Clowns 3
‘It’s wonderful to see them behaving naturally in the wild rather than being forced to perform in captivity.’
The Spectator
Thursday
Statin
‘Before I begin, has everyone taken their statin?’
Promises
‘We need to be careful. It could be full of election promises.’
Jet
‘Here comes the private jet.’
Lion 3
He used to be rampant. Nowadays he’s just couchant.’
Benefits 3
Multi
‘I don’t know for certain but she could be the god of multitasking.’
Spirit
Before you proceed, Spirit, I must tell you that this conversation may be recorded for training purposes.’
Beard 2
‘Couldn’t you stop growing your beard now, Roger?’
Nightmare
‘Which is your best nightmare?’
Postcode 3
‘Stop! Do not attempt to move him to a different postcode!’
Strut
‘Cut! Can you strut and fret less!’
Spectator letters: Camila Batmanghelidjh defends Kids Company
In defence of Kids Company Sir: Your piece ‘The problem with Kids Company’ (14 February) bears an important message: charities need to be transparent and accountable. That’s why Kids Company was independently audited twice last year alone, and our financial structures and functioning put to the test. We also have auditors working alongside us, verifying
Why did the House of Lords ever have a rifle range?
Gun lords The House of Lords shooting range is to be turned into a cupboard, having previously survived an attempt by Labour MPs in 1997 to turn it into a crèche. — The range was constructed in 1916 for the Palace of Westminster Rifle Club, which managed to convince the Lord Great Chamberlain that rifle
Let Greece leave the eurozone
To listen to Greek government ministers addressing the outside world during their breaks from negotiations with eurozone leaders this week, it would be easy to form the impression that Greece had a mighty economy upon which all other eurozone countries were pathetically dependent. ‘Europe is going through the difficult process of understanding that Greece has
Portrait of the week | 19 February 2015
Home The annual rate of inflation fell to 0.3 per cent as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (or to 1.1 per cent by the Retail Prices Index). The Bank of England predicted a touch of deflation in the spring. Unemployment fell by 97,000 to 1.86 million in the last quarter of 2014. The FTSE share
Books & Arts opener – 19 February 2015
The Spectator at war: Distinguished service
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 20 February 1915: We are very glad to see that the Admiralty have rewarded the captain and crew of the merchant steamer ‘Laertes,’ which skilfully escaped from a German submarine attack last week. Although his vessel was unarmed and rather slow, Captain Propert came through unhurt both by
From the archives | 19 February 2015
From ‘The psychology of drill’, The Spectator, 20 February 1915: One is tempted to divide all men under drill into two classes — the precipitate and the tardy. Every one who has listened to a drill instructor’s words knows that the first part of a command is cautionary. For instance, in ‘Right-turn’ there is a
