Unusual crowd FC Seoul apologised after using sex dolls to try to create some atmosphere as games went ahead behind closed doors because of coronavirus. It is not the first time a football club has got into trouble over a fake crowd. In 1992 Arsenal covered up works at the north end of its Highbury
Home The United Kingdom seemed reluctant to come out of its lockdown. ‘We are likely to face a severe recession, the likes of which we haven’t seen,’ said Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Unemployment rose by 856,500 in April to 2.1 million. More than two million claims had been made for the grant
From the outset of the Covid-19 crisis, the government was determined that scientists would play a central and highly visible role. The Prime Minister set the tone in his first daily press briefing, when he addressed the nation flanked by the chief medical officer and the chief scientific adviser. The message was clear: this was
The unclued lights are the four Labour MPs who stood for election as Labour’s leader to succeed Jeremy Corbyn: 11, 18/12, 28/16 and 36/41. The red squares reveal ANGELA RAYNER, the deputy leader. First prize Sara MacIntosh, Darlington, Co. Durham Runners-up Kevin Ward, Quorn, Leicestershire; Belinda Bridgen, London NW8
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Slogan update. After ‘Stay alert’ comes: ‘Keep our distance, wash our hands, think of others and play our
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the UK rose to 2.1 million in April in the
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Children from better-off families spend 30% more time on home learning than those from poorer families, according to
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Boris Johnson has declared war on fat as an increasing body of research suggests a link between obesity
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis The UK has approved a new antibody test for detecting Covid-19. Details below. It could take ‘many months’
It would be a tragedy if one of the legacies of Covid-19 — a disease which hardly affects children physically — was a widening of the already broad gap in educational attainment between rich and poor. But sadly, the damage is already well under way. Back in March, Britain was the European country most keen
Home The government changed its slogan from ‘Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives’ to ‘Stay alert, control the virus, save lives’. Authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland refused to adopt it. The day after a 13-minute televised speech to the nation by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, the government published a 50-page Recovery
Safety first The government was criticised for its new coronavirus slogan, ‘Stay alert’. What are the most common safety slogans in use in workplaces?— ‘Safety is our number one priority’— ‘Safety is no accident’— ‘Take five and stay alive’— ‘The key to safety is in your hands’— ‘No safety, know pain’The word ‘alert’ doesn’t appear
Jobs for all Sir: Charles Bazlington championed Universal Basic Income in last week’s magazine (Letters, 9 May). It is welcome to see innovative ideas being discussed at a time of unprecedented economic crisis. Might I suggest that if we wish to empower citizens, not just pay them, we instead look to provide employment via a
The thirteen unclued lights are all breads, hence the puzzle’s real title at 17A. First prize Nicholas Grogan, Purley, SurreyRunners-up Clare Reynolds, London SE24; Mrs E. Knights, Wisbech, Cambs
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis A leaked Treasury report warns the UK could face a 1970s-style ‘sovereign debt crisis’ unless the Chancellor introduces
Here is the full transcript of the Prime Minister’s address to the nation: ‘It is now almost two months since the people of this country began to put up with restrictions on their freedom – your freedom – of a kind that we have never seen before in peace or war. And you have shown
The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Britain will remain in lockdown until June at the earliest, according to theTimes. Meanwhile, No. 10 has been dampening
The concept of the state tracking our every movement is anathema to this magazine and, we assume, to its liberal former editor now resident in Downing Street. Nevertheless, such is the impasse over coronavirus that it is right the government should attempt to exit lockdown via the application of a voluntary ‘track and trace’ on
The case for small homes Sir: Your editorial rightly highlights what must be one of the government’s priorities once the worst of this crisis abates (‘Call that care?’, 2 May). I have been the owner and manager of a small, five-bedroom care home for nearly 30 years and, having had a majority of privately funded
Home The government put its mind to the puzzle of how to get people back to work. Draft advice was for office workers to avoid sharing staplers and to face the wall in lifts. An Ipsos Mori poll found that 61 per cent of people would feel not very comfortable about using public transport. Boris