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Thursday
Vaccines are working – so why isn’t society reopening?
When the Prime Minister sets out his ‘roadmap’ for easing Covid restrictions on Monday, it will be against a backdrop that is both better and worse than could have been imagined six months ago. Worse because we have gone on to suffer a second wave of the disease that has seen almost as much excess
Letters: Immunity passports are nothing new
Too many bishops Sir: As a former Anglican clergyman, I have been following your articles about the current state of the Church of England with interest and sadness. I note that the recent article by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York is strong on modish phrases, such as a ‘mixed ecology church’, but it ignores
Do gender studies departments have a gender problem?
Target practice The government hit its target of giving a first Covid vaccine to 15 million of the most vulnerable people by the middle of February. Some other government targets which have been met (sort of): — 100,000 Covid tests a day by the end of April. The government did claim to have achieved this
Portrait of the week: Hotel quarantine starts, Ribblehead Viaduct cracks and a royal guest for Oprah
Home The target was achieved of vaccinating, by the middle of February, about 15 million people of 70 or over, together with care home residents and workers, and the clinically extremely vulnerable. But there was concern that a substantial proportion of care home workers declined the vaccine. By 16 February, more than 20 per cent
2491: Recycling - solution
The ten unclued lights comprise the seven primary Wombles, best known for their recycling of objects found on Wimbledon Common. First prize James Bristol, Cheltenham, GloucestershireRunners-up Susan Hay, Perton, Staffordshire; Malcolm Taylor, Eskbank, Midlothian
Tuesday
The Spectator's response to Lady Dorrian's judgment
Last week, The Spectator went to the High Court in Edinburgh to seek clarification on the publication of Alex Salmond’s written testimony to the Parliamentary Inquiry into how the Scottish Government handled complaints against him (nothing to do with the criminal trial). We published his evidence on our website in January as a public service.
Thursday
Universal Credit and the future of the welfare state
Amid the many failures of public policy during the Covid crisis, one success has gone largely unnoticed. The Universal Credit system coped with a huge uplift in applications without breaking down. In February last year 2.6 million households were signed up; six months later that had swelled to 4.6 million. Some 554,000 people made new
Portrait of the week: A royal baby, Boohoo buyouts and France legalises lunch al desko
Home On Sunday 7 February, as the week began, 11,465,210 people in the United Kingdom had received a first vaccination against Covid-19 and 510,057 a second. Those aged 70 or over were invited to book a vaccination online or by telephone if they had not received one. Illegal immigrants were advised to register with a
Letters: How to repair the Church of England
Save on bishops Sir: The Church of England is once again missing the point if its financial crisis will result in the closure of parish churches and redundancy of clergy (‘Holy relic’, 6 February). Radical action is required, but the focus should be elsewhere. A starting point would be to amalgamate the vast majority of
How often do tempers flare at parish meetings?
Temper, temper A Zoom video of a disruptive parish council meeting in Handforth, Cheshire, went viral. It is not the first such incident. — In December 2014 a fight broke out at a meeting of the allotments committee of Brierfcliffe parish council near Burnley, over a former parish councillor’s claim for a right to graze
2490: Arrangement - solution
Suggested by 30 (IKEBANA, or flower arranging), the unclued lights were all anagrams of flowers: 1A gardenia; 18 rose; 22 violet; 24 daisy; 39 lily; 45 iris; 47 orchid; 48 geranium; 8 aster; 12 freesia; 23 lupine; 25D primrose; 28 alyssum. First prize Romy Angel, Twickenham, Middlesex Runners-up Ben Stephenson, London SW12; Andrew McKie, Peterborough
Thursday
What were the GameStop investors actually buying?
Best before The government plans to introduce labels on domestic appliances informing consumers how long they are likely to last. Which appliances have lasted the longest? — In 2017, Sydney and Rachel Saunders of Exeter, both in their eighties, were reported to be getting rid of appliances bought soon after their marriage in 1956 and
Letters: How to revive Britain’s orchestras
Good conductors Sir: Yes, it is sad to see talents like Sir Simon Rattle and Mirga Gražinyte-Tyla leaving our shores (‘Rattled’, 30 January) and yes, the Brexit complications faced by British musicians are ludicrous. But both might be bearable if there were sufficient investment in grass-roots music here. At least then we could hope that
Sturgeon and the impunity of the SNP
Scottish politics tends to go through long bouts of single-party dominance. In the 19th century, the Liberals were in charge. After the war, Labour reigned unchallenged, which is why, in 1997, it drew up a devolution settlement on the assumption that Scotland would always be its fiefdom. But Scottish Labour then imploded. The Scottish National
Portrait of the week: Variants, vaccines and goodbye to Captain Sir Tom Moore
Home About 80,000 people in eight places in Surrey, London, Kent, Hertfordshire, Southport and Walsall were asked in door-to-door visits to take tests after the South African variant of coronavirus was found in these areas. Another mutation was found in the Kent variant. At the beginning of the week, Sunday 31 January, total UK deaths
2489: Fade away - solution
All the unclued lights can be linked with PETER, 35/38 is the paired solution. First prize Gerry Fairweather, Layer Marney, EssexRunners-up Bridget Workman, Purley, Surrey; Alastair Goudie, Cupar, Fife
Tuesday
A statement from The Spectator
From our US edition
In regards to a legal complaint from the American Spectator
