The Spectator

How many 100th birthday cards does the Queen send?

From our UK edition

Multiplying by hundreds The Queen penned a personal 100th birthday message to Captain Tom Moore, who has raised money for NHS charities by walking around his Bedfordshire garden. — The tradition of the monarch sending 100th birthday greetings began with George V in 1917, when he sent out a telegram with the words: ‘His Majesty’s

The NHS has been protected – care homes have not

From our UK edition

As the NHS was preparing for the Covid onslaught, thousands of hospital patients were discharged to care homes in an attempt to free up beds. This worked: about 40,000 NHS beds are now unoccupied, four times the normal amount for this time of year. Attendance at A&E has halved. Almost half of all intensive care

2452: Comme on dit solution

From our UK edition

The paired unclued lights (1D/6, 14/25, 36/32 and 39/1A) are, AS THEY SAY when the title of the puzzle is translated, four French idioms listed in Brewer. First prize Clive West, Old Windsor, BerkshireRunners-up Simon Coxall, Royston, Hertfordshire; Mark Saxon, Stockport

Covid-19 update: Will Boris take paternity leave?

From our UK edition

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 and Carrie Symonds have announced the arrival of a baby boy, born this morning in a

Covid-19 update: Boris is back

From our UK edition

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 asked the public to ‘contain [their] impatience’ to exit the lockdown, in his first live

Covid-19 update: New York: 21%. Stockholm: 26%. London?

From our UK edition

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 much-anticipated shipment of personal protective equipment from Turkey contained 32,000 gowns vs the expected 400,000 units. Meanwhile,

Covid-19 update: coronavirus’s second wave

From our UK edition

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  Manchester and Liverpool are now seeing the most Covid-19 cases, according to the Health Service Journal. Social restrictions

Who else has made history at Captain Tom Moore’s age?

From our UK edition

Oldies and goodies Captain Tom Moore, 99, raised more than £26 million by walking 100 laps of the garden of his old people’s home. Who are the oldest people to have achieved various feats? — Yuichiro Miura climbed Everest aged 80 in 2013.— Dr Fred Distelhorst climbed Kilimanjaro at the age of 88 in 2017.—

The case for trusting the public is stronger than ever

From our UK edition

Our Plan is entirely new, comprising – 1. The whole News of the Week: selected, sifted, condensed and arranged as to be readable throughout. 2. A full and impartial exhibition of all the leading Politics of the Day. 3. A separate Discussion of Interesting Topics of a general nature, with a view to instruction and

Letters: The joy of balconies

From our UK edition

The closing of churches Sir: Stephen Hazell-Smith is quite right in writing that churches should re-open (Letters, 18 April), however the issue is now more fundamental. Recent weeks have demonstrated a crisis of leadership in almost every aspect of national life, excluding the Queen, who has exercised a spiritual leadership made necessary by the failure

Spectator writers in lockdown – by the people stuck with them

From our UK edition

Andrew Watts (Tanya Gold) ‘I can’t eat this,’ said The Spectator’s restaurant critic, putting down her fork after one mouthful. Our son, who had not yet decided whether he liked mackerel, immediately declared that it was yucky-poo. The correction of taste is, after all, the function of criticism. When we’re not in lockdown, Tanya leaves

2451: Cretinous solution

From our UK edition

Unclued lights are anagrams of the names of countries (anagram of Cretinous): UNHOARDS (1A: anagram of Honduras), ATWAIN (5: Taiwan), OBANG (37: Gabon), ELCHI (38: Chile), DAIMONIC (43: Dominica), RUBINE (10: Brunei), TANAGRINE (11: Argentina), LAIRAGE (15: Algeria), SERIAL (30: Israel) and RAIN (36: Iran). First prize Sue Pounder, Ashton-under-LyneRunners-up Tony Alers-Hankey, London W4; Andrew

Covid-19 update: Only a third of children are given online learning

From our UK edition

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  Only one third of school children have taken part in any online lessons since the lockdown began. Analysis

Covid-19 update: Cabinet frustration at lack of lockdown debate

From our UK edition

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 There is no guarantee that hospitals will not run out of personal protective equipment (PPE) this weekend, Health