The Spectator

Bank 3

From our UK edition

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

Foxhunt

From our UK edition

‘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

Barometer | 24 January 2013

From our UK edition

Four sworn Barack Obama achieved a remarkable feat last week: he managed to take the oath of office for a fourth time. Under the 22nd Amendment to the US constitution, which was passed in 1947, no president may be elected to office more than twice. — In 2009 Obama took his oath a second time,

Portrait of the week | 24 January 2013

From our UK edition

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, at last delivered his speech on Europe, postponed during the Algerian hostage crisis. He wanted to ‘negotiate a new settlement with our European partners’, and before the end of 2017, ‘when we have negotiated that new settlement, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple

Cameron speaks

From our UK edition

It was almost worth the wait. The substance of David Cameron’s speech on Europe was disclosed in this magazine a fortnight ago, but his delivery was excellent. He offered a clear-headed and almost touchingly optimistic vision of the type of union that the British public would find acceptable: one based on free trade, not bureaucratic