The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Is now really the time to scrap A-levels?

From our UK edition

The history of education reform is a graveyard of acronyms: TVEIs, GNVQs and so on. There have been many well-meaning initiatives that made sense at the time but struggled to gain acceptance. Rishi Sunak needs to proceed with caution before he launches into yet another reform of school qualifications, especially if it means the end

The Spectator

2622: Local call – solution

From our UK edition

The unclued lights are PUB NAMES which include the pair 38/31 First prize  Mary Newbery, Devizes, WiltshireRunners-up  David Burnside, Rosewell, Midlothian; John Brown, Rolleston-on-Dove, Staffordshire

The Spectator

How many people work on farms? 

From our UK edition

Overs and out Mark Nicholas, the new President of the MCC, suggested he would favour ending the annual Eton vs Harrow cricket match at Lord’s when its future is next reviewed in 2027. Which school is the better at cricket? – The fixture has been running since 1805, 72 years before the first test match.

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The Spectator

Why is HS2 so expensive?

From our UK edition

Party season Unusually, the Conservatives are holding their party conference before the Labour party. It has become tradition that the Lib Dems hold theirs one week, Labour the next and the Conservatives the week after that, with the latter concluding in the first week of October. The tradition held even in 2020 when conferences moved

The Spectator

2621: Faux – solution

From our UK edition

Flaubert said ‘You can calculate the worth of a man by the number of his enemies,’ while Voltaire, asked to renounce the devil on his deathbed, said ‘This is not the time for making new enemies.’ First prize  P. and J. Chamberlain, Rushden, Northants Runners-up  Tony Hankey, London W4; Willie Hamilton, Exeter

The Spectator

Letters: Bully XL owners are deluding themselves

From our UK edition

Bed and breakfast Sir: Cindy Yu asks, in her ‘Leaving Hong Kong’ piece (23 September): ‘Where are they?’ I can help with that one. I live near Epsom, Surrey, and there has been a huge influx of people from Hong Kong here over the past 18 months. The area is attractive because housing is affordable

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The Spectator

Rishi Sunak is right to reconsider his green pledges

From our UK edition

The old carmakers were slow to realise the potential of electric cars and didn’t innovate. So Elon Musk, an internet tycoon, bought Tesla and stole a march on an entire industry. The internal combustion cohort then rushed to catch up: Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Ford all committed to go electric-only by 2030. The problem

The Spectator

Do 20mph speed limits really save lives?

From our UK edition

Within limits Do 20mph speed limits save lives? – A 2018 report by Atkins/AECOM/UCL found that 51% of motorists conformed to the new limit (47% in residential areas and 65% in city centres). – When a 20mph zone replaced a 30mph one the median speed fell by 0.7mph in residential areas and 0.9mph in city

The Spectator

Letters: Boris Johnson’s doublespeak over Ukraine

From our UK edition

Whose victory? Sir: Politicians are often accused of engaging in doublespeak, and I fear in the case of Boris Johnson’s article (‘Bombshell’, 16 September) the accusation may be valid. According to our former prime minister we’re to believe two contradictory assertions; firstly that a Russian victory risks an immediate and existential threat not only to

The Spectator

2620: The right name? – solution

From our UK edition

8A/31D, 23A/19D and 36D/7D are eponymous 29D/12A characters. 7D originally suggested D’Urberville, which needed to be changed to DURBEYFIELD, making new real words at 21A, 24A, 30A and 35A. First prize Magdalena Downton, Maidstone, Kent Runners-up Nicola Fletcher, Horsmonden, Kent; David Andrews, Ash Vale, Surrey

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