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From our UK edition
The Spectator
Thursday
Letters | 14 July 2016
From our UK edition
Lurid about Leavers Sir: Matthew Parris has spent much of the past few months denigrating those of us who want to leave the EU, but his latest article (‘For the first time, I feel ashamed to be British’, 9 July) really does go too far. It is simply untrue to claim that the leaders of the
Barometer | 14 July 2016
From our UK edition
Nuggets on May Some trivia about Theresa May — At 59, she is the oldest new prime minister since Jim Callaghan, 64, in 1976. — She has the shortest surname of any prime minister since Andrew Bonar Law, who held the post for 211 days in 1923. — She is the first childless PM since
Portrait of the week | 14 July 2016
From our UK edition
Home Theresa May became Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party when Andrea Leadsom withdrew her candidacy for election by party members. This came after a front-page report by the Times based on an interview with Mrs Leadsom in which she said: ‘I feel being a mum means you have a very real stake
Cameron’s Legacy
From our UK edition
Midway through his final cabinet meeting, David Cameron realised — with some horror — that it had turned into a political wake. Theresa May had just lavished praise upon him, and his eyes had moistened. Then it was George Osborne’s turn: the Chancellor was a bit more humorous, but no less affectionate: ‘Being English, David,
Theresa May’s Cabinet reshuffle in full
From our UK edition
Theresa May has now finished the task of appointing her Cabinet. Here’s the list in full of who is in, who is out and who stayed put: Theresa May: Prime Minister (was Home Secretary) Philip Hammond: Chancellor (was Foreign Secretary) Boris Johnson: Foreign Secretary (was Minister without Portfolio) Amber Rudd: Home Secretary (was Energy Secretary) Michael
Never again
From our UK edition
From ‘Terms of peace’, The Spectator, 15 July 1916: As the man in the street might say, ‘The Allies are not going to give the Germans a chance to come at us a second time. Never again! is our motto.’ And if this is the object of the war, it will also be the object of
Wednesday
David Cameron’s legacy: a stronger, fairer Britain
From our UK edition
Midway through his final cabinet meeting, David Cameron realised — with some horror — that it had turned into a political wake. Theresa May had just lavished praise upon him, and his eyes had moistened. Then it was George Osborne’s turn: the Chancellor was a bit more humorous, but no less affectionate: ‘Being English, David,
Saturday
Technology by numbers
From our UK edition
Digital tech turnover growth 2010-2014 1. Dundee 129%. 2. Edinburgh 48%. 3. Glasgow 42%. 4. Newcastle & Durham 29%. 5. Sunderland 44%. 6. Leeds 47%. 7. Liverpool 49%. 8. Manchester 40%. 9. Sheffield & Rotherham 45%. 10. Leicester 63%. 11. Birmingham 17%. 12. Worcester & Malvern 48%. 13. Norwich 22%. 14. Cambridge 46%. 15.
Thursday
Letters | 7 July 2016
From our UK edition
Junior elitists Sir: In response to Andrew Peters’s reminder that in many cultures it is the older and more experienced whose views are respected, I am stunned by the social media tsunami of self-regard shown by so many apparently well-educated young people in the wake of what they see as an adverse referendum result (Letters,
The shame of Iraq
From our UK edition
‘If it falls apart, everything falls apart in the region’ — Note from Tony Blair to George W. Bush, 2 June 2003. Instead of asking why we fought the war, we should ask why we lost The extraordinary length of time that we have had to wait for Sir John Chilcot’s report into the
Portrait of the week | 7 July 2016
From our UK edition
Home Conservative MPs set about finding two candidates for the party leadership to be put to party members as rival choices. Theresa May proved the frontrunner, gaining 165 votes in the first round, with Liam Fox least fancied, being eliminated in the first round with 16 votes, and Stephen Crabb gaining 34 and throwing in
The Spectator podcast: It is time for a new workers’ party
From our UK edition
To subscribe to The Spectator’s weekly podcast, for free, visit the iTunes store or click here for our RSS feed. Alternatively, you canfollow us on SoundCloud. It has been another extraordinary week in politics. Nigel Farage resigned as Ukip leader, Labour MPs are still trying – but failing – to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn, and the
Why the Tories should send May and Gove to the country
From our UK edition
As a radical paper, The Spectator has always been an admirer of Michael Gove, particularly his education reforms. He was, perhaps, a little too radical when abandoning Boris Johnson at the eleventh hour last week – but let it not be said that he lacks the steel needed to become Prime Minister. Andrea Leadsom was
The meaning of the Somme
From our UK edition
From ‘News of the week’, The Spectator, 8 July 1916: On the surface of London life there is hardly a ripple, and yet not a hundred and fifty miles from our shores is being waged the first stage of what in all probability will prove not only one of the greatest and momentous battles in all
Wednesday
Sir John Chilcot’s full statement introducing the Iraq War inquiry report
From our UK edition
We were appointed to consider the UK’s policy on Iraq from 2001 to 2009, and to identify lessons for the future. Our Report will be published on the Inquiry’s website after I finish speaking. In 2003, for the first time since the Second World War, the United Kingdom took part in an invasion and full-scale
The Chilcot report has exposed Blair’s real crime: failure to prepare
From our UK edition
‘If it falls apart, everything falls apart in the region’ Note from Tony Blair to George W Bush, 2 June 2003. The extraordinary length of time that we have had to wait for Sir John Chilcot’s report into the 2003 invasion of Iraq has not made the end result any more satisfying. For some, nothing
Friday
‘There were no stragglers’: The Spectator reports from the Somme, July 1916
From our UK edition
This piece first appeared in the Spectator in July 1916: Our men have advanced with an elan and a spirit to which the history of war affords no parallel. It is a commonplace of esoteric military history that there is a very seamy side to those glories of the assault upon which the ordinary describer
Thursday
Letters | 30 June 2016
From our UK edition
A rational vote Sir: There has been a lot of bile poured out about those who voted Leave by the Remainers. Their intelligence, their racial tolerance and their general moral standing has been called into question. I was a Remain voter, but live in an area that was 69 per cent Leave, and work with
Barometer | 30 June 2016
From our UK edition
Repeat until fade More than three million voters disappointed by the result of the EU referendum have signed a petition demanding a re-run. — They may have in mind the Danish referendum on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, rejected by 50.7% of voters. A year later, after exemptions were offered to Denmark, the country voted