The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Barometer | 12 September 2013

From our UK edition

Trust us The National Trust opened the Big Brother House at Elstree Studios at the weekend. Some other less grand National Trust properties: — 575 Wandsworth Road, Lambeth. 19th-century terraced house that was home to Kenyan-born civil servant Khadambi Asalache who, to keep out the damp, decorated the walls with elaborate panels made from pine salvaged from skips. — Birmingham Back-to-Backs. A 19th-century courtyard of artisans’ dwellings which survived slum-clearance. — Mr Straw’s House. 1920s semi in Worksop kept just as the day it was built. — 20 Forthlin Road, Liverpool. 1950s council house that was the childhood home of Paul McCartney. Trust me George Osborne said he had been vindicated on the economy.

Wednesday

Tuesday

Monday

Friday

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: The Syria debate, plus Giles Milton on Andro Linklater

From our UK edition

Syrian matters Sir: Though Syria (Leading article, 31 August) is certainly no laughing matter, the turmoil prevailing over a ‘punitive strike’ does bring to mind the little jingle of A.P. Herbert, during the Phony War of 1940. Some great minds were contemplating a ‘strike’ on the Soviet Union to punish it for its invasion of little Finland. Herbert’s verse was called ‘Baku, or the Map Game’, and begins: It’s jolly to look at the map, and finish the foe in a day. It’s not easy to get at the chap; these neutrals are so in the way. But what if you say ‘What would you do to fill the aggressor with gloom?’ Well, we might drop a bomb on Baku. Or what about bombs on Batum?

The Spectator

How Australia’s Tony Abbott pulled off a great conservative victory

From our UK edition

By conventional wisdom, Tony Abbott should not become Prime Minister of Australia this weekend. He ought to be too conservative, a throwback to a bygone age. He is sceptical about global warming, and proposed to abolish a carbon tax on the grounds of its expense and uselessness. He is a churchgoer who is against abortion and is sceptical about gay marriage. He is a former boxer, who tends to back America in foreign policy disputes. He is an Anglophile and an enthusiastic monarchist. He ticks almost every unfashionable box in modern politics. His victory is not inevitable, but those wishing to place money on his rival, Kevin Rudd, can find bookmakers willing to give odds of 26-1.