The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters | 11 October 2012

From our UK edition

The views of Sentamu Sir: I wonder if Archbishop Sentamu is really the best candidate for Canterbury as you suggest (Leading article, 6 October). Cutting up his dog collar on live television in protest against President Mugabe was a splendid gesture; but how exactly has it helped anyone in Zimbabwe? He is wrong in any case about gay marriage. It is absolutely within the remit of the state to redefine what in the first instance is a civil contract. Religious groups may make rules on the subject for their own members, but they surely have no right to bind those who don’t share their belief. Tim Hudson West Sussex Debating genius Sir: I was amused by the article about the Beatles in last week’s issue (‘Was Lennon really a genius?’, 6 October).

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 11 October 2012

From our UK edition

Home ‘Unless we take difficult, painful decisions,’ David Cameron, the Prime Minister, told the Conservative party conference, ‘Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past.’ He said that it was ‘an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. Sink or swim, do or decline.’ Earlier he had said that a referendum on the terms of EU membership is the ‘cleanest, neatest and simplest’ solution, though a general election would count as an alternative.

The Spectator

Fringe benefits

From our UK edition

The Tory party conference this year was a remarkable success, a festival of conservatism with an impressive array of radical ideas on display. But almost all of them could be found in fringe events, and pitifully few in the hall of the conference. Even Cabinet members complained that the main event lacked fizz. Discussion centred around various ideas being discussed by backbenchers, rather than -ministers. The intellectual leadership of the parliamentary party has passed to its lowest ranks. David Cameron can take the credit for this shift. As opposition leader, he spent years working on policies to improve the calibre of parliamentary candidates, and has ended up with perhaps the most impressive cohort of young MPs delivered by any postwar election.

The Spectator

Barometer | 11 October 2012

From our UK edition

Matters of record German skydiver Felix Baumgartner attempted to become the first man to break the sound barrier outside an aircraft when he dropped from a balloon at 120,000 feet over Mexico, reaching 690mph 40 seconds later. Other feats still to be achieved: —Climbing Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan, at 24,836 feet the highest mountain never climbed. But attempts have been banned since 1994 for religious reasons. — Swim the Pacific, if you can beat Benoit Lecomte to it. He swam the Atlantic (in eight-hour stages) in 1998, and is about to embark on a crossing from Tokyo to San Francisco in a shark cage.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Shelf Life: James Naughtie

From our UK edition

James Naughtie explains why he'd give Scoop to a lover, confesses which books by another BBC luminary he does his best to avoid and finally reassures us, in case you were wondering, that he doesn't fantasise about Lolita. He will be appearing at the Wimbledon Bookfest on 14th October to talk about his latest book, The New Elizabethans (published by Collins on 11th October, £25). He tweets @naughtiej   1). What are you reading at the moment? The Passage of Power, the fourth volume of Robert A. Caro’s fabulous biography of Lyndon Johnson; and Robert Macfarlane’s The Old Ways, about our ancient pathways, which is blissful. 2). As a child, what did you read under the covers? Treasure Island, again and again 3). Has a book ever made you cry, and if so which one?

The Spectator

Conservative conference: David Cameron’s speech, full text

From our UK edition

In May 2010, this party stood on the threshold of power for the first time in more than a decade. We knew then that it was not just the ordinary duties of office that we were assuming. We were entering into Government at a grave moment in the modern history of Britain. At a time when people felt uncertainty, even fear. Here was the challenge: To make an insolvent nation solvent again. To set our country back on the path to prosperity that all can share in. To bring home our troops from danger while keeping our citizens safe from terror. To mend a broken society. Two and a half years later of course I can't tell you that all is well, but I can say this: Britain is on the right track.

Wednesday