The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 31 January 2013

From our UK edition

Home Britain decided to send 40 ‘military advisers’ to Mali, 70 more with an RAF Sentinel surveillance aircraft and 20 with a C17 transport plane, and 200 to neighbouring states in a training role; Britain was ‘keen’, according to Downing Street, to aid France there. David Cameron, the Prime Minister, visited Algeria. The British economy

Bad care

From our UK edition

When the letters ‘NHS’ appeared to the world above the dancing nurses at the Olympic opening ceremony, many in Britain will have imagined two darker words hovering alongside: ‘Mid Staffs’. Few of those affected will have been able to forget what now seems to be one of the greatest scandals in the history of British

Has the RSPCA become a different species?

From our UK edition

Is the RSPCA morphing from animal welfare charity into an animal rights group? In this week’s Spectator, Melissa Kite writes that following the charity’s successful prosecution of the Heythrop hunt, its chief executive Gavin Grant now has his sights set on the racing industry: Buoyed by the success of his prosecution of the Heythrop hunt,

Bank 3

From our UK edition

‘I imagine you are going on the run - can I interest you in our travel insurance?’

Foxhunt

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‘You know it’s been a dream of mine to go fox-hunting, but it’s too expensive so I’m improvising.’

Burnt

From our UK edition

‘You idiot - you set it for 35 seconds instead of the recommended 30. It’s ruined.’

Letters | 24 January 2013

From our UK edition

Moore for less Sir: Niru Ratnam (Arts, 19 January) is wrong on a number of counts and omits much else. The sale of Henry Moore’s ‘Draped Seated Woman’ would be most unlikely to raise the £20 million he claims; £5 million is thought to be much nearer the market value — 0.3 per cent of