The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Boris Johnson’s guilt

From our UK edition

An ability to survive narrow scrapes has been one of Boris Johnson’s defining qualities. The pictures of Downing Street’s lockdown social events included in the Sue Gray report were so dull as to be almost exculpatory: staid gatherings of half a dozen people around a long table with sandwiches still in their boxes, apple juice poured into a whisky glass. Far worse happened in No. 10 but Gray did not publish those photos or look into (for example) the ‘Abba’ party in the No. 10 flat, saying she felt it inappropriate to do so while police were investigating. Luckily for Johnson. The more damaging material came from the emails intercepted, with No.

The Spectator

Letters: The true state of Oxbridge admissions

From our UK edition

Applying myself Sir: It was interesting to read David Abulafia’s rather damning critique of the Oxbridge admissions process (‘Who’s out’, 14 May), given the fact that he entirely contradicts much of what he must have seen as a professor of history at Cambridge. Abulafia criticises the fact that ‘candidates from one type of school with better scores (on the TSA) are being turned away in favour of those from another type of school with lower scores’. I’m a Year 13 student at a state school and was turned away from Cambridge this year after applying to study philosophy. For me, there was little to no advice given by the school, and no friends or family members or teachers to ask about it (as none have been to Oxbridge).

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Sue Gray reports, ScotRail slashes trains and monkeypox spreads

From our UK edition

Home Sue Gray starched and ironed her report for publication after the Metropolitan Police wound up its own enquiries into breaches of coronavirus laws in and around Downing Street, with 126 fixed penalty notices being issued, only one to Boris Johnson. Meanwhile the nation contemplated photographs published by ITV News of the Prime Minister raising a glass at Downing Street on 13 November 2020. Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, said in an interview: ‘I would want to see Moldova equipped to Nato standard. This is a discussion we’re having with our allies.’ A ballot of 40,000 members prepared the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union for a national strike. ScotRail cut a third of trains from its timetable in a dispute with Aslef, the train-drivers’ union.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: Banning Russia’s culture only benefits Putin

From our UK edition

Don’t ban Russia’s culture Sir: It is uncouth, illiterate and actually beneficial to Putin when theatres, opera houses and other cultural institutions in Britain and across the globe block access to these heights of culture (‘Theatre of war’, 14 May). During Stalin’s last decade and throughout the Cold War, Isaiah Berlin was a superb help to this country and to Russia through his connection with Anna Akhmatova, including the award to her of an honorary doctorate at New College, Oxford, in June 1965, the year before her death. Censorship and blocking of the free flow of culture between Russia and western society is what the Soviet Union enforced.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Inflation’s 40-year high, Tory MP’s rape arrest and monkeypox in Britain

From our UK edition

Home The annual rate of inflation, impelled by energy costs, rose to 9 per cent, its highest since 1982. Unemployment fell to 1.2 million, 3.7 per cent, its lowest since 1974 and below the number of vacancies of 1.3 million. Britain said it wanted to do something about the Northern Ireland Protocol, but the EU said it couldn’t. The Democratic Unionist party said it would not take part in the power-sharing executive of Northern Ireland unless Britain did. Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, told the Commons that a new law would adjust Northern Ireland’s trading status. Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, said the EU would ‘respond with all measures at its disposal’.

The Spectator

When did footballers’ wives become ‘WAGs’?

From our UK edition

Wagtime Footballers’ wives Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney are locked in a libel trial dubbed ‘Wagatha Christie’. The term WAGs, as it happens, was first unleashed on the public 20 years ago this week while the England football team and their families were spending a five-day bonding session in Dubai, prior to the 23 players flying out to South Korea for the 2002 World Cup. The term WAGs, reported the Sunday Telegraph, had been used for ‘wives and girlfriends’ by staff at Jumeirah Beach Club, where they were staying and enjoying the facilities, which included two swimming pools with underwater music and belly-dancing workshops.

The Spectator

2553: Island alien – solution

From our UK edition

The unclued lights when arranged as 12, 11, 43, 5, 24, 1D, 1A form Chambers’ definition of MULLET at 30D. First prize Lynne Mullen, Eastbourne Runners-up Susan Bell, Reeth, N.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Sanction Gerhard Schröder

From our UK edition

From the start of the war in Ukraine, the democratic world has shown striking unity in the economic boycott of Russia. But sanctions are always a blunt instrument: aimed at the regime, they end up harming the whole population. Ordinary Russians, too, are victims of Vladimir Putin’s corruption and misrule. Far better to target the Kremlin and those close to it. The system of targeted sanctions on named individuals is one way of doing this. Action has now been taken against 1,086 people, with assets suspended and travel bans imposed. To go after the rich and powerful is always a test for democracies, especially if such people are generous in their donations to political parties or have close political connections.

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: The Queen’s Speech, Sinn Fein surge and an £184m lottery win

From our UK edition

Home The Prince of Wales delivered the Queen’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament sitting on a throne next to the crown put on a table by Lord Cholmondeley. Prince Charles acted with the Duke of Cambridge as counsellors of state under the Regency Act 1937, since the Queen cannot walk easily; the other two counsellors, the Duke of York and Duke of Sussex, are not seen as fit to act in the role. The Speech mentioned 38 laws to level up, regenerate, bring safety online, secure ‘Brexit freedoms’ in the amending of legislation, regulate railways and ferries, promote heat pumps, prohibit protestors glueing themselves to buildings, deter puppy smuggling and enforce school registers, but nothing to stop the import of fur or foie gras.

The Spectator

Letters: What happened to hymns in schools?

From our UK edition

Disarming by default Sir: Underpinning Rod Liddle’s amusing article on use of nuclear weapons last week is the reassurance provided by our deterrent (‘Will Putin go nuclear?’, 7 May). It is not difficult to imagine Putin’s behaviour if Russia alone possessed nuclear weapons. Our nation has embarked on refreshing the deterrent; and replacement of the four ballistic missile submarines, modifications to missiles and production of a new warhead are at the very limit of our nation’s industrial capability. Despite the US being extremely helpful, the performance of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) does not inspire confidence. It is crucial that there is sufficient funding, particularly at AWE, over the next ten years.

The Spectator

The problem with Macron’s vision for Europe

From our UK edition

The Ukraine crisis has transformed international affairs, forcing countries the world over to rethink their alliances and interests. New patterns are forming that will probably stay in place for many years – and one outcome is that global deals are being seen as more effective than regional ones. Sweden and Finland look set to join Nato, and Britain has agreed a defence deal with Japan. In theory, EU countries are required to come to the help of any member that is attacked, but Sweden and Finland feel that only Nato membership (which offers a place under America’s nuclear umbrella) can afford them true protection. As they wait for the applications to go through, they have signed a defence deal with Britain which promises them interim protection.

The Spectator

2552: ???? – solution

From our UK edition

The emoticon which formed the title of the puzzle suggested George Smiley, Le Carré’s nemesis of MI6 moles, ordered as per the thematic rhyme: Alleline (Tinker), Haydon (Tailor), Bland (Soldier) and Esterhase (Poorman).

The Spectator

How hard is it to see an NHS dentist?

From our UK edition

Biergate Sir Keir Starmer was facing the scandal of ‘beergate’. Biergate is a lane in the Lincolnshire village of Grainthorpe. It is a noted area for grain production, although the origin of the name is not clear as it has also been recorded as Beargate on old maps. – It would not be happy hunting ground for Starmer or Labour as it has both a Conservative district and county councillor. – One thing you won’t find close by is beer. The village used to have a pub, the Black Horse Inn, but it closed in 2017. Not sharing Bill Gates declined to deny that he is shorting Tesla shares. What are the largest car companies by market capitalisation?

Monday

The Spectator

Read: Vladimir Putin’s victory day speech in full

From our UK edition

The following is The Spectator’s translation of Putin’s speech for victory day 2022. Most respected citizens of Russia, dear veterans, comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants and petty officers, midshipmen and ensigns, comrade officers, generals and admirals: I wish you all a happy great victory day! The defense of our homeland – when its fate hung in the balance – has always been sacred. With such feelings of genuine patriotism, Minin and Pozharsky’s People’s Militia rose up for the motherland, advanced to attack on the field of Borodin, fought the enemy on the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad, Kyiv and Minsk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Sebastopol and Kharkov.

Thursday

The Spectator

Can anything save Boris Johnson?

From our UK edition

As Boris Johnson faced the possibility of a no-confidence motion earlier this year, a large number of Tory MPs decided they would neither back him nor sack him. ‘Wait until the local elections,’ they said. The Prime Minister was chosen as party leader not because of popularity among his political peers (he has never commanded much loyalty in the Commons) but because he was seen to be the best at winning elections. If he lost his touch with voters, surely that would be proof it was time for a change? There is an obvious problem with this reasoning. Local election results in the United Kingdom have always been a poor gauge of confidence in the prime minister.

The Spectator

Who’s heard of Lorraine Kelly?

From our UK edition

The right to buy The Prime Minister floated the idea of granting housing association tenants a blanket right to buy. How many social homes have been sold over the years? – Since 1980, 2.19m homes have been sold in England. The most sold in any one year was 167,123 in 1982/83 and the fewest was 8,474 in 2008/09. In 2020/21, 17,262 were sold. Although receipts from sales are supposed to fund replacement dwellings, this has not happened. Since 2010, when the Conservatives returned to power, 235,460 social homes have been sold. But the overall number of social homes has grown only by 94,000, from 3.972m to 4.066m.

The Spectator

Letters: an artist’s work shouldn’t be judged by how he leads his life

From our UK edition

Wrong is right Sir: Having spent most of my working life in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), I never pass up an opportunity to catch up on what is happening in Africa. Michela Wrong’s article (‘Hotel Rwanda’, 23 April) illustrates well the incompetence of Priti Patel in sending asylum seekers to President Paul Kagame’s Rwanda against, apparently, the advice of her own civil servants. I had to read that bit twice because I have always admired Patel for her forthright and sensible executive decisions. But what is the motive here? Michela Wrong itemises Kagame’s history of killings going back to 1994 and the atrocities committed by Rwandan troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1996 and 1997 in an unholy alliance with Congolese rebels. Frankly, I am appalled.

The Spectator

Portrait of the Week: pornography, ‘sulky livers’ and abortion

From our UK edition

Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced £300 million more in military aid for Ukraine. Speaking by video to the Ukrainian parliament, he said: ‘This is Ukraine’s finest hour, that will be remembered and recounted for generations to come.’ BP lost $24.4 billion by withdrawing from its shareholding in the Russian energy giant Rosneft, but would have otherwise made a profit of $6.2 billion in the first quarter of this year. Only 27,100 refugees from Ukraine had arrived in Britain by 27 April, the latest figures available, though 86,100 visas had been issued. At least 254 non-Ukrainian migrants were brought ashore from small craft in the Channel on 1 May, when the weather had improved after 11 days, and 293 the next day; more than 7,000 had arrived in 2022.

The Spectator

2551: Madness – solution

From our UK edition

The four-letter word was BAND. Unclued lights suggest bandicoot (7A), bandh (11), banda (41), bandana (1D), bandoneon (3), bandook (7D), bandar (14), bandolero (19) and bandy (35). BAND (ending on 26) was to be shaded. Title: name of a BAND.