Confessional
From our UK edition
The Spectator
Thursday
Whippy
From our UK edition
‘And is there a Mrs Whippy?’
Newsreader 2
From our UK edition
‘The next item contains some not-very-flash photography.’
Badgers 6
From our UK edition
‘It’s from the BBC, they say we need a licence for our sett.’
Medical 2
From our UK edition
‘Will you switch off that damn medical programme!’
Nicola
From our UK edition
‘And stop calling me Nicola.’
Pay
From our UK edition
‘I want to be a train driver when I grow up — depending on the pay and conditions.’
Wigs
From our UK edition
‘When you told me you wanted your day in court…’
Letting Agent
From our UK edition
‘The landlord has promised to sort out the damp problems.’
Countryside 3
From our UK edition
Aliens 2
From our UK edition
‘You can put your hands down, I’m just taking a photograph.’
Letters | 28 May 2015
From our UK edition
Why we don’t need mayors Sir: There are a number of arguments against Steve Hilton’s call for more than 10,000 mayors (‘We need 10,000 mayors’, 23 May). One is that such an idea ruptures the whole tradition of British municipal administration, under which a system of elected councils is maintained to which executive officers are
Barometer | 28 May 2015
From our UK edition
Steam privatisation Cunard celebrated its 175th birthday by sailing three liners down the Mersey. The formation of the Cunard Line was an early triumph of privatisation. — The Post Office had been operating a monthly service to New York with sailing brigs since 1756. In 1836 a parliamentary committee decided that a steamship service should
Portrait of the week | 28 May 2015
From our UK edition
Home A Bill to enable a referendum on whether voters wanted Britain to ‘remain’ in the European Union figured in the Queen’s Speech. Another Bill prohibited any rise in income tax rates, VAT or national insurance before 2020. Tenants of housing associations would be given the right to buy their homes. Provision for Scottish devolution
Redefining aid
From our UK edition
In this week’s Queen’s Speech, the government promised as usual to cut red tape for businesses. But David Cameron is remarkable in his enthusiasm for simultaneously wrapping his own government in red tape. He has proposed a law to prevent the Chancellor raising rates of income tax, and in one of the last acts of
The Spectator at war: Marital obligations
From our UK edition
From ‘Boys and Compulsory Service‘, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: [To the editor of The Spectator] Sir,— The wasteful expedient of universal service may be unavoidable, but I submit that loss will outweigh gain if we compel boys under twenty to fight abroad. To this, however, I would admit one exception—married men of whatever age.
A new coalition
From our UK edition
From ‘The National Government’, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: We do not suppose that the war, or the need for patriotic effort, has suddenly turned all the men on the new Cabinet list from very human human beings into angels. We do believe, however, that the war has changed them from politicians into fighting men… To put
Wednesday
The Spectator at war: Italy’s contribution
From our UK edition
From ‘What Italy Brings To The Allies‘, 29 May 1915: THE more the entrance of Italy into the war is contemplated the more romantic and gratifying it seems. Italy has joined the forces of Freedom with whom her heart has long been beating. It is her right and natural place. Why, then, it may be asked,
Tuesday
The Spectator at war: A room of one’s own
From our UK edition
From ‘Flat-hunting’, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: ECONOMY is just now a fashion set by necessity. The professional class are eagerly reducing their outlay, and the most obvious thing to save on is the rent. The immediate result of this determination to live at less cost is that all the cheap flats and small houses
Monday
The Spectator at war: Rational optimism
From our UK edition
From ‘News of the Week‘, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: The past fortnight, partly perhaps owing to the uncertainty of the political situation, has been marked by a great deal of anxiety and pessimism of a very unworthy kind. Yet there is no real cause for grumblings and lamentings, but strong cause for the reverse.
