Bankers 3
The Spectator
Thursday
Games
Pope
‘That’s Pope Innocent X — he was framed.’
Internet 2
Spectator letters: Nepotism, aid and Chatsworth
Nepotism rules Sir: Julie Burchill’s piece ‘Born to be famous’ (26 July) was very strong and as, like her, I’m an ex-Labour supporter turned conservative, it echoed my opinions. The performing arts in particular were a great outlet for the untapped talents of what we used to call the working classes. Between the mid-1950s and about
Hold on to your umbrella, Mr Putin: what the Russians lose without British trade
Off the shelf How do we boycott Putin? Some things we traded with Russia, by value, between March and May 2014: Export Mineral fuels £23m Nuclear reactors, boilers and machinery £164m Aircraft, spacecraft and parts thereof £46.6m Art, antiques etc £7.7m Fish, crustaceans and molluscs £3.25m Umbrellas, walking sticks and riding crops £170,925 Explosives and
Portrait of the week | 31 July 2014
Home Britain is to halve to three months the time that EU migrants without realistic job prospects can claim benefits, David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said in an article for the Daily Telegraph. Workers for the Passport Office who belong to the Public and Commercial Services Union went on strike ostensibly to ‘end staffing shortages
Stricter benefits limits shouldn't stop with immigrants
With Ukip snapping at the Conservatives’ heels, it is not difficult to see why David Cameron has hit upon the idea of limiting the entitlement of EU migrants to working-age benefits in the UK, so that they can claim only for three months, not six, as before. But it is a little harder to work
Books and arts - 31 July 2014
Podcast: The lure of the crowd, anti-Semitism and Cameron's uncertain future
Hell, as one of Jean-Paul Sartre’s characters said, is other people. Unless, that is, you happen to be British and born after about 1980, in which case hell is the opposite: being alone for more than about five minutes. In this week’s View from 22 podcast, Ross Clark looks at the rise of crowd culture.
Wednesday
Watch: Douglas Murray and Ben Soffa from Palestinian Solidarity Campaign discuss anti-Semitism
In this week’s Spectator, Melanie Phillips suggests that anti-Semitism is on the rise, fueled by the events in the Middle East. Douglas Murray and Ben Soffa, Secretary of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, discuss whether this is the case in this week’s View from 22 video special. Here’s an extract from Melanie’s piece. The full article
‘Unity at home and strength abroad’. Britain prepares for WW1 by postponing Irish home rule
The outbreak of war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia in July 1914 forced British politicians to postpone the Amending Bill for Irish home rule. This was momentous because Nationalists and Unionists had been on the verge of civil war (see picture above) over the amendments, which concerned the exclusion of the six counties of Ulster. The Spectator noted,
Monday
Morning review: Could British infrastructure cope with fracking?
In this week’s View from 22 Morning Review, Mary Wakefield, James Forsyth and David Blackburn discuss the weekend’s main stories. What can we do about the turmoil in the Middle East? And could Britain’s infrastructure cope with fracking?
Sunday
Simon Barnes: The England cricket team is playing out Don Giovanni
Simon Barnes has written the diary in this week’s issue of The Spectator. Here are his opening two paragraphs: ‘Sport is like love: it can only really hurt you if you care. Or for that matter, bring joy. You can’t explain sport, any more than you can explain the Goldberg Variations: you either get it
Friday
Ed Miliband's speech to launch Labour's summer campaign – full text
Today Labour leader Ed Miliband gave a speech on leadership and ‘the choice’ at the Royal Institute of British Architects. Here’s what he said: listen to ‘Ed Miliband: ‘If you want the politician from central casting, it’s just not me’’ on Audioboo
Thursday
List
‘You both need to start saving up...My Christmas list.’
Bar 4
‘He could pass for 45 if it wasn’t for the double-entendres.’
Writer
‘Writer’s block.’
Picnic
Le Fast Food sur l’herbe