The Spectator

Letters: Village cricket is the highest form of the sport

From our UK edition

Fighting dirty Sir: John Power is very interesting (‘Dark matter’, 16 August) when outlining the ‘dark arts’ being proposed by Labour to counter the political threat of Nigel Farage and Reform. This is nothing new of course, with one of the most divisive examples being during the Batley and Spen by-election in 2021, when Keir

How many homes in England have air conditioning?

From our UK edition

Suit cases Volodymyr Zelensky again failed to wear a suit and tie to a meeting at the White House, in spite of being asked to do so – although Donald Trump did say he looked ‘fabulous’ in his black button-up suit. What did Allied leaders wear to the great conferences in the second world war?

Rachel Reeves’s self-defeating attack on British racing

From our UK edition

Few British traditions can claim as long a history as racing. The first races thought to have taken place in these islands were organised by Roman soldiers encamped in Yorkshire, pitting English horses against Arabian. By the 900s, King Athelstan was placing an export ban on English horses due to their superiority over their continental

Letters: Nigel Farage’s biggest weakness

From our UK edition

Bad friend Sir: Tim Shipman’s examination of Reform’s success in attracting female voters contains an important warning for Nigel Farage (‘March of the mums’, 9 August). He cites Luke Tryl of More in Common, who points out that Farage’s main Achilles’ heel when it comes to support among women is his closeness to Donald Trump.

Britain is broke – and we all need to face it

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Sometimes when I go to bed, I think that if I were a young man I would emigrate,’ said James Callaghan, the then foreign secretary, in 1974. He was referring to that decade’s chronic economic dysfunction, with its double-digit inflation, growing unemployment and stuttering growth. Two years later, as prime minister, he would have to

How many organisations are proscribed in the UK?

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Mind your manors US Vice-President J.D. Vance is holidaying in an £8,000-a-week manor house near Charlbury in the Cotswolds. What are the other options available on Airbnb or Booking.com for staying in the area for this week (seven nights)? Sunnyside, Charlbury: a four-bedroom terraced Georgian townhouse  £4,847 The Old Chapel, Stonesfield: converted chapel with one

Portrait of the week: Palestine Action arrests, interest rate cuts and an Alaska meeting

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Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said: ‘The Israeli government’s decision to further escalate its offensive in Gaza is wrong… It will only bring more bloodshed.’ Police arrested 532 people at a demonstration in Parliament Square at which people unveiled handwritten signs saying: ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’; the group was proscribed

Oregon Scientific Zip Pocket

From our UK edition

We bought it down the car boot sale, not much of a risk for three quid. While I was paying the mother, the teenage daughter ran her thumb over the screen a final time. We’re back today with stuff to sell, David more than two feet taller. It’s been pitched at three quid again. Every

Letters: What Trump has got right

From our UK edition

Trumped up charges Sir: I am a huge admirer of Max Hastings, whose contribution to our knowledge and understanding of global conflict is unparalleled. However, his passionate condemnation of Donald Trump is typical of the one-eyed liberal Weltanschauung that will continue to drive people both here and further afield into the arms of populist administrations

Hiroshima and the continuing urgency of the atomic age

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In August 1945, Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was stationed on the Pacific island of Tinian as an official British observer of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two decades later, he wrote for The Spectator about his experience. For him, the attack on the two cities represented ‘the ‘destruction of the

2712: Revisions – solution

From our UK edition

The unclued lights are pairs of anagrams: 5/32, 6D/25, 11/30, 18&33/3, 19/39, 28/8. First prize Margaret Shiels, Edinburgh Runners-up Archie Batra, Ealing; Christopher Coleman, Cheltenham, Glos

Letters: The case for recognising Palestine

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State of emergency Sir: As someone who spent time undertaking research in Israel and Egypt, living for almost a year on Kibbutz Re’im, one of the communities attacked on 7 October 2023, I find myself in agreement with much of the description in your leading article ‘State of denial’ (26 July) – but not the

2711: Homework – solution

From our UK edition

Written about AUSTRALIA – ‘I LOVE A SUNBURNT COUNTRY/ A LAND OF SWEEPING PLAINS’ – is taken from DOROTHEA MACKELLAR’s ‘My Country’, first published in The Spectator in 1908. First prize Ruth Dixon, Oxford Runners-up Bill Ellison, Caversham, ReadingJ.E. Smith, Bridge of Allan, Stirling