Books and Arts – 28 June 2018
The Spectator
Thursday
to 2362: MEN OF NOTE IV
The unclued lights are COMPOSERS whose surnames begin with the letter D. First prize E.C. Hynard, Guernsey Runners-up Geran Jones, London SW1 R.C. Teuton, Frampton Cotterell
Wednesday
Full text: Liz Truss’s LSE lecture – ‘I want to take a zero-tolerance approach to wasteful spend’
As an economics geek, and a committed free marketer, I’ve always admired the London School of Economics. Despite its left-wing reputation, it was the academic home of Hayek. But even more than that, it produced my husband, Hugh O’Leary. It means that whenever I want a late night discussion about supply side reform or econometrics,
Thursday
Barometer | 21 June 2018
Well oiled The government last week ordered a review into the medical use of cannabis. Some cannabis oil available on the internet: — Hemp oil for pain relief. ‘Great peppermint flavour. Promotes overall health and wellness when combined with a regular workout routine and diet.’ $24.97 — Ultra hemp 500 oil drops. ‘Helps with anxiety,
Letters | 21 June 2018
Song of myself Sir: As a disabled writer, I thoroughly despise the idea of being the beneficiary of a publisher’s tokenistic diversity initiative (‘When diversity means uniformity’, 9 June). If I’m going to achieve success, I’m going to do so on merit alone. In spite of the added challenges I face as a man on
Refugee lives matter
The photographs of children in cages at US migration centres, apparently separated from the parents with whom they illegally entered the country, do not reflect well on the Trump administration. Talking tough on migration helped the President to win the election but there is a difference between building a wall and carrying out a policy
Portrait of the week | 21 June 2018
Home Theresa May, the Prime Minister, said that spending on NHS England would increase by £20 billion a year by 2023. Some of the money would come from economic growth and a ‘Brexit dividend’, but more would come from taxes to be announced by the Chancellor at the next budget. Paul Johnson, the director of
Thursday
Letters | 14 June 2018
Exacerbating incivility Sir: I agree wholeheartedly with David Goodhart that if our politics is to ever recover from its current vicious state then all of us need to do our bit to ‘stand up for civility’ (‘The age of incivility’, 9 June). Goodhart explains well that what has ‘gone wrong’ with our politics is exacerbated by,
Barometer | 14 June 2018
Mortal combat Health secretary Jeremy Hunt promised more protection for medical staff accused of criminal malpractice after a doctor was struck off over a boy’s death from sepsis. How many people die as a result of inadequate healthcare? — In 2016, the ONS listed 141,101 out of 597,206 UK deaths as ‘avoidable mortality’, which was
Beyond Brexit
This week Brexit reached its Somme. The government has been bogged down in votes on amendments inserted into its Brexit bill by the House of Lords. Theresa May saw off the threat of cabinet resignations only to have a more junior minister resign, as he put it, in order to voice the concerns of his
Portrait of the Week – 14 June 2018
Home Negotiations over Brexit acquired an even stronger admixture of chaos and old night. Phillip Lee resigned as a little-known justice minister over Brexit, saying: ‘The 2016 referendum is detrimental to the people we are elected to serve.’ The government managed to reject in the Commons by 324 to 298 a Lords amendment on giving
to 2360: Diplomatic
THE AMBASSADORS (1D) by HANS HOLBEIN (15 16) includes, as a MEMENTO MORI (17 27), an ANAMORPHIC (11) depiction of a SKULL; this is represented in the grid, in the same area as in the painting, in DIAGONAL (25) form. First prize John Nutkins, London TW8 Runners-up Don Thompson, Bolton; Paul Jenkinson, Zollikon, Switzerland
Lionel Shriver defends her Spectator column on Radio 4
Mishal Husain: If an agent submits a manuscript by a gay transgender Caribbean who dropped out of school at 7 and powers around town on a mobility scooter, it will be published, whether or not it is incoherent, tedious, meandering and insensible: the view of the writer Lionel Shriver. And after she expressed that –
The future of Scandinavia
From ‘The Baltic question’, 15 June 1918: The future of Scandinavia and the Baltic must depend on the outcome of the war. If indeed Germany were to emerge victorious, then all the evils on which the pessimists delight to ponder would come to pass… The Baltic would be a German lake, and its commerce would
Thursday
Letters | 7 June 2018
A debate that won’t happen Sir: ‘Westminster is overdue an abortion debate’ (Leading article, June 2). Yes, but there is little point in a debate without the possibility of changing the law. Governments will not take up this issue, regarding it as a matter of individual conscience. In 1967 the Abortion Act was the result
Barometer | 7 June 2018
Ready for take-off? That Heathrow timeline in full: 1949 Labour government proposes an additional two runways for newly opened Heathrow airport. 1990 Conservative government publishes plan for third runway. 2003 Labour government produces white paper proposing short third runway, involving demolition of 700 homes. 2007 Consultation begins. 2009 Gordon Brown decides to go ahead with
The lessons of Grenfell
The opening of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is good news. It will now become harder for politicians and campaigners to do as they did in the immediate aftermath of the disaster and exploit it for their own ends. The 72 who died were not victims of an uncaring government bureaucracy, as some on the right
Portrait of the week | 7 June 2018
Home A third runway at Heathrow Airport was approved by the cabinet; £2.6 billion was earmarked for compensation and soundproofing. Northern Rail brought in a temporary timetable that removed 165 train services a day until 29 July, but scores more trains were still cancelled; all trains to the Lake District were cancelled for a fortnight. Thameslink
to 2359: Down
The unclued lights can be preceded by BLUE which was hidden at the start of the third row and had to be highlighted in blue. BADGE at 15A is the theme word not listed in Brewer or Chambers as a ‘blue’ phrase. First prize Joy Verth, Newton Mearns, E. Renfrewshire Runners-up C.D. Dobbs, Carrickfergus,
Thursday
Letters | 31 May 2018
What the NHS needs Sir: James Forsyth and Fraser Nelson are right (‘The great Tory health splurge,’ 26 May): an extra 3 per cent will not solve the Tories’ political problem. Labour will still trumpet NHS deficiencies, waste will continue and the NHS will demand ever more resources. Only structural change will solve the problems