Man Flu
The Spectator
Thursday
Spectator letters: In defence of the GMC and Ukip members, and how Rachmaninov spelled Rachmaninov
Nothing to fear Sir: So long as we are not breaking any law, we have nothing to fear from the police being able to access our mobiles (‘Licence to snoop’, 11 October). They, however, would be committing a crime if they released any information so gleaned to anyone except to the judiciary if we are being accused of a crime. In these difficult times it is reassuring that the police should have every means at their disposal in pursuing those who would do us harm or commit criminal activity.
David Cameron’s not the only one in trouble over morris dancing
Dirty dancing David Cameron was accused of causing racial offence by posing with blacked-up Morris dancers, though it was pointed out that the tradition dates from 16th-century jobless labourers covering their faces with soot. Other Morris dancer controversies: — In 2011 the Slubbing Billys were thrown out of a pub in Durham for breaking a rule against music. They weren’t dancing, just drinking, but had bells on their trousers. — In 2013 officials from Lancashire County Council accused the Britannia Coconut Dancers of breaching health and safety rules when their dance strayed onto the road. Forget me, forget me not? Where have people been most successful at persuading Google to remove links they claim infringe their ‘right to be forgotten’?
Portrait of the week | 16 October 2014
Home Checks began at British airports for passengers who might have come from west Africa with Ebola fever (even though there are no direct flights from the countries most affected). People who rang 111 with suspicious symptoms were to be asked whether they’d come from a high-risk country. Police arrested three men and three women from Portsmouth, Farnborough and Greenwich as part of an anti-terrorism operation. Of five men arrested the week before, two were released. The trial began before a jury at the Old Bailey of Erol Incedal on charges of preparing for acts of terrorism; parts of it will be held in secret.
If Turkey turns on the West, what hope is there for Syria and Iraq?
Turkey has long been a bridge between the West and the Middle East. Its record on free speech may be lamentable and it treats its Kurdish minority shoddily, but against that stands a genuine will to improve its human rights record and an ambition to become a modern, free and prosperous state. This has long been the basis of Britain’s support for Turkey joining the European Union. But this week we have seen a reminder of how far the priorities of Turkey’s political establishment are from those of Europe. Its parliament recently consented to the use of an airbase at Incirlik by US forces launching airstrikes against the Islamic State, a move that could dramatically increase the number and effectiveness of such missions.
Books and arts – 16 October 2014
Tell you what Mrs Clooney. If Greece repays its $240 billion EU loan, we’ll return the Marbles
Hollywood has a reputation for creating trite storylines in which either a lawyer is cast as the hero or England as the villain. Its latest epic has both, and this one is reality. Little more than a week after her marriage to George Clooney, the world’s most photographed barrister, Amal Alamuddin -Clooney, has flown off to advise the Greek government on how to force the removal of the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum. Given the rioting, economic meltdown and general chaos of recent years, it would be easy to think that Greece had more immediate worries than the whereabouts of a set of decorative stones rescued in the early 19th century — with permission from authorities in Athens — to save them from being chiselled away by peasants for -quicklime.
Podcast: Tory-Ukip relations, terrorist negotiations and Brighton’s Green problems
In this week’s issue, Lord Pearson, the former leader of Ukip, describes how he tried to offer the Tories a pact before the last general election, but Cameron refused to meet with him to discuss it. Now it's too late, says Lord Pearson, and Cameron has forced Ukip to fight him to the end. Lord Pearson and Damian Green, the Conservative MP for Ashford, join Lara Prendergast on the podcast to discuss relations between the Tories and Ukip. Should we ever negotiate with the Islamic State? Jonathan Powell has recently suggested we should consider it. Jenny McCartney takes issue with his stance though.
The Spectator at war: Making heavy weather for the enemy
From The Spectator, 17 October 1914: In view of the possibilities, naval and aerial, we cannot help thinking that it would be a good thing if our newspapers suppressed the weather forecasts and all information as to barometrical pressure, which are very probably communicated by wireless to our enemies. These forecasts are now exceedingly accurate, and we can well understand how useful it might be to the enemy to know what kind of weather they might expect when they reached British air. If the authorities think there is anything in the point, they will no doubt take it up. We feel perfectly sure that there will be no annoyance expressed either on the part of the Press or of the general public if they are deprived of weather forecasts.
From the archives | 16 October 2014
From ‘War and wild life’, The Spectator, 17 October 1914: The siege of Antwerp has been a minor tragedy in a quarter to which few probably gave a thought. The authorities of the Antwerp Zoological Gardens, before the bombardment began, felt compelled to destroy all the dangerous animals in their cages. They could not contemplate the possibility of beasts of prey loose in the streets; a stray shell would break the bars of the strongest enclosure, and the Zoological Gardens are situated near one of the important railway stations, which would naturally attract the fire of cannon.
Wednesday
The Spectator’s portrait of the week
Home Checks began at British airports for passengers who might have come from west Africa with Ebola fever (even though there are no direct flights from the countries most affected). People who rang 111 with suspicious symptoms were to be asked whether they’d come from a high-risk country. Police arrested three men and three women from Portsmouth, Farnborough and Greenwich as part of an anti-terrorism operation. Of five men arrested the week before, two were released. The trial began before a jury at the Old Bailey of Erol Incedal on charges of preparing for acts of terrorism; parts of it will be held in secret.
