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Ukip has arrived at Westminster. Douglas Carswell held his Clacton seat after defecting from the Conservatives, and in Heywood and Middleton Ukip came just 617 votes short of victory. Which was the more startling result, and what does it all mean for the parties’ chances at the general election? Fraser Nelson and James Forsyth discuss in
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From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: As we go on in life we do, as a rule, learn our place more or less truly, and we find it is not the one we should have chosen. It may not be lower, but it is almost certainly different from what we expected. As we look over
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‘You can’t trust British elections — they’re all about bribery.’
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From our UK edition
‘That’s your answer to everything, isn’t it? “When they publish the Chilcot report.” ’
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‘Good, great, super. Now everybody say, “sleaze”.’
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From our UK edition
From our UK edition
‘I love him as a pet — I’m just saying he is rather high-maintenance.’
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‘If anyone calls, I’m in the bath.’
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‘Uh oh, looks like their creative accounting has crept into their special offers.’
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From our UK edition
‘We had a blazing row about Gone Girl, then she just disappeared.’
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‘Do you have to do that in public?’
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From our UK edition
From our UK edition
‘Well, I think we can rule out bipolar.’
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‘These boots on the ground aren’t much of a threat, are they?’
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‘I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it, sir. We should be more specifi c that it’s not a sight-recovery experience.’
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Faith and flexibility Sir: What a contrast in your two articles on religion last week: one liberal atheist parent (Claire Stevens) concerned about her son’s turn to conservative Islam, and one conservative Catholic (Louise Mensch) determined that her children understand her unbending fidelity to the tradition. Ms Mensch’s problem is endemic throughout the western church,