The Spectator

Friday

The Spectator

The Spectator at war: The last full measure of devotion

From our UK edition

From ‘Prohibition in Scotland during the war’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: WE note with great interest the movement which is gathering strength in Scotland in favour of prohibition during the war. Let us say at once that, provided a well-marked majority of the representatives of the Scottish constituencies support the movement, we not only see no reason why their wishes should not be fulfilled, but we see good reason why the Government, at a time when there is plenty of Parliamentary leisure, should take up the matter and let Scotland have what she wishes.

Thursday

The Spectator

Spectator letters: The ENO must go on; another expensive typo; and PC and Pamela

From our UK edition

A vandalistic proposal Sir: Igor Toronyi-Lalic (Farewell, ENO, 7 February) displays a lack of judgment in advocating ENO’s demise and in suggesting that opera needs no opera houses, companies or subsidy. That its new arts editor should plead for the closure of England’s great repertory opera company is unworthy of The Spectator. Toronyi-Lalic is wrong to think that the hundreds of thousands of English opera-goers will be content with performances by itinerant ensembles only. Small-scale performances presented anywhere can be moving, but the public demand productions of a scale that befits the art form as it has grown over the last four centuries.

The Spectator

What Samsung’s new TVs owe to Jeremy Bentham

From our UK edition

Watching brief Samsung warned users of its voice-activated televisions that what they said in front of the TV could be transmitted to other people. The story attracted comparison with the telescreens in George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, but the principle of keeping a population under control by surveillance was foreseen a century earlier by Jeremy Bentham. — In 1791 he came up with the idea for a Panopticon, a circular prison with one-way observation holes which would allow a single gaoler to patrol several hundred prisoners, none of whom could tell whether they were being watched at any one moment. — Bentham saw the government’s eventual rejection of the scheme as ‘sinister’, a word now more likely to be used to describe the idea itself.

The Spectator

In this election, won’t someone please weaponise defence?

From our UK edition

Britain is forfeiting its position on the world stage. With no national debate, we are surrendering our claim to be a major player in international affairs and undermining the Atlantic alliance that has kept Britain and Europe secure for 65 years. In these circumstances, it is easy to understand why Barack Obama has felt obliged to warn David Cameron of the damage he would be doing to the special relationship and to Nato if he failed to commit Britain to spending the bare minimum on defence. The Prime Minister has given several spending pledges — on education, health and overseas aid — so his silence on defence speaks volumes.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 12 February 2015

From our UK edition

Home Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, told Parliament that Britain reserved the right to supply arms to Ukraine, as ‘We could not allow the Ukrainian armed forces to collapse.’ The Prince of Wales, embarking on a six-day tour of the Middle East, said on Radio 2 that he ‘particularly wanted to show solidarity really, deep concern for what so many of the Eastern Christian churches are going through in the Middle East’. John Longworth, the head of British Chambers of Commerce, called for a referendum on membership of the European Union to be held in 2016, a year earlier than David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has promised, in order to end uncertainty. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said the same.