The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

The Spectator is looking for a political cartoonist

Here’s your chance to have your illustrations featured in The Spectator.  We’re looking for fresh, funny, and original work. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, this is your opportunity to submit your work, as we invite new cartoonists to join our ranks. Picture the cover of The Spectator. What would you put on it? Picture an article you have read recently in the magazine. How would you illustrate it?  If you are a terrific caricaturist, fantastic storyteller and wit who doesn’t take anything too seriously, please throw your hat in the ring. Submit your best cartoons and join the legendary illustrators who have graced the pages of The Spectator.  All we ask is that you try to make readers laugh.

The Spectator

Letters: AI isn’t the only threat to middle-class jobs

Poetic licence Sir: As a Welshman well-used to the prejudice and insults to which our ancient language and its speakers are often subjected, I read Lloyd Evans’s article (‘Language barrier’, 5 October) with some trepidation. Mercifully, my fears were allayed by a generally even-handed summary of some of the thorny issues that inspire debate in much of north-west Wales. I confess that I have never understood why so many Englishmen seem to treat as a personal insult the existence of a language of such noble and ancient pedigree on the shores of the British Isles, or why its continued usage in everyday life should inspire such consternation.

Philip Hancock

Sideman

       for Chris Spedding When most eyes still linger on the singer, he’s picked out of the shadows into a cone of light. No other way would he have it: More silver quiff than white, thank you, more Cochran, Vincent, defo more Elvis! Like a thing dug out of a plumber’s sack his brass slide top-hats the music stand – no more rummaging in his left pocket before a solo – slipped onto his third finger: lightly does it, a touch here, pressure there, up and down the frets of his Trussart. No smiling when he’s right up there at the dusty end, putting his back into it,  lifting the song into elsewhere, his playing cutting into my bloodstream.

Monday

The Spectator

Trump returns to site of first assassination attempt

From our US edition

President Donald Trump triumphantly returned to Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday — exactly twelve weeks after an attempted assassin shot Trump in the ear, killed a rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, and injured several others.Trump previously promised he would go back to finish his rally in Butler, and he did indeed show up at the same spot where he was very nearly killed, kicking off the event with an acknowledgment that the last time he was there, his speech was cut short. “As I was saying...” Trump said to cheers and laughter. He referenced the famous illegal immigration chart that likely saved his life, as he turned his head to look at it at the exact moment the shooter fired, ensuring the bullet grazed his ear and did not go through his head. “I love that chart.

Friday

The Spectator

Biden fails his Hurricane Katrina moment

From our US edition

“I didn’t know which storm you’re talking about,” President Joe Biden said this week, as Hurricane Helene ravaged the southeastern United States. “They’ve gotten everything they need. They’re very happy across the board,” he said, as private citizens have stepped in to fill the void created by the federal government’s lackluster response.Some Americans who have flown helicopters to rescue victims from the storm have reportedly been threatened with arrest, including one who is a volunteer firefighter. Nevertheless, Biden insists that Americans have what they need, and Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to rush to the scene after promising one-time payments of $750.

Thursday

The Spectator

‘No win, no fee’ has no place in war zones

The guilty plea of the former human rights lawyer Phil Shiner this week to charges of fraud is a story that deserves considerable attention. Shiner had tried to claim £200,000 in legal aid without disclosing that – in the breach of the rules – he had employed an agent to cold-call potential ‘victims’ of mistreatment at the hands of British service personnel in Iraq. An inquiry held by the UK government in 2014 found that the allegations of abuse or violence which Shiner brought forward had little basis in fact: one fighter who was said to have been killed in custody by a British soldier was established to have died in battle, never captured alive.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Iran fires missiles into Israel, Rosie Duffield resigns and Mount Everest gets taller

Home The Conservatives at their party conference examined the four surviving candidates for leader – Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – with the prospect of two being thrown out of the ballot by MPs next week and the other two being put to the party membership on 2 November. Rishi Sunak, the last Conservative prime minister, urged the conference optimistically: ‘We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling.’ Jeremy Hunt, the former chancellor, said: ‘One of the biggest lies we’ve had since Labour came to office is this nonsense about having the worst economic inheritance since the second world war.

Wednesday

The Spectator

GOP falls in love with J.D. Vance

From our US edition

Republicans who were worried about former president Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio senator J.D. Vance as his running mate are eating crow after Vance’s dominant performance in last night’s vice-presidential debate over Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Immediately after the pick, GOP commentators and operatives feared that the narrative that Vance was “weird” and other Democrat-backed opposition research against Vance could hurt the ticket. But Vance proved himself as an effective messenger of the Trump agenda and demonstrated his ability to be a steady and, well, normal politician, a potentially important contrast to Trump’s sometimes off-putting personality for suburban and independent voters. Conservatives who pushed for Vance, including Donald Trump Jr.

The Spectator

Letters: Are there still any reasons to be cheerful?

Doctor’s note Sir: Your leading article ‘Labour vs labour’ (21 September) follows a recent theme that I have noticed in The Spectator, in which the government is criticised for allowing public pay rises without implementing changes to working practices to increase productivity. I cannot comment on other sectors but I work in the NHS, working closely with junior doctors as colleagues and am involved in training them. Your article appears to imply that if they worked harder or differently, productivity would improve.

Tuesday

Monday

The Spectator

Biden admin upended by chaotic weekend

From our US edition

The Biden administration is struggling to find its footing amid a series of unfortunate events that are testing the oft-vacationing president and his vice president, who is currently auditioning for the top spot in American politics.Hurricane Helene decimated parts of North Carolina, leaving millions of Americans without power, at least thirty dead and many more missing. Entire towns are practically gone, and pictures of video of the storm’s aftermath show flooding enveloping homes and washing out highways. Local officials are begging for assistance and resources; state Representative Neal Collins, for example, tweeted, “I currently have two people on oxygen needing generators & 1 person on dialysis needing one.

The Spectator

Economic Innovator of the Year Awards 2024 – the judges

Guest judges Adrian de Ferranti Adrian de Ferranti is an engineer, venture capital investor, financier and farmer who has worked in Silicon Valley as well as in the UK. He was chairman of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 2007-10. Caroline Theobald CBE Caroline Theobald CBE is the founder of Bridge Club Ltd which has been making connections that matter since the dot-com boom. She is also a founder of Teesside’s Power of Women campaign and past chair of Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University. Clive Bawden Clive Bawden is an accountant with wide industrial experience who was COO of Warwick Music, an early winner of an Economic Innovator award. He has been a trustee/director of several major cultural and sports bodies.

Friday

The Spectator

GOP blasts Kamala for ’too little, too late’ border visit

From our US edition

Kamala Harris is aiming to project strength on border security, but her critics aren’t buying it.For the first time in over three years, Harris is visiting the border, following an onslaught of ads from former president Donald Trump’s campaign that have savaged her record as America’s border czar. Her trip also comes after a bombshell report from Texas congressman Tony Gonzales about how tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with murder and sexual assault convictions are freely roaming America.

Thursday

The Spectator

2670: V – solution

The unclued lights (paired at 1D/17) can all be preceded by FIVE and are verifiable in Brewer. First prize Julian Connors, Ashford, Kent Runners-up David Threasher, London W5; Susan Bell, Reeth, N.

The Spectator

Letters: The case for assisted dying

Craic down Sir: If Ireland had been investing in infrastructure as Ross Clark writes (‘Bog down’, 21 September), Dublin would have a metro, Galway a ring road, and primary school parents wouldn’t be forced to pay for basic necessities. And when the only local hotel cancels wedding and birthday parties because government has block-booked it for migrants and refugees, no wonder people beyond the Dublin bubble are mutinous. Rural areas often lack broadband or even piped water (just ask Melissa Kite) and where the blue pipe does reach, ‘boil water’ orders are common. Corporation tax is 27 per cent of government revenue (per head of population, more than four times that in France or Germany) and 90 per cent of it is paid by foreign multinationals.

The Spectator

Where did ‘heckler’ come from?

What the heckler No party conference would be complete without a heckler or two, but where did the term come from? A heckle was originally a tool for combing flax or hemp, and a heckler someone who worked with such a device. The term was first applied to politics in the 1820s when the notoriously militant hecklers of Dundee would disrupt political meetings. Their efforts did not, however, ultimately save their jobs when the process of heckling was mechanised. Home truths How many people work from home (WFH)? – Last year, 16% of the workforce reported WFH exclusively, while 28% said they were on hybrid working. – In spite of WFH’s association with Gen Z,  16- to 24-year-olds were least likely to be working from home.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Starmer’s sausages slip-up, Israel’s strikes on Lebanon and Amazon staff summoned back to office

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in his speech to the Labour party conference in Liverpool, said that ‘if we take tough long-term decisions now’ Britain would much more quickly reach the ‘light at the end of this tunnel’. He was cheered when he promised to return the railways to public ownership and restore workplace rights to unions and workers. But he insisted that ‘if we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons over ground otherwise the burden on taxpayers is too much’. He recovered from a fluff when, talking of Gaza, he called ‘for the return of the sausages – the hostages’. Sir Keir hoped to counteract recent difficulties.

The Spectator

Are the Tories in any state to choose a leader?

Are the Conservatives in a fit state to choose a new leader? The party that gathers in Birmingham next week needs to face a difficult fact: no matter how bad things are, they may become a lot worse. The party has lost, but not learned. They preach liberty while preparing to vote for a smoking ban. They are wedded to a net-zero agenda that forces up the cost of living. The difficulty is that all four candidates for the leadership are deeply compromised by the biggest mistakes of the past few years. On the issue of lockdown – perhaps the most damaging policy ever inflicted on this country by its government – none of them can say they did what they could to mitigate its damage. They ducked for cover instead. The Red Wall is there for the taking.

The Spectator

Why the Tories lost – by the Tory leadership candidates

As the four candidates prepare to make their pitch at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, we quizzed them about their ideas and ambitions. Why did the Tories lose the general election? JAMES CLEVERLY: We lost the ear of the British public. They stopped listening to us. We over-promised and under--delivered on a load of issues so our election promises were met with real cynicism. People had literally closed their ears – and minds – to our arguments. Even if we had had the best policy platform in the world, people weren’t willing to give us the time of day. If we make fewer promises but make sure that we deliver on all of those promises, we will regain trust. But that means being disciplined.

Wednesday

The Spectator

GOP demands investigation into Zelensky visit

From our US edition

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky just stopped by an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania — which CNN points out is President Joe Biden’s hometown.Now, a group of House Republicans is demanding answers about what taxpayer dollars and US resources were used in what they allege was essentially a campaign event for Democrats.The Hill reports that this past Sunday, Zelensky “was flown to Pennsylvania in an Air Force C-17 plane.” He was also protected by the US Secret Service.