Future proof Sir: Douglas Murray asks why Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech understated the problems (‘Imagine what Enoch Powell might have said’, 25 October). The simple answer is that it couldn’t have said everything, but many of the omissions cited are referred to in Powell’s later speeches. During the 1970 general election campaign in
The WORD-BUILDING series is: eat (40A), tare (8D), cater (37A), recant (11A), certain (27A), canister (2D), nectaries (3D), transience (19D), incinerates (1A). First prize Christine Rees, Cowlinge, Suffolk Runners-up Mark Humble, Beercrocombe, Taunton; Graham Westmore, Sibsey, Lincs
Javier Milei’s election in 2023 was a repudiation of decades of Peronist turmoil, corruption and inflation. Milei offered shock therapy, delivered with an Austin Powers haircut and chainsaws. This is a man who had worked as a tantric sex coach and claims to speak not just with animals but also with God himself. Eyebrows were
Home An Iranian man who arrived on a small boat and was deported to France on 19 September under the one in, one out scheme returned to England on another small boat. Hadush Kebatu, the migrant whose arrest for sexual assault sparked weeks of protests outside the Bell hotel in Epping where he was living,
So as to not leave any marks on the freshly emulsioned walls by leaning the metal stepladder against them, and to save me the groan of starting next morning by heaving it up off the floorboards and lugging it into position, I stand it upright, dead centre of the empty lounge overnight, clothe the rungs
Antony Beevor In Captives and Companions (Allen Lane, £35), Justin Marozzi has brought together a scholarly yet vivid history of slavery in the Islamic world in all its varied forms. Everything is covered, from the former slaves recruited by the Prophet, who achieved immense influence, to agricultural slavery, military conscription with Mamluks and Janissaries, the
Watch Bernard Cornwell in conversation with The Spectator’s associate editor Toby Young as they discuss Cornwell’s new book, Sharpe’s Storm, and delve into his remarkable life and career via livestream, exclusively for Spectator subscribers. Author of more than 50 international bestselling novels, including The Last Kingdom and much-loved Sharpe series, Cornwell will discuss the real history behind his riveting tales of war and heroism, and the enduring appeal
SEN and sensibility Sir: As a former teacher and long-standing chair of governors in a local school, I share Rosie Lewis’s frustration at the parlous situation regarding special educational needs (‘Fare play’, 18 October). I also sit on a weekly area admissions committee and many schools in our area are full, often with long waiting
Home Prince Andrew said he would no longer use his titles, including as Duke of York, or his honours; his former wife will be known as Sarah Ferguson and no longer Duchess of York. The posthumous memoirs of Virginia Giuffre repeated her allegations of sexual abuse against him, which he has denied. George Abaraonye, who
Unclued lights are pairs of words as referred to in the UK and US: 1A/28, 10/26D, 14/40, 24/41 and 36/7. First prize Jeremiah Carter, Cambridge Runners-up Geoffrey Goddard, Hastingwood, Essex; Lucy Robinson, Oxford
Louvre incursion Jewellery once belonging to Napoleon’s family was sprung from the Louvre. In 1911 the ‘Mona Lisa’ was stolen by an Italian glazier, Vincenzo Peruggia, who worked there and who managed to slip the painting under his smock. Two years later he was caught when trying to sell it to an antiques dealer in
In Silicon Valley there is a simple mantra that drives innovation: You Can Just Do Things. Wait for permission from the system, the bureaucrats or, worst of all, your lawyers, and nothing ever happens. Incumbents want inertia not challenge. Progress depends on movement. Nowhere does the PM seem so adrift than in the area he
Watch Piers Morgan in conversation with Andrew Doyle to discuss Piers’s provocative new book, Woke Is Dead, and share their unfiltered views on the state of the world today, exclusively for Spectator subscribers. Rather than celebrating the death of woke, Piers’s book advocates for the return of common sense and a less divided, more sensible society. Piers Morgan: Woke
Rough justice Sir: The Church Commissioners’ plan to establish a £100 million (rising to £1 billion) fund for ‘reparative justice’ is indeed ‘the most egregious example of lanyard Anglicanism’ as your leading article says (‘Laud’s prayer’, 11 October). It is deeply flawed in conception, substance and process – and is especially ill-judged when parish clergy
King’s speechless There will be no state opening of parliament this year and consequently no King’s speech. This is only the seventh year since 1900 in which this has happened: the others were 1915, 1925, 1949, 2011, 2018 and 2020, though 2019 saw two state openings in just over two months, on 14 October and
‘SWEAR’ ( 31D) is uttered thrice by the ghost of King HAMLET (3D) who was the victim of ‘MURDER MOST FOUL’ (37A/34D/9D) where his FRUIT (14A) grew (his orchard). His son, whose tragic friend was OPHELIA (36A), addresses the ghost as ‘OLD MOLE’ (18D). See Hamlet I.v.145-162. First prize Cathy Staveley, London SW15 Runners-up Mick
Exactly a year ago, this magazine warned that ministers were showing a dangerous naivety towards China. We revealed that the Chancellor, the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister were all intent on cosying up to Beijing. They were scornful of the wariness Conservative ministers had shown towards the Chinese Communist party. The Labour leadership believed
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, praised President Donald Trump for the Gaza ceasefire agreement while in India accompanied by a trade delegation of 126. He then flew off to Egypt for the summit at which the peace declaration was signed. Sir Keir asserted that the dropping of a prosecution against two men for
I am floating on heather again. A fleece unshorn for fifty years slips off me, rolls down the hill. Its tumbleweed won’t stop till the village where Gary and Bill wait for me and Emmy unlocks the corrugated hall and Stahl repairs his Morris outside Nancy’s shop. It’s early May. The bleating fields and the
Watch Spectator chairman Charles Moore and assistant editor Isabel Hardman discuss Charles’s new Centenary Edition of Margaret Thatcher’s biography, exclusively for Spectator subscribers. Charles will reflect on Thatcher’s legacy, draw sharp parallels with today’s political landscape and ask where conservatism – with its split between the Conservatives and Reform – goes from here. Beforehand, Charles,
