The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

The questions the government must answer over the China spying case

From our UK edition

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 that their pursuit of growth could be supercharged by Chinese investment. They hoped one of their missions – the drive to decarbonise the grid – could be facilitated by Chinese tech. They thought Tory attitudes to China were warped by ideology and a more pragmatic line towards Beijing would be economically rewarding.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Gaza ceasefire, unemployment increases and a Gen Z uprising

From our UK edition

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 spying for Beijing (which they deny) was because China had not been a ‘threat to national security’ when they were accused of espionage between December 2021 and February 2023; Lord Case, the former cabinet secretary, said it definitely had been, and two former heads of MI6 agreed. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, was seen to be more cheerful since her well-received speech at the party conference proposing the abolition of stamp duty.

Wednesday

Paul Henry

On Tor y Foel

From our UK edition

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 drone of Glyn’s tractor rise. The sunlight brims with larks. I am not the man I became but inside a song, a dazzling stream, the laughter of friends on the breeze.

Tuesday

The Spectator

Livestream: Speaker Series – An evening with Charles Moore

From our UK edition

Watch Spectator chairman Charles Moore and assistant editor Isabel Hardman discuss Charles’s new Centenary Edition of Margaret Thatcher’s biography. Charles reflected on Thatcher’s legacy, drew sharp parallels with today’s political landscape and asked where conservatism – with its split between the Conservatives and Reform – goes from here. Beforehand, Charles, along with Kate Ehrman, presented their short semi-dramatisation The Fall of Margaret Thatcher: A Whodunnit, a retelling of Thatcher’s last three days in office.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: Why shouldn’t we eat swan?

From our UK edition

Zero chance Sir: In Tim Shipman’s wide-ranging article on Kemi Badenoch (‘I have a lot of self-belief’, 4 October), she claims that net zero has become just a slogan and that we can’t tackle climate change alone. In that she is right, but she fails to recognise that unless we can be seen to be world leaders in reducing emissions, then we will never be in a place to lecture other countries – many of whom just want what we have already had. By being the ‘goody-two-shoes’ in the fight against climate change, we will have the very best chance of bringing the rest of the world with us, without exposing ourselves to neo-colonialist aspersions.

The Spectator

How many babies in Britain are called Jihad?

From our UK edition

Out of office French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned after just 27 days – making his time in office 22 days shorter than that of Liz Truss. But even Lecornu doesn’t hold the record for Europe’s shortest-lived PM.  – That honour belongs to Magdalena Andersson, elected Swedish PM on 24 November 2021. She lasted just 7 hours before resigning – although a few days later she did come back as PM leading a minority administration which lasted nine months. – Pedro Lascurain’s presidency of Mexico lasted 45 minutes on 19 February 1913. He was appointed only to give an appearance of legitimacy to leaders of a coup.

The Spectator

What we need from our new Archbishop of Canterbury

From our UK edition

There have been 106 Archbishops of Canterbury since Gregory the Great declared Augustine his ‘Apostle to the English’ in 597. Their number has included Catholics and Protestants, progressives and traditionalists, academics, politicians, even a tank commander. But none had ever been a woman. Sarah Mullally’s appointment is a historic moment for the Church but it comes at a moment of peril for Anglicanism. The Church of England seems to be in a state of perpetual crisis. Few would argue that it serves the world’s more than 100 million Anglicans well or that it sits at the heart of public life.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Synagogue attack, pro-Palestine protests and a new Archbishop of Canterbury

From our UK edition

Home Two men at a synagogue at Heaton Park in Manchester were killed on Yom Kippur when Jihad al-Shamie, 35, drove a car at bystanders and went on the attack with a knife. He was a British citizen of Syrian descent, on bail after being arrested on suspicion of rape. He was bravely prevented by those present from breaking into the main building. Police shot him dead; they also accidentally shot a worshipper who died, and wounded another. Six people were arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences. Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, appealed for a pause in pro-Palestinian protests but police arrested 488 people around Trafalgar Square demonstrating on Saturday in favour of Palestine Action – proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: the Church of England still has something meaningful to say

From our UK edition

Moscow mule Sir: While visiting Russia, James Delingpole learned from the patriarchate’s press officer that under communism the Russian Church wasn’t allowed to exist (‘Letter from Moscow’, 27 September). However, that doesn’t accord with my own experience of being in the USSR during the Brezhnev era. As a student, I visited the 14th-century Zagorsk monastery complex just outside Moscow one Sunday and was spellbound by the heavenly chant of the Orthodox liturgy which lifted my soul. The church was full of babushkas as well as younger believers crossing themselves and kissing the icons. For all his faults and human-rights violations, Brezhnev, unlike Vladimir Putin, had not been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

The Spectator

What are the risks of first cousins having children?  

From our UK edition

Park life Locals were angered by the closing off of 1,500 acres of Windsor Great Park to create a secure area around Forest Lodge, the new home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Medieval residents of Berkshire would have been in sympathy, as William I had the entire park closed off to the public under his Forest Laws. Large parts of the park were eventually opened to the public by William IV in the 1830s, though it wasn’t good enough for some. In 1972 anti-monarchists set up what they called the People’s Free Festival trying to reclaim the park for the public, claiming it had been illegally enclosed by George III. The festival was repeated for the following two years before being broken up by the police.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Keir vs Nigel, ID cards and Trump’s peace deal

From our UK edition

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, addressed delegates at the Labour party conference in Liverpool who had been issued with little flags of the home nations to wave. He said Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, ‘doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain’. He had earlier put forward the difficult argument that Farage’s party was ‘racist’ in its migrant policy while Reform supporters were not racist but ‘frustrated’. Asked seven times whether there would be VAT rises, he repeated that ‘the manifesto stands’. Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, promised to keep ‘taxes, inflation and interest rates as low as possible’. Ofgem raised the energy price cap by 2 per cent.

The Spectator

ID cards are Labour’s alibi for its failure

From our UK edition

Questions of identity permeate our politics. What is it to be English, to be British? The Prime Minister sought to reclaim patriotism for the left in his conference speech, but his invocation of football stadium flag-waving and Oasis swagger was a remix of Britpop themes which were tinnily jarring two decades ago and beyond tired today. It was karaoke Cool Britannia. A much more thoughtful consideration of what modern patriotism requires, and where the dangers in an exclusively ethnic approach to national loyalty lie, came from the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

Wednesday

The Spectator

Livestream: Speaker Series – An evening with Jeffrey Archer

From our UK edition

Watch Spectator editor Michael Gove in conversation with international bestselling author Jeffrey Archer, in a live recording, exclusively for Spectator subscribers. From politics to a publishing career in which he has sold more than 300 million books worldwide, Lord Archer reflected on the stories that have captivated millions. We also celebrated the launch of his latest thriller, End Game, and offer audiences an exclusive glimpse into the gripping finale of the William Warwick series.

Thursday

The Spectator

Letters: French universities still offer a proper education

From our UK edition

Unhappy Union Sir: John Power is correct about George Abaraonye, the president-elect of the Oxford Union (‘Violent opposition’, 20 September). Abaraonye appears to advocate that most extreme form of censorship: the bullet. As such, he poses an existential threat to the Oxford Union, which for 250 years has been a beacon of free speech for the world. Invited speakers are dropping out. Donors to the much-needed building repairs appeal are snapping shut their chequebooks. Freshmen with a belief in free speech and open debate will not join. If Abaraonye cared about the institution, he would resign. Evidently, he cares not one jot. He seems to want its destruction. For this reason, he must be removed as soon as possible.

The Spectator

How long does it take to build a runway?

From our UK edition

Flight path How long does it take to build a runway? — 33 years (at least) in the case of Heathrow’s third runway, first consulted on by Gordon Brown’s government in 2007, but which is not expected to be open until 2040 at the earliest. — 17 years in the case of Gatwick’s second operational runway, which involves the current emergency runway being moved 40ft to the north. Proposed in 2013 by Gatwick airport and approved by the government this week, it could be in service by 2030. — 90 days in the case of Tegel airport, Berlin, work on which started 5 August 1948, during the Berlin Airlift. It was open for operations on 5 November. Put to the Test Harold ‘Dickie’ Bird, who has died aged 92, was a fixture of the English summer between 1970 and 1996.

The Spectator

2719: What’s in a Name? – solution

From our UK edition

MADRIGAL (the compiler) is linked by MAD (completing words phrases: BRAINED, COW DISEASE and WORT), RIG (meanings: SWINDLE, EQUIP and ARTIC) and AL (abbreviation for: ALABAMA, ALUMINIUM and ALBANIA). First prize Will Devison, Shaldon, Devon Runners-up Don Thompson, Bolton; Phillip Wickens, Faygate, W.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Recognition for Palestine, second runway for Gatwick and questions over Epstein for Fergie

From our UK edition

Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, announced that Britain had recognised a Palestinian state. France, Portugal, Canada and Australia did likewise. Before President Donald Trump of the United States was sent safely home, the government said it had secured £150 billion worth of US investment. Baroness Berger succeeded in establishing a select committee to examine the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, after it passed its second reading in the Lords. The Ethiopian asylum seeker whose arrest for sexually assaulting a woman and a 14-year-old girl provoked protests outside a migrant hotel in Epping was jailed for 12 months. The Home Office was looking into hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on sending asylum seekers to see doctors by taxi.

The Spectator

This is Shabana Mahmood’s moment

From our UK edition

What is the point of Keir Starmer? He was the means by which the Labour party could suffocate the hard left and assume the mantle of respectability and, in due course, power. But he lacked, and has never acquired, a governing philosophy. He was handed a landslide by an electorate determined to eject the Conservatives from office with ruthless force. Yet he has contrived to forfeit the authority it lent him and now rivals the government he supplanted in unpopularity and lack of direction. The men and women who engineered his ascent to the leadership, and delivered the majority he has acquired but does not command, have always known his limitations.