The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Shelf Life: Mary Killen

From our UK edition

The journalist and author Mary Killen is in the limelight this week. In addition to writing the Dear Mary column in the Spectator every week, she has written a self-help book about the loving Queen. How the Queen Can Make You Happy will be published on 1 June. 1) As a child, what did you read under the covers? The William stories by Richmal Crompton and the The Passion Flower Hotel, which turned out to be secretly written not by a schoolgirl but by Roger Longrigg the father of Fan Longrigg, the singer and producer of The Land of Sometimes a charming 2012 CD to inspire musical participation in children, Sir Robert Mayer-style.  . 2) Has a book ever made you cry, and if so which one?

Monday

The Spectator

Just in case you missed them… | 21 May 2012

From our UK edition

...here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson says Cameron's Fruit Ninja obsession is real, explains why reason doesn't apply to the eurozone and flies in to Gatwick to find a chaotic disgrace. James Forsyth reports on the strains on the Cameron-Hilton relationship and says the coalition partners need to co-operate on growth. Peter Hoskin remarks on the weird hold President Hollande has on UK politics. Allister Heath presents the 2020 Tax Commission's report. Martin Bright gives his thoughts on the nature of the Lobby. And Rod Liddle recommends staying away from Dubai, and describes what standing up to the banks really looks like.

Saturday

The Spectator

Letters | 19 May 2012

From our UK edition

Staying home for marriageSir: ‘Find me a person who stopped voting Conservative last week because of David Cameron’s vague, half-arsed, lacklustre stance on gay marriage. Go on. I dare you… I’ll settle for just one of them instead…Anyone?’ (Hugo Rifkind, 12 May). Well, there’s me for a start: for the first time ever (I have voted at every election since I was old enough, and I am now over 70) I spoiled my ballot paper for this reason; and I’m not the only one who thinks that the preservation of marriage as normally understood (one man and one woman) is of fundamental importance to our society. The Coalition for Marriage petition now has over half a million signatures, making it one of the largest-ever online petitions.

The Spectator

Barometer | 19 May 2012

From our UK edition

Breaking badA Ming vase sold for £550,000, having had a hole drilled in it to turn it into a table lamp. Without the hole it would have been worth four times as much. Owners of antiques work hard to keep them safe from thieves, but they are themselves often the problem. — Last year the owner of a £14,000 Japanese porcelain vase reduced its value to £2,000 by chipping it while he packed it for BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. — Last November the owner of a Qing vase took £200,000 off its value after she decided to chisel off the rim to even it up a bit. — Last week a $20m Stradivarius cello at the Royal Palace in Madrid was broken after it fell off a table during a photoshoot.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week | 19 May 2012

From our UK edition

HomeThe Bank of England decided against more quantitative easing, after creating £325 billion in three years. Steve Hilton, the Downing Street director of strategy, left proposals for cuts of £25 billion from welfare spending as he headed off for an academic post in California. Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary said that business leaders were whingeing, and ‘large businesses are sitting on a pretty large pile of cash’. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, said: ‘There’s only one growth strategy: work hard.’ Unemployment fell by 45,000 to 2.63 million. Thousands of civil servants are to be asked to work from home during the period of the Olympic Games, from 21 July to 9 September.