The Spectator

Palm substitutes Palm Sunday was so-called because of the palm fronds thrown before Jesus on his entry into Jerusalem. But that caused problems for people trying to hold ceremonies to re-enact the occasion in countries where palm trees do not grow. Some other names by which the day is, or has been, called: In England: Yew Sunday; Branch Sunday; Blossom Sunday; Sallow Sunday; Sunday of Willow Boughs; Flowers Sunday; Flowering Sunday And elsewhere in the world: Pussy Willow Sunday (Latvia); Hosana (Egypt); Oshana (Syria) Eat up The National Farmers’ Union claimed the price of a pint of milk could rise by 50 per cent over the next few months. Which foods are rising in price the most at the moment? Price increase in year to February Oils and fats 6.

The lie’s the thing Sir: Your leading article (‘Partygate’s hangover’, 2 April) maintains that if the Prime Minister receives a fixed penalty notice, he shouldn’t have to resign. No fair-minded person would disagree with this, for such a resignation would indeed be absurd. However, there is a more serious issue. The Prime Minister repeatedly assured the House of Commons that all Covid guidelines were followed in Downing Street. If it is found that he knowingly misled MPs with these claims, then the Ministerial Code is entirely clear: he would have to resign. John Hatt Firbank, Cumbria Thatcher’s war Sir: Charles Moore writes that if Margaret Thatcher had failed to retake the Falklands, she would probably have had to resign (Notes, 2 April).

The unclued lights are phrases which include the numbers from 1 to 7, with 1 featured twice.

Common knowledge Tensions in the visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to Jamaica led some to speculate that the Commonwealth might not long survive the present Queen’s reign. Who came up with the idea of naming the successor organisation to the British Empire after a term first used by Oliver Cromwell? – Lord Rosebery is recorded as referring to a ‘Commonwealth of nations’ in 1884, a decade before he became prime minister. – The term was first used officially in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, which established a federation of British colonies. – The idea of a British Commonwealth first surfaced at the 1926 Imperial Conference. – The word ‘British’ was dropped in 1949.

Home Twenty fixed-penalty fines were issued after the police inquiry into Downing Street parties that broke Covid rules, but the Metropolitan Police refused to say who was fined for which events. Peter Hebblethwaite, the chief executive of P&O Ferries, admitted to a parliamentary committee that the company had broken the law by sacking 800 workers without consulting unions. He said that foreign replacements would earn an average of £5.50 per hour, which is below the British minimum wage. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said he’d change the law to stop that. Lord Grade of Yarmouth, a former BBC chairman, was announced as the preferred candidate to be chairman of the media regulator Ofcom.

NICOLAS POUSSIN painted ET IN ARCADIA EGO and A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME. The latter inspired ANTHONY POWELL, whose novel sequence of the same name introduced the egregious Kenneth WIDMERPOOL.