The Spectator

Wednesday

The Spectator

Which countries see more UFOs?

From our UK edition

Red Wales Labour lost power in the Welsh Assembly for the first time since it was set up in 1999. Labour’s domination in Wales began early. The party’s founder, Keir Hardie, was born in Lanarkshire and made his name as a trade union activist in the Scottish coalfields. He first won election for the constituency of West Ham South. Yet it was during his second Commons stint, as MP for Merthyr Tydfil, that he established the Labour party in 1900. In the 1922 general election Labour won a majority of seats in Wales, a feat it has repeated in every one of the 27 general elections since – a run unparalleled among political parties in the world’s genuine democracies, but which is unlikely to be extended. Space oddity Donald Trump declassified many files relating to UFOs.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Labour’s civil war begins, government borrowing rises and Trump arrives in China

From our UK edition

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, made a speech without a jacket or tie in an attempt to save his premiership after local election results that were disastrous for his party. He promised to nationalise British Steel, to make ‘an ambitious youth experience scheme’ the heart of a new arrangement with the EU and to offer unemployed young people a job, training or work placement. Even before most local election votes had been counted, he said: ‘I’m not going to walk away and plunge the country into chaos.’ He told a divided cabinet: ‘The Labour party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered.

The Spectator

The EU can’t save Labour

From our UK edition

Amid the rubble of this government lies a tattered standard – the regimental colours of the current Labour party. The blue and gold of Brussels is now the binding force that holds together the different factions of this government. Keir Starmer and those who wish to replace him are united in their conviction that a refreshed, closer relationship with the EU is central to their destiny and Britain’s. Starmer’s wish to once more hoist the European flag is understandable. He positioned himself to succeed Jeremy Corbyn by becoming the face of Brexit resistance. In the days, not so long ago, when he had a following, it was because his supporters believed he would lead Britain back into the heart of Europe. Now, Starmer wants to play that old tune.

The Spectator

Letters: it’s hard to undo dumbing down

From our UK edition

Tales from the City Sir: Simon Jenkins’s article on Liverpool Street Station (‘Horror storeys’, 9 May) is inaccurate, and an insult to every councillor on the City of London planning committee, whose professionalism I defend. Saying the committee was ‘clearly going to approve’ the application amounts to an allegation of predetermination. That is a serious charge against every councillor present. It is also untrue: 22 members heard the case and three voted against. Sir Simon writes that ‘both schemes were presented to a packed City planning committee’. This is also untrue. There was one planning application before the committee that day.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Golders Green attacked, borrowing costs soar and rat virus hits cruise ship 

From our UK edition

Home Two Jewish men aged 76 and 34 were stabbed in Golders Green, north London. Essa Suleiman, 45, a British man born in Somalia, was charged with their attempted murder and, earlier on the same day, that of Ishmail Hussein (whom he had known for about 20 years) in Southwark. The Golders Green attack was declared a terrorist incident. Sir Mark Rowley, the commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, condemned Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, for reposting a message on X accusing the police of ‘repeatedly and violently kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by Taser’; Mr Polanski apologised.

The Spectator

Anti-Semitism is a virus – and it’s spreading

From our UK edition

To eradicate a virus, one needs precision. The origin of the threat needs to be identified, as do the circumstances of its incubation and spread, and the vulnerability of specific hosts. The wrong response risks making things worse. Anti-Semitism is a virus, and, as the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explained, one that mutates over time. Originally, it was a religious prejudice; post-Enlightenment, it developed into a racial hatred, fuelled by a twisted version of social Darwinism. It was thought that after the unique evil of the Holocaust, the single greatest crime in history, when man became wolf unto man, the virus had at last been defeated. But in our own time a new variant has emerged.

The Spectator

Letters: Yvette Cooper for PM!

From our UK edition

Bet on Yvette Sir: Were Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham or Wes Streeting to succeed Sir Keir (‘After Starmer’, 2 May) as prime minister without first becoming a holder of one of the other three Great Offices of State, this would mark the first time in more than a century that a current or previous holder has not become prime minister in the middle of a parliament when the occasion arose. On the basis of this very strong tradition, the real contenders are David Lammy, Shabana Mahmood, Yvette Cooper and Rachel Reeves. Of these, the only credible potential candidate appears to be Cooper, who could run as a ‘safe pair of hands’ to stop the frontrunners, should sufficient Labour MPs want her to do so.

Ann Pilling

The Signal Box Revisited

From our UK edition

Nothing has changed since I first saw Helpston flash by, years ago now, the same wide fields, the flatness, the serious hedges. Valerian has thickened up along the track and there are stands of dog daisies and plumy grass. John Clare lies at Helpston and I learned only today that Blunden took his poems to the Somme. He read them in old shell holes where convolvulus trailed all bright with butterflies and larks sang overhead. John Clare wrote about such things too. War never burned his land, the churches and the lonely farms still stand.

The Spectator

Which animals are older than David Attenborough?

Travel sickness Three people were reported to have died in an outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship returning to Europe from Antarctica. How likely are you to fall ill with an infectious disease on a cruise? A European study that analysed US data on 760 cruises between 2010 and 2013 found an overall illness rate of 2.81 cases per 10,000 traveller-days, while 97% of cases involved norovirus. The rate of outbreaks was highest on ships which had a home port in Cuba or Egypt and lowest on ships with a home port in France, Greece, Italy or the UK. Local difficulties Does a governing party ever do well in local elections?

Wednesday

The Spectator

Which world leaders survived the greatest number of assassination attempts?

From our UK edition

Marathon sprints The Kenyan marathon runner Sabastian Sawe broke the world record by running the first official sub-two-hour marathon. – The world’s first official sub-three-hour marathon was also run in London, at the 1908 Olympics at White City. – The record could have gone to an Italian, Dorando Pietri, but he collapsed just short of the line and was helped over it, leading to his disqualification. The record went instead to Johnny Hayes, at a time of two hours 55 minutes and 18 seconds. – The two and a half hour barrier was broken in 1925, in New York. The price of energy Is renewable energy really helping to keep down bills? The table shows domestic electricity price alongside the share of electricity made up of wind and solar. South Korea 10.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Starmer avoids ethics inquiry, Birmingham’s bin strikes end and Trump is targeted

From our UK edition

Home The House of Commons voted 335 to 223 against a Conservative-led motion to refer Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, to the Privileges Committee over his claims about the vetting of Lord Mandelson; 14 Labour MPs voted for the motion. Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff, who had recommended the appointment of Lord Mandelson, told the Foreign Affairs Committee that No. 10 had wanted Lord Mandelson in post ‘quickly’ but that officials were never asked to ‘skip steps’. Sir Philip Barton, the former permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, told the committee he was ‘presented with a decision’ made by the PM and ‘told to get on with it’.

Jamie McKendrick

Unearthing

From our UK edition

I’d not go out there now if I were you –  not unless you have a taste for fire falling in flakes, for clouds of dust that leave an acrid chalky residue on wigs and epaulettes. If I were you I’d be inclined to stay inside at least until the ground had ceased to shake, the roads to crack – unearthing bad things we buried not that long ago. We’ve all been out enough by now to know it’s not the best of times to feign disinterest now the pillars of the temple are askew, now slates are flying, bridges burning and the big cats have bust out of the zoo.

The Spectator

In the local elections, think local

From our UK edition

In March, just before Artemis II rounded the far side of the Moon, the Transport Secretary had her own lunar encounter. Heidi Alexander claims that a ‘moon crater’-sized pothole forced her Mini off the road in Oxfordshire. She is far from alone. Pothole casualties in Britain rose from 270 in 2020 to 393 in 2024, including six dead. An RAC Europe survey found that 62 per cent of British drivers thought European roads are better maintained. Britain’s pothole problem is a story of government dysfunction. Local authorities seem unable to perform their basic duties; meanwhile, council tax continues to rise, bin collection becomes more infrequent and public spaces continue to deteriorate.

The Spectator

Letters: the little-known role of liquorice in parliamentary history

From our UK edition

Pennies pinching Sir: I agree with much of this week’s editorial, except for two points (‘Nunc dimittis’, 25 April). As a formerly Positively Vetted civil servant, I cannot see what point there is in vetting an applicant for a job if the outcome of the vetting (as opposed of course to the private details) is not made known to the appointer. Who was responsible for this not happening in the current case still remains obscure. The second point I take issue with is your pressing for the end of the triple lock for pensions. I wish you would suggest how pensioners who have the ‘full’ state pension, and just enough more to put them over the threshold for Pension Credit, are expected to live?

Friday

The Spectator

The Fight for the Right

From our UK edition

Watch the live recording of The Fight for the Right. On Wednesday 29 April, we pit the Conservatives, represented by Nick Timothy and Claire Coutinho, against Reform UK, represented by Matt Goodwin and Danny Kruger, to see which party truly represents the future of the right. The debate will be chaired by Isabel Hardman, The Spectator’s assistant editor. The livestream is exclusive to Spectator subscribers.

Wednesday

The Spectator

How many people undergo security vetting?

From our UK edition

Balls to that Why are elections called ‘ballots’?  — The word ballot comes from the Italian, pallotta, meaning a small ball. In Venice in the 16th century voters deposited a pallotta in a pot. The same system was used in an election in Barnstaple, Devon, in 1689, where voters were given a ball and asked to deposit it in one of two pots. The system allowed people to vote secretly by concealing the ball in one of their fists. They would hold each fist over a pot and discreetly drop it. No one watching could tell which fist had contained the ball. Heavy vetting How many people undergo security vetting?

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Olly Robbins is sacked, inflation rises and the Strait of Hormuz is (briefly) opened 

From our UK edition

Home Sir Keir Starmer tried to explain himself to parliament after Sir Olly Robbins was sacked as permanent under-secretary of state at the Foreign Office, its chief civil servant. Sir Keir complained that as Prime Minister he had not been told that Lord Mandelson had failed to satisfy UK Security Vetting when he took up his post as ambassador to Washington. Sir Keir said that he had not been told before 14 April. In the Commons he said: ‘I did not mislead the House.’ Even before Lord Mandelson’s appointment, the Cabinet Office had compiled a due diligence report, given to the Prime Minister, which cited concerns about the peer’s ties to China and Russia. Zarah Sultana, the Your Party MP, had to leave the Commons chamber after saying: ‘The Prime Minister is a bare-faced liar.