Our venue for the Yorkshire & North East regional final was the former Leeds Club — where the entrepreneurs of the region’s textile and other manufacturing industries would once have congregated. We welcomed back guest judges Caroline Theobald, a leading promoter of entrepreneurship in Newcastle and the North East, and Gordon Black, a venture capitalist
Our Midlands regional final took place on Zoom — a blast from the regional past, you might say — but was no less enjoyable and stimulating for that, all four regional entrants giving an excellent account of themselves. They were Blutick, which is taking maths teaching online to a new level; Petalite, which offers powerful
This year’s regional finals for The Spectator’s Economic Innovator of the Year Awards kicked off with a fascinating session in a private dining room of the boutique hotel One Aldwych. We managed to pack representatives of all 12 finalists (chosen from 90-plus entrants for the region round one table, plus guest judges Paul Abberley (CEO
Scummy idea Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner called Tories ‘scum’ in a speech to activists at her party’s conference. The word, derived from a 14th-century Dutch word for foam, was first recorded in the sense of an insult in Christopher Marlowe’s play Tamburlaine, written in the late 1580s. Referring to Christian slaves kept by the
The unclued Across lights can be preceded by MISS and the unclued Down lights. MRS 2/15D is the pair. First prize Suzanne Cumming, Plymouth Runners-up Stephen Rice, London SW1; Barbara Butterworth, Princes Risborough, Bucks
There’s a great revival under way in the British TV and film industry, but it’s not the BBC that’s behind it. Netflix is normally secretive about its figures but this week published a list of its most popular shows and top of the pile is Bridgerton, which imagines Regency London as a racially mixed society.
Parish problems Sir: Emma Thompson draws attention to a serious problem in the Church of England (‘Power to the parish’, 25 September). Why are they trying to make it easier to close down parishes when the parish is where the people are to whom the church must minister? The parish is also the major funder
Home The crisis of the week was a shortage of fuel at garages. ‘There is no need for people to go out and panic buy,’ said Paul Scully, the small-business minister. That set motorists queueing. BP had shut some petrol stations and blamed a shortage of heavy goods vehicle drivers. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary,
There’s a great revival under way in the British TV and film industry, but it’s not the BBC that’s behind it. Netflix is normally secretive about its figures but this week published a list of its most popular shows and top of the pile is Bridgerton, which imagines Regency London as a racially mixed society.
The Spectator is back at Conservative party conference, where we’re delighted to be hosting a packed schedule of entertaining fringe events. We’ll be discussing the biggest topics of the day with a range of exciting guests, hosted by our top team of political journalists. Every event includes a free G&T – make sure to arrive
Seeds of change The Chelsea Flower Show opened in autumn for the first time, delayed thanks to the pandemic. The show has been cancelled before due to the world wars — during the second world war the site was used for an anti-aircraft gun emplacement. But it wasn’t always held in Chelsea. It began as
Britain is caught in an energy crisis of the government’s own making. It is true that gas prices have spiked all over the world — but Britain is suffering more than most. Energy suppliers are going out of business, thanks to the government’s price cap. Even fertiliser companies are going bust, with serious knock-on effects
Driving force Sir: As a long-distance UK lorry driver I am very aware of the issues raised by Rodney Pittam (‘So long, truckers’, 18 September). However the job can provide an income of more than £40,000 to those with a practical rather than an academic bent. Yes, there is unpleasantness, discomfort and a combative attitude
Home To prevent a shortage of meat, which relies on carbon dioxide in its packaging, the government gave millions of taxpayers’ money to an American company to reopen a fertiliser works at Stockton, Co. Durham, that produces the gas as a by-product. The plant had been shut down because of a rise in wholesale gas
Unclued lights were synonyms of NOTHING. ‘A trifle’ is one definition of nothing given in Chambers. First prize James Knox, Beaconsfield Runners-up Phillip Wickens, Horsham; David Morgan, Gilesgate, Durham City
Many feared mass unemployment as a fallout from Covid-19. Instead, we have ended up with the opposite problem: a labour shortage. The lack of lorry drivers has led to some items missing from supermarkets. Pubs, restaurants and many other businesses are struggling to re-open as completely as they would like for want of adequate staff.
The question was ‘What is THE THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY(-)NINTH PRIME NUMBER’ (7A/10/22/40/16/31/32/28)? The answer is 2521, the number of the puzzle, which solvers were to shade. First prize Trevor Evans, Drulingen, France Runners-up Jo Anson, Birmingham; Ian Shiels, Bramley, Leeds
A kick up the assetocracy Sir: While it was heartening to see Fraser Nelson take a stand against the ‘assetocracy’ (11 September), it made for a depressing read too. As a millennial, voting Conservative today feels increasingly like an act of social charity. Something done at my own economic expense to shield my fellow citizens
Home The government decided to offer booster vaccinations to those over 50. Children aged 12 to 15 would be offered one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination. This followed a declaration by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that it could not recommend vaccination for these children for their own health benefit alone; the chief
For 18 months, the government has held power over us as never before in peacetime. The emergency powers granted by parliament in March last year can cancel our events, separate families and send us back into our homes. The argument for giving politicians this kind of control was that leaders needed to make huge decisions
