In loving memory Sir: When Clarissa Tan covered last year’s Good Funeral Awards, it quickly became apparent that she was a woman facing her greatest fears with a gentle and courageous spirit. She left an enduring impression on all who met her. In her subsequent article for this magazine (‘The ideal death show’, 14 September
Flat pack Some facts about Glasgow’s Red Road Flats, built in 1968, which are to be demolished as part of the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Games. — The original plans were for four-storey maisonettes rather than tower blocks. — At 31 storeys and 292 feet, the first blocks were the highest residential buildings in
Home Maria Miller resigned as Culture Secretary after a week of being the centre of a game of hunt-the-issue. She had paid back expenses, but only the £5,800 requested by the Commons standards committee, not the £45,000 suggested by the parliamentary commissioner for standards; she had apologised in the Commons, but her apology lasted only
[audioplayer src=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_10_April_2014_v4.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman on Maria Miller’s resignation” startat=1057] Listen [/audioplayer]Yet again, the Conservative party has reminded us that it is quite capable of losing the next election. The events leading up to Maria Miller’s resignation are entirely consistent with a party that is so gauche, so accident-prone, so surprised by basic
‘We were always an odd couple. I’m a man, she’s a woman — it was never going to work.’
‘Stop calling us ugly and we’ll stop inflicting emotional child abuse.’
‘The A stands for appeasement.’
‘We must do lunch some day.’
‘What’s wrong? You’ve hardly touched your phone.’
‘I feel it only fair to warn you that from this point on your life will change for ever.’
‘Sure saves on a wedding photographer.’
‘My job title doesn’t really reflect what I do.’
‘There’s a copy of Crime and Punishment in the cake.’
‘Cannabis, actually.’
Chapter and verse on Islam Sir: Irshad Manji’s generally very sensible article on ‘Reclaiming Islam’ (29 March) suggests using the Qur’an sura 3:7 as a verse to challenge Islamists who claim a fundamentalist reading. She quotes the verse as saying that ‘God and God alone knows the full truth of how the Qu’ran ought to
