Biden makes a stunning 2024 admission
Plus: McCarthy hits eject & another Republican eyes the presidency
The Spectator
Wednesday
The Covid Inquiry is a case study in how not to learn lessons
From our UK edition
Two years ago, a new strain of Covid emerged and with it came calls for a Christmas lockdown. The Omicron variant was said to spread far faster than previous iterations of the virus and Imperial’s Neil Ferguson warned that it was no less deadly. The call for lockdown began and Britain came very close to
Portrait of the week: royal ‘racists’, Scottish pandas and celebrity deaths
From our UK edition
Home James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, told the Commons that to gain a work visa, migrants must in future secure a salary of at least £38,700 instead of the present £26,200. The government also said it would stop health and care workers and students bringing family dependants to Britain. He said this would have disqualified
2631: Nine capitalists – solution
From our UK edition
The unclued lights are the surnames of the nine LONDON WORTHIES, verifiable in Brewer. First prize Andy Gemmill, Lenzie, Glasgow Runners-up Alasdair MacKenzie, Hambledon, Hants; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Letters: why not let readers buy The Spectator?
From our UK edition
Power to the readers Sir: I would suggest that even if the government of the UAE gives a ‘cast-iron’ guarantee not to interfere with The Spectator’s editorial line, this should be taken with a very large pinch of salt (‘The real deal’, 2 December). Why don’t you ask your subscribers to buy the magazine? With nearly 140,000
Where does ‘panda diplomacy’ come from?
From our UK edition
Black and white politics Two pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, left Edinburgh Zoo for China after their 12-year loan to Britain ended. But contrary to popular belief, ‘panda diplomacy’ didn’t begin in 1972 when Chairman Mao gave two to the visiting Richard Nixon – and received two musk oxen in return. (In 1974, Mao
Broken clock
From our UK edition
Past time, maintains the broken clock. It isn’t off, not by a minute. Without a tick, without a tock, Past time, maintains the broken clock. Twice every day, those still hands mock the present, but they’re never in it. Past time, maintains the broken clock, It isn’t off, not by a minute.
Monday
Trump’s opponents still believe he’s a dictator
Plus: House to vote on Biden EV mandate
Friday
Santos kicked out of Congress
Plus: Trump gets a BLM endorsement
Wednesday
Nikki Haley gets that sweet Koch money
Plus: Hunter Biden prepared to testify to the House
2630: Souvenir – solution
From our UK edition
The puzzle appeared on 11 November 2023. The unclued lights reveal ‘The CENOTAPH and POPPY evoke REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY, once ARMISTICE DAY, the ARMISTICE being SIGNED at the ELEVENTH HOUR, ELEVENTH DAY and ELEVENTH MONTH’. First prize Victoria Estcourt, Tisbury, Wilts Runners-up John Harley, Norton, Stockton on Tees; M.D. Conway, Grimsby
Press freedom isn’t ‘sentimental’ – it’s vital
From our UK edition
‘We can be quite sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets,’ said Lord Johnson, one of Kemi Badenoch’s business ministers, earlier this week. ‘The reality is that media and information has moved on. Clearly, most of us today don’t buy a physical newspaper or necessarily go to a traditional news source.’ His implication was
The Old Campaign
From our UK edition
‘Love and war are the same thing…’ — Miguel de Cervantes Somewhere over the tiled foothills of our council estate A man and a woman are arguing. The focus of the argument is something brutally trivial A TV programme choice, that sort of thing, Yet the air is a hot Isandlewana of big
Portrait of the week: Elgin Marbles madness, Israel/Hamas ceasefire and Oscar Pistorius freed
From our UK edition
Home Net migration reached a record 745,000 last year, the Office for National Statistics said, 139,000 higher than the 606,000 it had previously given. Robert Jenrick, the minister for immigration, was reported to be ‘pressuring’ No. 10 with ideas for cutting immigration, such as by making a minimum salary of £35,000 a requirement for a work
Letters: it’s not rude to ask how someone’s name is pronounced
From our UK edition
No control Sir: Your leading article (‘The welfare monster’, 25 November) has fallen into the increasingly common trap of posthumously attributing to Brexit voters imagined reasons for their voting to leave. No, we didn’t ‘in large part’ do so in a search for a better economic model. We did so to rid ourselves of the
Why don’t Britons spend time in nature?
From our UK edition
School’s out Aslef members walked out on strike again this week, 18 months after this round of rail strikes began. But the unions still have a long way to catch up with Britain’s longest-ever strike, which lasted 25 years in the unlikely setting of the village of Burston, Norfolk. It began on 1 April 1914
Bone Water
From our UK edition
He felt brave, capable and full of duty He went out with the rest of them and scoured the high grass And the tide-step and low sandy grass He saw how early morning on the river had its beauty They spread out in a loose crescent form Each man could hear the other’s high rubber
Monday
Biden’s economic blame game
Plus: Elizabeth Warren takes on ‘Big Sandwich’ & Santos lashes out
Wednesday
Cuomosexual conversion therapy
Plus: Omar makes more demands and Sam Altman returns
Britain’s welfare system is out of control
From our UK edition
To grasp the scale of Britain’s welfare crisis, consider some of the changes announced by the government this week. There will be tighter restrictions on sickness benefit and people with mobility issues will have to work from home. It’s a big and controversial reform. But the result? The number of Britons claiming sickness benefits –