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Economic forecasting was created, J.K. Galbraith said, to make astrology look respectable. It is not difficult to imagine what the great Keynesian economist would have thought of Rachel Reeves’s Spring Statement this week. It was pure -crystal balls. The statement was redundant on delivery – redundancy being one of the few areas of growth in
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The eight unclued entries are the names of Verdi operas: FALSTAFF, AIDA, NABUCCO, ERNANI, IL TROVATORE, LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, OTELLO. The puzzle’s title suggests an anagram of the composer’s name, Verdi. First prize Zoe Hope, Cilgerran, Cardigan Runners-up Clive West, Old Windsor, Berkshire; Robert Teuton, Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire
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Bring back wisdom Sir: Douglas Murray is right that reducing the educational attainment of politicians is not the answer to people’s demand for change (‘The perils of idiocracy’, 28 February). But we do have an educational divide driven by disrespect, which graduates have caused and need to fix. Historically, non-graduates associated those of higher education
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Before the first missiles landed in Tehran, Rachel Reeves had been looking forward to today’s spring ‘forecast’ statement, which was designed to be the lightest-touch intervention by a Chancellor since Philip Hammond in 2018: no Office for Budget Responsibility scoring of her fiscal rules, no tax announcements, no major policy changes and, crucially, no months
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At The Spectator’s Alternative Covid Inquiry last night, science writer and journalist Matt Ridley; Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford; Jonathan Sumption, writer and former Supreme Court Justice; Christopher Snowdon, journalist and head of lifestyle economics at the IEA, and Tom Whipple, science writer and special correspondent at the Times, had their say on what went wrong – and
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Watch The Spectator’s Alternative Covid Inquiry. Six years after the world shut down, we’re still examining what happened and why. As the official Covid Inquiry finally comes to end, our panel asked the questions the experts didn’t – or wouldn’t. The Spectator’s commissioning editor Lara Brown was joined by science writer and journalist Matt Ridley; Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical
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We are all, you might say, waiting for those barbarians even though we lack particulars, even an approximate profile, mug-shot, card-index summation, press cutting. Nothing exists but the vague sense that it should, that our time is up, we have held on too long, making the same points, using the identical words to describe this
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When self-styled ‘Money Saving Expert’ Martin Lewis gate-crashed Kemi Badenoch’s Good Morning Britain interview to reprimand the Conservative leader over her plans to cut the interest on student loans, he failed to mention that she was addressing a crisis for which he carries a little of the blame. For years, Lewis has encouraged prospective students
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Home Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and released under investigation. The King said: ‘The law must take its course.’ The government proposed introducing legislation to remove Mountbatten-Windsor from the line of royal succession, and agreed to a motion compelling ministers to release information relating to
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The ship was HMS Bellerophon, nicknamed BILLY RUFFIAN (11A/14A), whose BATTLE honours included THE GLORIOUS FIRST OF JUNE, THE NILE and TRAFALGAR and whose most famous passenger was NAPOLEON who surrendered to her after Waterloo. Her final role was as a prison HULK (23D). Title: having 74 guns she was a ‘third-rate’. First prize D.C.
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Defence agreement Sir: If (a big ‘if’, I know) our politicians really would like to address the parlous state of the UK’s defences (‘Indefensible’, 21 February) but refrain from the necessary tax increases and/or spending cuts out of fear their unpopularity would open the door to their opponents, they should consider adopting a device the
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Out of line Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may be removed from the line of succession. When was the last time this happened? — The Abdication Act of 1936 not only removed Edward VIII from the throne; it also removed his heirs from the line of succession. In the event, however, he didn’t have any. The last alteration
Last night among his fellow roughs, He plotted, schemed, and swore; An anxious statesman of the Bluffs, Who never looked before. To-day, beneath the foeman’s frown, He stands in Charles’s place, Ambassador from Britain’s crown, And type of all her race. Rich, reckless, posh, well-born, well-taught, Bewildered and alone, A heart with leftish instinct fraught,
The world, the young woman said, is ruled by old men with hard, brutal faces and an ugly lust for power. Nothing that gym bars or strictures of the personal physician can offer will help them in the end when the dark fog drops to cover the formerly sentient mind, its edicts like arrows that
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Home Pupils will be allowed to change gender at school, according to guidance issued by Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary; parents would be consulted, unless there was a safeguarding reason not to, and children would have their preferred pronouns used in the classroom. However, children older than eight would still have to use facilities according
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‘Shape without form, shade without colour. Paralysed force, gesture without motion.’ T.S Eliot’s lines from ‘The Hollow Men’ sum up in 11 words the emptiness of Sir Keir Starmer’s administration. Nowhere is the shade darker and the force more paralysed than in our government’s defence policy. At the Munich Security Conference last weekend, the Prime
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The unclued lights can precede or follow ROYAL. The preamble should have read: Seven unclued lights (two of two words) follow and four precede a word defined by the title. Doc apologises for the error. First prize Andrew Bell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire Runners-up C.R. Haigh, Hassocks, W. Sussex; Paul Elliott, London W12
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Growing pains Sir: It was reassuring to learn that Wes Streeting is a reader of The Spectator and also shares the view of many that his government has ‘no growth strategy’ (‘To lead or not to lead’, 14 February). However, it is a shame that following the October 2024 Budget he did not take up
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Toxic legacy Analysis by scientists at Porton Down suggested that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been killed using epibatidine, a neurotoxin found in dart frogs from South America. — Using naturally occurring neurotoxins goes back further than anyone thought. In January scientists at Stockholm University reported that they had found traces of alkaloids from
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Watch the live recording of Toby Young in conversation with John Rhys-Davies. Widely regarded as having one of the most recognisable voices in film history, the legendary actor has starred in some of the biggest blockbusters of the past 40 years, including The Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. In this exclusive in-depth conversation with Toby Young,
