The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Spectator letters: John Rutter and Coeliac UK answer Rod Liddle

From our UK edition

ME is real Sir: Rod Liddle may or may not be right that certain illnesses become fashionable once given a name and are illusory (‘Children with a severe case of the excuses’, 15 March). But ME — myalgic encephalomyelitis, alias post-viral fatigue syndrome or yuppie flu, is not one of them. It’s an unpleasant physical illness: it ruined seven years of my life. It probably takes a number of forms, but in my case it started with chicken pox, caught off my infant son. I seemed to make a complete recovery until a year later, when I began to experience unpleasant symptoms. These included abnormal sensitivity to sound and light, violently inflamed eyes and blisters around the head and upper body. There was also nominal aphasia (problems recalling words).

The Spectator

MH370 isn’t the only flight that’s still missing

From our UK edition

Plane vanished Some other planes, besides Flight MH370, which have disappeared without trace: — A Boeing 727 cargo plane that was being prepared for a flight in Luana, Angola, on 25 May 2003. It took off without permission and when last seen was headed south-westwards over the Atlantic. — An Antonov An-72 cargo plane with a crew of five on a flight from Port Bouet, Côte d’Ivoire to Rundu Airport, Namibia, on 22 December 1997. — A de Havilland Twin Otter operated by Merpati Nusantara Airlines with four crew and ten passengers on an internal Indonesian flight from Birma to Satartacik on 10 January 1995. Baby bills Does Britain have particularly expensive childcare?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 20 March 2014

From our UK edition

Home In the Budget, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that the economy was working but the job was far from done. He expected further falls in unemployment and wages rising faster than prices this year. The economy, he suggested, would return this year to its size in 2008. Before the Budget, Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that as many as 1.9 million working families could receive a tax-free childcare allowance worth up to £2,000 per child. Mr Osborne had announced that the help-to-buy scheme for new homes would be extended until 2020. He also let it be known that a garden city of 15,000 dwellings would be built near Gravesend on the high-speed line from the Channel.

The Spectator

George Osborne’s pensions revolution

From our UK edition

[audioplayer src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_20_March_2014_v4.mp3" title="Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman discuss the 2014 budget" startat=749] Listen [/audioplayer]It is easy to see why George Osborne seemed so confident ahead of the Budget. His radical reform of the pension system, allowing people far easier access to their pension pots, will not only help the retired (in the short term) but will raise money for the government, as it taxes what they spend. The Chancellor boasted that this was the biggest single reform to the pension system since the 1920s, and he has a point. Until now, the system had operated on the premise that people should save, and that banks normally offer reasonable rates of interest.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Budget 2014: full text of George Osborne’s speech

From our UK edition

listen to ‘George Osborne delivers the 2014 Budget’ on Audioboo Mr Deputy Speaker, I can report today that the economy is continuing to recover – and recovering faster than forecast. We set out our plan. And together with the British people, we held our nerve. We’re putting Britain right. But the job is far from done. Our country still borrows too much. We still don’t invest enough, export enough or save enough. So today we do more to put that right. This is a Budget for building a resilient economy. If you’re a maker, a doer or a saver: this Budget is for you. It is all part of a long term economic plan – a plan that is delivering security for the people of this country.

Friday

The Spectator

Former Labour minister Tony Benn dies – reaction

From our UK edition

Ed Miliband, leader of the Labour party: 'The death of Tony Benn represents the loss of an iconic figure of our age. 'He will be remembered as a champion of the powerless, a great parliamentarian and a conviction politician. 'Tony Benn spoke his mind and spoke up for his values. Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him, everyone knew where he stood and what he stood for. 'For someone of such strong views, often at odds with his Party, he won respect from across the political spectrum. 'This was because of his unshakeable beliefs and his abiding determination that power and the powerful should be held to account. 'He believed in movements and mobilised people behind him for the causes he cared about, often unfashionable ones.