Fight for the right
From our US edition
A symposium on the future of American conservatism
The Spectator
Thursday
Letters: We’re all still paying for the financial crash
Don’t blame the banks? Sir: Kate Andrews struggles to disentangle the causes of the developing cost-of-living crisis (‘Cold truth’, 19 March), with the fallout from Brexit, Covid and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine all vying for responsibility. She forgets the financial crash of 2008, when a few irresponsible banks and building societies dragged this country into
Portrait of the week: Spring statement, weapons for Ukraine and no more free-range eggs
Home Britain had provided Ukraine with more than 4,000 Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapons, the Ministry of Defence said. Shell reconsidered its decision to pull out of investing in the large Cambo oil field, 75 miles off the west coast of Shetland. The government was expected to put into special administration Gazprom Marketing & Trading
Which countries have ditched daylight savings time?
Time for a change A bill before the US Senate would abolish daylight saving time. Some countries which have previously practised daylight saving but no longer do so: – Algeria (last changed clocks in 1981); Brazil (1932); China (1991); Colombia (1993); Egypt (2015); Falkland Islands (2010); Hong Kong (1979); Iceland (1968); India (1945); Indonesia (1963);
The return of fiscal conservatism
Next month, Rishi Sunak will break a Tory manifesto pledge by increasing National Insurance as the tax burden heads to a 77-year high. By declining to increase departmental spending for inflation – and using the saved money to cut the basic rate of income tax – the Chancellor has started a cautious fightback against Big
2545: With a twist - solution
Suggested by 41, the other unclued lights were worms entered backwards in the grid. To comply with the preamble, 6 down needs to be CESTODE (the individual worm) rather than CESTODA (the subclass). First prize Leslie Verth, Newton Mearns, Glasgow Runners-up Roslyn Shapland, Ilkeston, Derbyshire. Oenone Green, Feltham, Middlesex
Wednesday
Rishi’s fightback against big government Toryism
Next month, Rishi Sunak will break a Tory manifesto pledge by increasing National Insurance as the tax burden heads to a 77-year high. By declining to increase departmental spending for inflation – and using the saved money to cut the basic rate of income tax – the Chancellor has started a cautious fightback against Big
Thursday
The soft censorship of the Online Safety Bill
The arrest of a reporter who held up a poster during a Russian news broadcast criticising the war in Ukraine reminds us how dictatorships operate. One of Vladimir Putin’s first acts on the home front, after sending his tanks over the Ukrainian border, was to pass a law specifying jail terms of up to 15
Letters: Ukraine’s perpetual struggle against Russia
Two Russias? Sir: I have been turning Owen Matthews’s article (‘Putin’s rage’, 5 March) over in my mind since I read it, and I feel compelled to respond. I am married to a Ukrainian, so I have some insight into the relevant history. After the Wall came down, my wife’s uncle Stephan visited us in
Who coined the name ‘Londongrad’?
Thamesky Prospekt Who first coined the place name ‘Londongrad’? The name was used in a BBC sitcom called Comrade Dad, written by Ian Davidson and Peter Vincent, and first broadcast in 1984. It was set in a Britain of 1999 when the Soviet Union had annexed the country. However, the first use of the term
Portrait of the week: Russian forces move in on Kiev
Home More than 100,000 people registered interest in giving a place in their homes for Ukrainian refugees under a government scheme, after widespread criticism of bureaucratic obstacles, though refugees would still require a visa. The scheme was the responsibility of Michael Gove, the Levelling Up Secretary; asked if he would take in a refugee, he
2544: Fives - solution
First prize Leigh Hughes, Bootle, Merseyside Runners-up Francis Wheen, Pleshey, Essex; Robin Jolly, Selsey, Chichester, West Sussex
Thursday
It’s time to drop the net zero agenda
For years British energy policy has been an exercise in wishful thinking. We’ve been living in a fantasy world in which Britain can somehow achieve ‘net zero’ by 2050 without paying any serious economic price, and with no one significantly poorer as a result. ‘Not a hair-shirt in sight,’ said the Prime Minister, though most
Which European countries are most reliant on Russian gas?
High commodity Nickel trading was suspended this week after prices rose to over $100,000 per tonne – double its previous peak of $50,000. How do other commodity prices compare with their peaks since the 2008 financial crisis? Previous peak Silver $43 Brent crude $140 Gold $1,853 Aluminium $3,124 Tin $33,015 This week Silver $26 Brent
Letters: Britain must offer immediate sanctuary to Ukrainians
Unintended consequences Sir: The West has got it wrong when it comes to putting a stranglehold on Vladimir Putin (‘Putin’s rage’, 5 March). Harsh economic sanctions will ultimately punish millions of ordinary Russians, many of whom are poor and probably against the invasion of Ukraine. If the products Russian workers produce do not sell then
Portrait of the week: Zelensky channels Churchill, Russia blocks BBC and Bercow banned from parliament
Home President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine addressed a packed House of Commons by video, echoing Winston Churchill by declaring that Ukrainians would fight in the fields and in the streets. He said: ‘Please make sure that our Ukrainian skies are safe.’ Wearing a blue and yellow tie, the Speaker, clearly moved, thanked him. Earlier, Boris
2543: Parts of Speech - solution
Unclued lights are the many parts each man plays, from the ‘Seven ages’ speech by Jaques (29D) in As You Like It (2:7:139). First prize Andy Binstead, Stroud, Glos Runners-up Susan Hay, Perton, Wolverhampton; S.J.J. Tiffin, Cockermouth, Cumbria
Schools portraits: a snapshot of four notable schools
Colville Primary School Based just off Notting Hill’s Portobello Road, Colville Primary School occupies a Victorian Grade II-listed building that was once a laundry. Today, it accommodates pupils up to the age of 11 who are taught under the school’s ‘three key values’: respect, aspiration and perseverance. Colville also says it believes in the British
Thursday
What does it mean to go ‘full tonto’?
The wild one Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said that Vladimir Putin had gone ‘full tonto’. The word tonto is used in Spanish for ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’, but one of its suggested origins has a meaning which would perhaps go down better with Putin himself. Tonto was used by Apache Indians as a term for the
Britain must give Ukrainians an unconditional right to asylum
During the Cold War, any citizen of a Soviet bloc country who made it to Britain and claimed asylum was welcomed with open arms. The fact people wished to take great risks to move westwards for safety and shelter, while hardly anyone wanted to move in the opposite direction, settled the question of which system