, Havant, Hants
Who’s trying to persuade us to give things up in January?
Finishing touches A reminder of the campaigns trying to persuade us to give stuff up for January: – Veganuary: crowdfunded campaign set up in 2014 by a UK-based charity to persuade us to give up meat for a month. Claimed 500,000 supporters in 2021, although there is no data on how many people kept up
Letters: Where to find the best negroni
Free thinking Sir: Your leading article (‘Article of faith’, 14 December) appears to have forgotten the connection between rationalism and natural rights. Liberals indeed think in utilitarian, Rousseauian and what they consider ‘rationalistic’ terms. But what about the logic of natural rights that come from John Rawls or Robert Nozick? The Declaration of Independence, the
Sunday
The best film, TV and music of 2024
From our US edition
Spectator writers on their culture picks of the year
Thursday
This month in culture: January 2025
From our US edition
What to watch this month
Monday
Trump floats taking back Panama Canal
From our US edition
Plus: House releases Gaetz report & Biden issues commutations for killers
Friday
Congress hits spending stalemate
From our US edition
Plus: Biden missing in action & Luigi’s perp walk
Wednesday
Hunter Biden rehabbed at White House Christmas
From our US edition
Plus: Trump stacks roster of ambassadors & Pelosi flexes muscles on Oversight
Monday
Trump wins big in ABC defamation settlement
From our US edition
Plus: What we know about the mysterious drones
Friday
Chicago at a crossroads
From our US edition
Plus: China rejects Trump invite & Biden’s pardon spree
Thursday
Steven Pinker: The inside story of my Covid ‘bio bet’
Betting men Sir: The bet between Martin Rees and me that Matt Ridley recounts pits two kinds of scruples of disinterested rationality against each other (‘Wuhan wager’, 7 December). One is the scientific ethos that calls for factoring in all relevant information in updating one’s degree of credence in a hypothesis. The other is the
2024 Christmas quiz: the answers
Events, dear boy 1. Cheddar cheese 2. Cooper’s Hill 3. Mary Poppins 4. By breaking away and running loose for six miles through London while being exercised by Life Guards of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (they recovered from their injuries) 5. Sir Winston Churchill 6. The Courtauld Gallery 7. Copenhagen 8. Victoria Wood 9. Jupiter
2681: ‘I see wets...’ - solution
The unclued lights are all types of sweet. The title indicated SWEETIES, an anagram of ‘I SEE WETS’. First prize Will Devison, Shaldon, Devon Runners-up Philip Grindrod, London W4; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
A Spectator Christmas poll: Who is the most overrated painter?
Jonathan Meades This is a crowded field. A few years ago, I was delighted when Tracey Emin walked out of an address I was giving at the Royal Academy. But she’s no painter. The crown, then, has to go to Lucian Freud who was, unquestionably, a painter but a really bad one. Early on in
In defence of faith
For what should we give thanks this Christmas? The faith that sustains millions through life’s challenges and inspires countless acts of compassion every day? The hope that our world may be redeemed by love? The charity that makes us think of the voiceless and the vulnerable who need our love and protection? Faith, hope and