The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: A political squall, sub-postmasters exonerated and India’s Covid crisis

Home By the beginning of the week, 12,071,810 people had received both doses of coronavirus vaccine, and the proportion of the adult population with both soon rose to more than a quarter. In the seven days up to the beginning of the week, 159 people had died, bringing the total of deaths (within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus) to 127,417. Fares Maatou, aged 15, was fatally stabbed at half past four in the afternoon outside a pizza shop in Newham, east London. Anthony Thwaite, the poet and editor of Philip Larkin’s letters and poems, died aged 90.

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A vote for the SNP would mean another wasted decade in Scotland

Sometimes, Westminster unwittingly makes quite a good case for Scottish independence. Britain’s Covid emergency has ended, but the damage of the last year is enormous: the knock-on effects of lockdown can be seen in NHS waiting lists, the devastated high street, the mental health backlog and the 20,000 pupils who are absent from the school register. There is urgent work to do, yet the government is engaged in a battle to the death over who paid for wallpaper in Downing Street. We see a Prime Minister at war with his ex-adviser, unable to rise above the fray and capitalise on the opportunity of his vaccine success. Then there’s the opposition, unable to oppose.

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2501: Delightful – solution

The ‘Transport of Delight’, in the song by Flanders and Swann, was that ‘big six-wheeler, scarlet-painted, diesel-engined, London Transport, ninety-seven horse-power omnibus’. First prize H.

Tuesday

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Notice: The Spectator’s agreement with The American Spectator

From our US edition

The Spectator and The American Spectator are pleased to announce the settlement of the recent lawsuit between the parties. The Spectator and The American Spectator are independent publications and have been available in the United States for many decades. Historically, The Spectator has focused primarily on UK politics and affairs while The American Spectator has focused primarily on US politics and affairs. This arrangement has worked well and the publishers have even considered each other to be more friends than competitors. The Spectator has recently decided to launch new publications with a focus on US politics and affairs.

Thursday

The Spectator

The public has kept its side of the lockdown bargain. Now it’s the government’s turn

Over the past week, the country has started to spring back to life. Trains and buses are no longer running empty. Bars and restaurants have put out signs proclaiming they are fully booked. Pubs are using school playgrounds as beer gardens and filling every seat. In Soho, people danced in the streets when someone walked through with a stereo. A country that has been locked down for months is finally coming back into the open, with not a penny of government bribery required. There is a palpable sense of both relief and accomplishment. Yet the recent noises from No. 10 have been far from positive. The Prime Minister has claimed, oddly, that the decline in Covid cases has almost everything to do with lockdown and very little to do with vaccination.

The Spectator

Letters: The true cost of the green dream

Zero possibility Sir: Katy Balls is right to conclude that the government is ‘not being upfront’ on the bill for net zero and who will pay (‘The green games’, 17 April). As the Covid pandemic has revealed, expectations need managing, and without an urgent agreement on a consistent set of policy guidelines which embrace fairness, energy security and affordability, the whole net-zero project could backfire. Whichever way you approach the problem, the costs of transitioning to net zero by 2050 are massive, with estimates ranging from £50 billion p.a. (Climate Change Committee) to £100 billion p.a. (National Grid), and the burden falling most heavily on those who cannot afford it.

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Portrait of the week: Covid pills, Chauvin’s conviction and a red card for the Super League

Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced the hunt was on for two effective pills to treat Covid, to be ready (after clinical trials) by the autumn. He had cancelled a visit to India, which has seen an increase in Covid deaths, with Delhi put into lockdown. Scarcely was his trip off than India was added to a ‘red list’ of countries from which most travel to Britain is forbidden. Sir Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition, visited The Raven public house in Bath only for the landlord to shout at him: ‘Get out of my pub!’ He left. By the beginning of the week 9,416,968 people had received both doses of coronavirus vaccine, 17.9 per cent of the adult population; 60.8 per cent had received one dose. The number with both doses soon rose above ten million.

The Spectator

Who gave Abba ‘nul points’ in 1974?

Falling from grace Six Premier League football clubs had announced their intention to join a European Super League, from which it would be impossible to be relegated, before changing their minds. When were they last relegated from anything? — Manchester United were relegated from the top tier of English football in 1974, and promoted back the following season. — Manchester City were relegated to the third tier in 1998, climbed back to the second in 1999 and the Premiership in 2000. They were relegated again in 2001, and promoted again the following year. — Liverpool were relegated to the old Second Division in 1954, and promoted to the First in 1962. — Chelsea were relegated for a season to the Second Division in 1988.

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2500: 50 x 50 – solution

The solution grid includes the letter L fifty times (L x 50 = 2500). Coincidentally, Doc and his wife, Jean, celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary on 3 April, the publication date of the issue.

Thursday

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The enduring power of the monarchy

Fourteen prime ministers; 18 general elections; seven changes of government. Even in a stable country like Britain it is remarkable how much political water has flowed under the bridge in the 69 years since the late Duke of Edinburgh became consort to Elizabeth II. Britain has gone from a country of outside lavatories to one of conspicuous wealth, from an independent nation to a member of the EU and back again, from an empire to a champion of global trade. Some see the past seven decades as a period of national decline, yet the quality of life has improved hugely. In 1952, life expectancy at birth for Britons was 69; now it is 81. To have lived for almost a century is still an impressive feat, but is a lot more common now than it was at the beginning of the second Elizabethan age.

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Portrait of the week: Duke of Edinburgh dies, Covid retreats and questions for Cameron

Home The Duke of Edinburgh, who was married to the Queen for 73 years, died at Windsor Castle, aged 99. The Queen was said to feel ‘a huge void’. Union flags flew at half mast; gun salutes were fired. For a day the BBC cancelled television schedules and broadcast the same programmes on all its channels. Parliament was recalled a day early. No laws would be passed until after the funeral on 17 April at Windsor, to be attended by no more than 30, in compliance with coronavirus legislation. As a mark of respect, the Prime Minister thought better of being photographed drinking beer in a newly liberated pub garden, though he did have his hair cut. The nation learnt from endless newspaper pages and broadcast media what a difficult and dutiful life the Duke had led.

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Letters: There’s nothing libertarian about vaccine passports

Taking liberties Sir: I feel that Matthew Parris is absolutely wrong about liberty (‘The libertarian case for vaccine passports’, 10 April). True liberty is that each individual has the possibility to live their life how they desire (within the law), taking full responsibility for any and all the risks they incur. I am not responsible for anyone else’s health. To say that we have to stay indoors, wear masks, observe social distancing or have vaccinations because we would be killing others if we did not is blackmail. If you use the logic that the individual is responsible for the health of all other people then everyone who owns a car is directly responsible for every injury on the roads.

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How often does it snow in April?

D of E awards A few of the late Duke of Edinburgh’s lesser-known titles and honours: — Royal Chief of the Order of Logohu (Papua New Guinea); Grand Commander of the Order of Maritime Merit of the San Francisco Port Authority; Grand Cross in Brilliants of the Order of the Sun of Peru; Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (Iceland); Member First Class of the Order of the Supreme Sun (Afghanistan); Grand Cordon of the Supreme Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan); Grand Cross with Chain in the Order of the Queen of Sheba (Ethiopia). Paying their respects The Duke of Edinburgh will have only 30 mourners at his funeral, thanks to Covid restrictions. How many people have attended or watched royal funerals?

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2499: Entitled trio – solution

The theme was C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 38A (of Scotland), 43A and 22D were all called ‘The Lion’ (see Brewer’s entry for lion); 11A, 41A and 9D are all witches; 12A, 34A and 6D are wardrobes.

Monday

Thursday

The Spectator

Joe Biden has dropped ‘vaccine passports’. Will Boris?

‘The government would love to put issues such as these beyond the bounds of debate by creating an air of national emergency.’ So this magazine declared on 27 November 2004 in response to Tony Blair’s proposal for national identity cards, which had just been announced in the Queen’s speech. Our editor then, Boris Johnson, argued that their very existence would threaten the character and liberty of the country. If you buckle in an emergency, he argued, the principle will be lost for ever. He urged Tory MPs to rebel and crush identity cards which, he later said, he’d abolish if he ever ended up in government. History now repeats itself. Blair is back, advocating identity cards in the form of vaccine passports or ‘Covid status certificates’.

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Letters: The inconsistencies of Mormonism

A leap of faith Sir: I live not far from the ‘London Temple’ of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most summers, the local streets are trodden by American Mormon missionaries, polite teenagers who occasionally approach to ask if we know Jesus Christ. Some years ago, I read the book on which the new Netflix series Murder Among the Mormons (‘Latter-day sinners’, 3 April) appears to be based. So when I was accosted by a couple of missionaries, I was able to ask them why the practice of polygamy, so avidly promulgated by the founder of their church, Joseph Smith, had been abandoned.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Vaccine passports, Northern Ireland riots and a cocaine-smuggling kayaker

Home The government sketched a scheme for a coronavirus passport, or ‘Covid status certification’, to be tried out at the FA Cup Final on 15 May. It would record vaccination, a recent negative test or natural immunity after recovering from Covid and might admit the bearer to public places, such as pubs or soup kitchens. Dozens of MPs opposed the passport, including Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, who sits as an independent, and Iain Duncan Smith, the former Conservative leader. In the meantime everyone could have two lateral flow tests a week at pharmacies or at home, and would have to self-isolate if the result was positive.

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How likely is a false positive from a Covid test?

Positive thinking The government wants us to test ourselves for Covid-19 twice a week, using lateral flow kits which will be freely distributed. What is the risk of being ordered to self-isolate as a result of a false negative? — While the NHS claims that these tests produce false positives in 0.1% or fewer cases, an evaluation by Porton Down and Oxford University last year found a false positive rate of 0.3% in a hospital setting, rising to 0.39% in the community — in other words, about one in every 256 tests. — According to the Office for National Statistics infection survey, in the week to 27 March one in every 370 people were infected (not necessarily showing symptoms) — 0.27% of the population.