The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Britain is becoming a greener and more pleasant land

To listen to many environmental campaigners, you would think that Britain was a toxic wasteland. They tell us that our wildlife is depleted, that our green spaces are endangered and that 40,000 people a year are dying from air pollution. This week, the Wildlife Trusts came up with another figure: that it would cost £1.2 billion a year to repair the industrial despoliation of Britain. Everyone wants clean air and water and to live surrounded by healthy green spaces, and there are places that could be a lot cleaner than they are. Yet in many ways Britain has become a far greener and more pleasant land over the past few decades thanks not so much to state subsidy but to business.

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What’s moved the Doomsday Clock the most?

The final countdown The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved its ‘Doomsday Clock’ from 100 seconds to midnight to 90 seconds to midnight – the closest it has ever been to our apparent annihilation. How close was it during other periods of history? Cuban missile crisis, 1962 The standoff between the US and the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink, yet it was apparently a time of optimism compared with today – a few months later the clock was moved back from 7 to 12 minutes. Chernobyl, 1986 The world’s worst nuclear accident didn’t register on the clock: the hands were not moved for two more years, and then back from 3 minutes to 6 minutes.

The Spectator

2587: Silver – solution

The five of a kind are stations on the Jubilee tube line in London, derived from: 26/27 (London Bridge), 40/41 (Stanmore), 46/47 (Waterloo), 3/34 (Baker Street) and 10/39 (Westminster). LOVELY JUBBLY (32/12D) suggests mispronounced praise. ORATE/ERATO were both accepted at 46A, as were SETTER/TESTER at 34D. Title: the line’s colour on tube maps. First prize Roy Robinson, Sheffield Runners-up Cathy Staveley, London SW15; R.A.

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Letters: In defence of Steve Baker (by Steve Baker)

It’s not cynicism Sir: I was amazed to have suffered the projection of so much cynicism in return for my plea that no one should suffer hate for their identity (‘The cynicism of Steve Baker’, Toby Young, 21 January).  The simple truth is that one of my staff is out as a trans man. Another is a proud gay man with a non-binary partner. I like and admire them, and I have heard what they put up with. I am glad to be their ally. My staff still suffer abuse because of their sexual and gender identities, and I wish for them to live their lives without that abuse. This ought not to be controversial.  My team and I have genuinely been shocked that a benign tweet about supporting the LGBT+ community could spark such an aggressive backlash.

Aidan Mathews

Shibui

The Sacred Heart sister at Sophia Posts me an airmail letter With two sought-after stamps For her twelve year-old collector. Much later, on cassette, She talks of doing a doctorate On etiquette in Edo, Plus a traveller’s guide for the Gaijin. The millennium hosts its moment; A tsunami coasts toward Christmas. She tells me on the telephone Of an essay on Shusako Endo, The convert Catholic novelist, His link an east-west ligature And a job for her jubilee year. Call and response continue From the ’64 Olympics To the karaoke bar She runs with an Irish Jesuit For mystical male alcoholics.

Sunday

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Revealed: The damning probe into Zahawi’s tax affairs that led to his departure

Rishi Sunak has sacked Nadhim Zahawi over his tax affairs and a 'serious breach' of the ministerial code. The PM had asked Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests, to probe the Tory chairman. Here is his conclusion which was released this morning and led to Sunak's decision to fire Zahawi: Dear Prime Minister, You have asked me to review the circumstances and facts concerning certain tax affairs of the Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi, Minister without Portfolio, and that I assess these circumstances in the context of Mr Zahawi’s obligations under the Ministerial Code. This report sets out relevant facts that I have established whilst respecting Mr Zahawi’s right to taxpayer confidentiality.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Britain’s asylum crisis

Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai, 21, an Afghan convicted this week of murdering a man in Bournemouth last year, had previously murdered two men in Serbia. He had also been caught drug-dealing in Italy. He had been allowed to stay in the UK despite doubts about his claim to be 14 years old (he was then 18) and was placed with a foster carer and enrolled in a secondary school. When his foster carer caught him carrying a knife, a social worker was sent to his home to give him a talk about the dangers of knives.  The case of Abdulrahimzai shows just how easy it is to outwit our authorities. It tells the world that Britain no longer has the will to guard its borders and that encourages more dangerous criminals to take advantage of the system.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Taxing times for the Tories, tanks for Ukraine and a giant Antarctic iceberg

Home Nadhim Zahawi, minister without portfolio and chairman of the Conservative party, was asked to explain how a penalty formed part of a £5 million tax payment he had made. Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, asked Sir Laurie Magnus, his newly appointed ethics adviser, to examine whether Mr Zahawi had broken the code of conduct on ministerial behaviour. The appointment of Richard Sharp as chairman of the BBC was under review by William Shawcross, the Commissioner of Public Appointments, after it became known that in 2020, before his appointment, he had contacted Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, about an offer of a loan of £800,000 by Sam Blyth, an old friend of Mr Sharp’s, to Boris Johnson, then PM. The government borrowed £27.

The Spectator

How did ‘mummies’ get their name?

Preserve us The British Museum said it would stop referring to ‘mummies’ and call them ‘mummified persons’ instead, out of respect to their dignity. How did they come to be called mummies in the first place? – The term has been traced back to 1615, and derived from the Latin Mumia, and the Arabic Mumiya, referring either to an embalmed body or the bituminous substance in which they were embalmed. The terms ‘mummified’ and ‘mummification’ did not come into use until the 19th century. Spent Has the Conservative government cut health and social care funding? NHS and social care funding in England at 2022/23 prices: 2008/09   £121.5 bn 09/10   £129.7 bn10/11   £130.2 bn11/12   £130.9 bn12/13   £131.

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Letters: Scotland’s gender law doesn’t add up

Scottish muddle Sir: The Scottish Sentencing Council guidelines, introduced last year, affirm research as showing that young people, defined in the guidelines as those up to 25 years of age, ‘are not fully developed and may not have attained full maturity’ (‘Gender wars’, 21 January). As a result they are seen as less able to exercise good judgment; are more vulnerable to external influences; may be less able to assess the implications of their decisions; and may take more risks. However, Scottish people nine years younger than that, faced with the complex experience of perceiving their bodily habitus to be at odds with their sense of their gender, are judged fully ready to make permanent, legally binding, life-altering decisions independent of any external advice or assessment.

Wednesday

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Letters: Harry, Charles and the way to reconciliation 

Back to work Sir: I read with interest Martin Vander Weyer’s clarion call to ‘Mr and Mrs Early-Retired Spectator Reader’ to return to work (Any other business, 14 January). The successful realisation of this aim is likely to require both a nudge from government, possibly through the tax system, and employers to show greater creativity. This pressing economic need will not be met if ‘grey returners’ are treated to the same expectations and orthodoxy as thrusting 35-year-olds. What is required, as Martin rightly notes, is flexibility. Flexible hours, flexible work practices and a flexible attitude to those who, having ‘seen and done it’ several times over, are confident in challenging, and demonstrating candour in, the workplace.

The Spectator

The Boris delusion

Loyalty, it used to be said, was the secret weapon of the Conservative party. That hasn’t been true for some time. Back in 2006, the then MP for Henley wrote of the Tory party having succumbed to ‘Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing’. Boris Johnson later had to apologise to Papua New Guinea for the insensitivity of that observation. But he wasn’t wrong about the new Tory tendency to kill the chief, as he discovered so painfully last year. Still, until recently a new party leader could expect a year or two of relative stability, when enemies would stay their spears and doubters would do their best to lend support. No longer. Rishi Sunak has been Conservative leader and Prime Minister for just three months.

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Portrait of the week: Sunak vs Sturgeon, Nepal plane crash and Mexico bans smoking on beaches

Home The government prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, passed by the Scottish parliament, from proceeding to royal assent, under Section 35 of the Scotland Act, because of its ‘serious adverse impact’ on the operation of the Equality Act 2010. It was blocked by a statutory instrument laid before parliament by the Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack. The Scottish National party leader in the Commons, Stephen Flynn, called opponents to the bill ‘rabid gammon’. Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, sought judicial review. Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, had visited Scotland a few days before to help some Sea Scouts toast marshmallows and to have dinner with Ms Sturgeon.

The Spectator

How many people are injured by dogs?

Duke out Will the Duke and Duchess of Sussex be invited to Charles III’s coronation? The royal family faced a similarly tricky decision over the Duke of Windsor, the former Edward VIII, at Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. Documents released by the National Archives in 2007 reveal that the matter was handled by the Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who contacted the Duke in November 1952 and ‘advised’ him not to attend, adding that the Prime Minister would tell the press that ‘it would not be consistent with usage for coronation to be attended by any former ruler’. That such advice was necessary suggests that the Duke might have been sent a invitation as a formality. Whether he was or not, he did not attend.

The Spectator

Christmas crossword solution | Birthday Boy

Two unclued lights are a title (three words) and its creator (two words). Remaining unclued lights are four names and eight titles (either singly or paired, including two each of two, three and four words and one of five words), each name being associated with two of the titles. The theme word connecting them all must be highlighted in the grid. Further prizes of Eliot’s Book of Bookish Lists by Henry Eliot (Penguin) go to the following. The first four winners each also win a bottle of champagne. The solution is on p35. The winners First prize Susanna Heywood-Lonsdale, Inverness Runners-up John Tyson, Gloucester; Rebecca Bull, Cardiff; Rob Hardcastle, Harrogate Further runners-up Felicity Fairbairn, Tisbury, Wiltshire; O.F.G.

Thursday

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Remembering Paul Johnson, 1928–2023

Paul Johnson, the author, journalist and historian, has died at the age of 94. He wrote more than 40 books, edited the New Statesman from 1965 to 1970, and wrote a column for The Spectator from 1981 to 2009. Below are some extracts from his Spectator columns, all of which are available on our archive. On the 20th century ‘Only six weeks to go before the end of the century: time to draw up a list of its political success stories. My criterion is the simple utilitarian one of Jeremy Bentham: who did most to promote the greatest possible happiness of the largest possible number?

Wednesday

The Spectator

Why Britain’s space industry should be celebrated

The attempted launch of a rocket via a Boeing 747 from Spaceport Cornwall – the first such attempt in Europe – was not a giant leap so much as a giant plunge. While the plane took off and landed successfully, the rocket released from beneath its wing at 35,000 feet crashed and burned, taking with it the nine satellites it was supposed to launch into orbit. There is a lesson for the government in what happened at Spaceport Cornwall this week It is easy to imagine Vladimir Putin chortling at the news that Britain has failed to do something the USSR managed 66 years ago. Satellite launches have become routine, with 14,000 put into space since the Soviet Union’s first Sputnik in 1957.

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Portrait of the week: Harry’s confessions, house prices fall and Cornish space launch fails

Home Government ministers held short meetings with trade union representatives as strikes continued by ambulance drivers, teachers, bus drivers and driving test examiners. A bill was introduced to require some workers to provide a minimum level of service during strikes in the NHS, education, fire and rescue, border security, nuclear decommissioning and public transport. Evri, the courier formerly known as Hermes, said ‘Our service has not been as good as we would have liked’ as parcels were reported delayed or undelivered. James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, and Maros Sefcovic, a vice-president of the European Commission, held ‘cordial and constructive’ talks on Northern Ireland trade.

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2585: Happy anniversary – solution

Puzzle 2585 appeared on 10 December 2022, an anniversary of HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (at 1 Across) whose letters can be used to make the ten symmetrically placed unclued entries. The UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10-12-48.

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Who was the monarchy’s original wicked stepmother?

Wicked stepmothers Prince Harry said that he was worried Camilla would become his ‘wicked stepmother’. But she would have to be rotten indeed to match the English monarchy’s original wicked stepmother, Aelfthryth, who married King Edgar in 965. Upon Edgar’s death the succession should have passed to his elder son, Edward, but Aelfthryth had other ideas, wanting her own son, Aethelred – King Edgar’s younger son – to take the throne. She invited Edward to meet at Corfe Castle, Dorset, where, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, she sent out her servants to stab the boy – then aged about 16 – to death. As a result, it was Aethelred who became king, with Aelfthryth becoming regent until he reached adulthood. Crime time Why are people in prison?