The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Watch: The Nixon Revival

From our US edition

The Spectator held its first event in Manhattan on Wednesday September 30 — and you can watch the full discussion above. Known to many as “Tricky Dick,” Richard Nixon has often had his legacy reduced to the scandal that brought his presidency crashing down: a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters, a criminal cover-up, then his resignation. But what if his story is far more complicated? Why has J.D. Vance described Nixon as a “new icon” for young conservatives? And why do some Gen Zers now see him as an “America First” populist pioneer?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: the end of the triple lock, odd happenings in Gloucester and Pope Leo in France

Home Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, announced the end of the pensions triple lock from 2030, when the link with earnings would be broken. Wearing a suit but no tie, he told the Labour party conference: ‘I will make a break with the direction of the past 40 years.’ He said that houses would be confiscated if left unoccupied or if rented out but not well maintained. He said he would ‘repeal Margaret Thatcher’s ideological ban on public ownership of water companies’; he would reduce electricity prices by establishing the Great British Grid, a publicly owned company. He tearfully promised a National Care Service, after a review by Baroness Casey of Blackstock. Ties with the EU would be explored and electoral reform would be in the next Labour manifesto.

The Spectator

Andy Burnham begins the long march left

When the Social Democratic Party was launched in 1981, its prospectus was dismissed witheringly by the liberal thinker Ralf Dahrendorf as a plan for ‘a better yesterday’. Andy Burnham has gone one better. He plans to rerun Labour’s last term in office. But this time with feeling. The Prime Minister’s address to his party conference was many things – fluent, passionate, moving, politically effective. But one thing it was not: forward-looking. The quality of the delivery invited comparison with Tony Blair but, unlike Blair, our current PM was not promising modernisation. He was instead seeking to revisit the Blair years and pursue the road not taken by Labour in 1997 – the long march left.

burnham

John Hayes

Here today

Power seems immutable A never-ending dance Entirely indestructible Each blow the merest glance Yet what was indisputable Now looks much more like chance.

The Spectator

2769: Order – solution

The SPEAKER (6A) of the HOUSE OF COMMONS (1D) has been BEHEADED (23D) seven times: BUSSY (15A), THORPE (1A), TRESHAM (12D), CATESBY (22D), EMPSON (5D), DUDLEY (41A), MORE (18A) – each are shown in the grid without their initial letter to indicate their fate.

The Spectator

Which old rockers are still touring?

Orange prize What is so special about the Garvaghy Road to Ulster Unionists? The area around Portadown attained significance for loyalists thanks to the Battle of the Diamond in 1795 when Protestant and Catholic forces clashed at a road junction. Twelve years later, Orangemen started their annual march from Portadown to the church at Drumcree, returning via the Garvaghy Road, which was then in the countryside. It wasn’t entirely peaceful then, with a Protestant magistrate remarking in 1835 that the Orangemen had gone out of their way to pass by a Catholic chapel, stirring up the locals. But the march became more of a flashpoint after a council estate inhabited mostly by Catholics was built along the Garvaghy Road in the 1960s.

The Spectator

Letters: Brits should love Canada

Fire is a leveller Sir: It was disappointing to read Fin Taylor’s Diary (26 September) in which he reflected upon feeling a ‘tinge of satisfaction’ at the California wildfires. He made the rather sweeping statement that Californians believe they live beyond the laws of nature, and that those affected are so rich that it is of no consequence. In fact, the fires at Pacific Palisades affected the whole community. Near to us, a children’s day centre, largely used by low-income families, was completely lost. Our local Ralph’s supermarket burned to the ground with dozens of jobs lost. Landscapers, gardeners, waiters, domestic workers all lost their livelihoods. Whether a billionaire or working for $20 an hour, the merciless devastation touched everyone.

Helen Farish

Monet’s Broom

If he’d had students, he’d have said always have a broom at hand to sweep out all the readymade images of your subject which come to mind; he’d have said this is the hardest part, harder than putting paint on canvas. He’d have said the broom’s handle should become smooth from use and the day you think you don’t need it is the day memory has won. Look at the results of his encounter with that iris – he’s eighty-four and it’s as though he’s never looked at one before.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Andy Burnham should call an election now

So far, Andy Burnham’s premiership has been characterised by compromise and obfuscation. When choosing his Chancellor, instead of picking Shabana Mahmood on his party’s right or Ed Miliband on the left, he went with the reassuringly un-ideological John Healey. Rather than committing to spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence, he postponed any decision until a spending review next year. His broader agenda for his premiership will only be revealed in a ‘Ten-Year Plan’ in November. For a country confronted by as many challenges as Britain, this is an appalling lack of clarity. A reckoning with reality is required. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQnfP-jOET8&t=1387s One thing that Burnham has been clear about is an early election – he has ruled it out.

Paul Deaton

Autumn Arrives

On the Ogmore estuary the Canadian geese clamour as the dusk draws down, the whole brown-blazered congregation rouse from their riverside field, as though now comes the boarding call to take wing. The large honking mass splinters: one lot veer over the dunes, the other team strike straight inland, back up the valley, tracing the river’s silver-mercury as if it’s the royal road. Later, as we sit in the pub above Ogmore Castle, the formation returns, silhouetted in the losing light – a low arrowhead V fly-past – determinedly aimed for the sea, letting go us, the river, October, the blacked-out, turned to night pine trees.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Earl Spencer’s accusations, Burnham meets Trump, the AfD’s advance

Home Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, said in a book that the King had told him after her death: ‘We’ll forget her soon enough.’ Buckingham Palace responded: ‘The pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’ The Duke of Sussex was reported to be in talks to make a documentary about the Princess, his mother. Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, flew off to New York, where he told President Donald Trump that Britain would defend the Falklands, but agreed to look again at the Chagos agreement, which Mr Trump declared ‘terrible’.

The Spectator

Which countries have compulsory voting?

Poll positions Lord Kinnock called on Andy Burnham to make voting compulsory. Around 24 countries have some kind of compulsory voting, including: – Australia, where it was introduced in 1924. Turnout increased to about 90%.– Belgium, where in theory repeat offenders can be banned from voting for ten years (which rather defeats the object).– Greece, where until 2000 non-voters could be refused passports.– Egypt, where you can in theory be jailed for not voting.– Luxembourg, which has the power to hit offenders with €1,000 fines.

The Spectator

Letters: Why should non-Christians care about the Bible?

Reform’s high bar Sir: Michael Gove’s concerns about Reform lacking the talent and an adequate policy framework to ‘prove their credentials for government’ should probably reflect on Starmer’s Labour party in opposition (‘Can Reform reform?, 19 September). Vagueness, bland generality and virtue signalling was all that was offered at the same stage. Reform’s proposals are a model of specificity, realism and genuine conviction in comparison. We should not be overcritical of differences within the Reform leadership. Previous governments have accommodated Foot and Healey; Clarke and Tebbit; Benn and Jenkins, et al. Debate on policy and principles should be seen as healthy, and Kruger and Yusuf are entitled to disagree.

Friday

The Spectator

Livestream: Masters of War

From Napoleon’s conquests across Europe to Lord Salisbury’s diplomacy during the height of the British Empire and Churchill’s wartime strategy, our panel will explore how history is shaped disproportionately by great figures making crucial decisions at moments of crisis. On Thursday 15 October at 7pm, The Spectator’s editor Michael Gove and assistant editor Madeline Grant sit down with Andrew Roberts, just days after the publication of his latest book, Napoleon and His Marshals, to explore the legacy of some of modern history’s greatest and most controversial wartime leaders. You can watch the livestream of this event here on the night or anytime after.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Britain needs to get a grip on AI

We remember the empty hysteria induced by warnings over the millennium bug. We have borne the burden of exaggerated predictions of climate apocalypse from scientists in the grip of confirmation bias. All too recently we endured lurid over-estimations from academics of what the final Covid variants might bring. So it is tempting to dismiss all future warnings of technological Götterdämmerung as the overwrought fever dreams of nerds who have read too much Isaac Asimov. Is artificial intelligence really going to take over the world and kill us all? Are we going to be frozen to death by our smart meters and then incinerated by our microwaves?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: The assisted dying bill falls, the Sussexes switch schools and Trump praises a united Ireland

Home MPs voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill that offered assisted suicide, by 286 to 270; in June 2025, an identical Bill was given a Third Reading by 314 to 291. Ben Delo, a British cryptocurrency billionaire, donated £36 million to Reform. The next day, the cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne (who had given Nigel Farage £5 million in 2024) gave Reform another £36 million. The government plotted retrospective legislation to stop such donations. Dan Thomas resigned as Reform’s Welsh leader, after his arrest on suspicion of assault. Piddington, an Oxfordshire village of 350, voted in a referendum by 285 to 26 to cede from the UK in protest at an asylum camp for 1,250 men coming there.

The Spectator

Which prime ministers have sporting achievements?

Premier sports Andy Burnham took part in the Great North Run, a half marathon, finishing in 1 hour 57 minutes. Some other prime ministers who competed in office: – Edward Heath captained his sailing boat, Morning Cloud, on the 600-mile Fastnet Yacht Race, finishing in 14th place but helping Great Britain to regain the Admiral’s Cup. – Alec Douglas-Home took part in charity cricket matches while PM, having played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Middlesex in his younger days. – Keir Starmer continued to put in the occasional match for a five-a-side football team in Kentish Town. Party favours Reform received two record-breaking donations totalling £72 million in 48 hours.

The Spectator

Letters: Why Douglas Murray should attend the St Paul’s rave

The need for Mammon Sir: Douglas Murray is right to wince at Sadiq Khan’s gloating over the partnership at St Paul’s with the nightclub Fabric (‘Would Sadiq Khan back a rave in a mosque?’, 12 September). But the decision to host club nights is simply about cash. Since the government scrapped the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, historic churches now face an extra 20 per cent VAT bill on all maintenance. The National Churches Survey reveals that 39 per cent of them have roofs at risk or in urgent need of repair. Cathedrals cannot fund seven-figure restoration projects through the Sunday collections alone. Cathedrals have always had multiple uses.