New normal Why have so many people started saying ‘normalcy’ rather than ‘normality’? — Normalcy has been traced back to 1857 when it was used in geometry to denote a state where lines were perpendicular to each other. It was rarely used outside mathematics until 1920, when the then US presidential candidate Warren Harding made
Who would have thought, this time last year, that the British government would be planning to detain British nationals at the airport and keep them under guard in a hotel room for a ten-day quarantine? It’s quite a departure for a country whose values have always been defined by the defence of liberty. But we’re
Unclued lights were games played in I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue: SOUND CHARADES, SWANEE KAZOO, CHEDDAR GORGE, PICK UP SONG and MORNINGTON CRESCENT. First prize Mike Whiteoak, Ilford, EssexRunners-up Dr Wendy Atkin, Sleaford, Lincs; Paul Elliott, London W12
Paradise lost Sir: After reading Jonathan Beswick (‘Critical mass’, 16 January) I am writing to express the shame I feel as a lifetime member of the Church of England at our Church’s attitude to this pandemic. Here was the greatest opportunity in 70 years to demonstrate care for our fellow people, to advertise our faith
Home The government undertook to offer a first dose of vaccine to the adult population of the UK by September. More than four million had now been vaccinated. The campaign was on target to vaccinate 15 million by mid-February. A ten-day trial would see some hospitals open for vaccinations 24 hours a day, seven days
Bad service Economic growth fell by 2.6% in November, the month of the second lockdown, compared with falls of 7.3% in March and 18.8% in April. The pandemic has achieved what has eluded recent governments, in rebalancing the economy away from services. Since February: — Services have contracted 9.9%— Manufacturing has fallen 4.9% — Construction
At the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Chris Whitty often made the point that a pandemic kills in two ways: directly and indirectly. Locking down society also costs lives — and stymies life chances. Ever since the government moved to embrace lockdown, neither ministers nor the chief medical officer have talked much about the collateral
The winners The first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of Word Perfect by Susie Dent (John Murray) go to the following. First prize Martin Dey, Hoylandswaine, SheffieldRunners-up Victoria Sturgess, Wimborne, Dorset; David Armitage, Stockport; Elisabeth Hopkin, London SE9Additional runners-up John Boyd, Ashtead, Surrey; Dianne Parker, St Margaret’s at Cliffe,
Home The government, in the face of overwhelming numbers of people with Covid-19 being admitted to hospital, told everyone to stay at home and threatened them with unspecified harsher measures. The law brought into force on 6 January allowed any amount of exercise and visits to food shops, dry cleaners, takeaway restaurants, banks, pet-food suppliers,
Parliamentary objections The US Capitol was raided by Donald Trump supporters trying to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory. How close have protestors come to entering our own parliament? — In May 2004, protestors calling for fathers’ access rights to their children threw a condom full of purple flour from the public gallery
Lockdown damage Sir: I am sick and tired of people taking the moral high ground and looking down on ‘lockdown sceptics’ like me as if we don’t care. It’s ironic, because while there is no clear evidence to date that national lockdowns actually save more lives (contra the interview with Matt Hancock, 9 January), there
When lockdown was first proposed in March, one of the many arguments against it was that people would tolerate being deprived of their liberty only for a few weeks. The idea of criminalising basic community behaviour — welcoming a guest into your home, educating children, going to church to pray — was viewed as an
When Sir David Barclay, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, bought The Spectator in 2004, the magazine came as a side dish with their purchase of the Daily Telegraph. Under their ownership, that quickly changed. The Spectator (1828) became a separate company with no financial cross-entanglements. The Barclay method was to apply the three
December 12th was the birthday of Gustave FLAUBERT (1D) and Frank SINATRA (15). Examples of their work are MADAME BOVARY (13) and SALAMMBÔ (20), and FLY ME TO THE MOON (1A) and STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (45/37). Flaubert was born in ROUEN (25), and Sinatra in HOBOKEN (in the ninth column) which was to be
A mob descended on Capitol Hill last night acting on lies and disinformation, but there was no foreign actor to blame. This hostility was homegrown and came from the highest echelon of government. The President of the United States has been stoking fear, division and doubt since his defeat in November’s election, and yesterday it
Home Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, announced harsher coronavirus restrictions in England, resembling those last March, except that bubbles continued. People must work from home if they could; schools were closed and this year’s exams cancelled. Another £4 billion was directed to businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure. At Westminster, parliament was recalled. In Scotland,
A ferry tale Gerry Marsden, who died aged 78, was credited with making the ferry across the River Mersey world-famous. But it has another claim to fame: as possibly the oldest continuously operated ferry service in the world. The earliest record of a regular ferry was in 1150, when monks at the then newly built
Veritas vincit Sir: Professor Dawkins eloquently and engagingly defines true truth for us (‘Matters of fact’, 19 December). It seems to me that ‘true’ is a poor little four-letter word with a heavier workload than is reasonable. Historic truth may include ascertainable facts, which I suppose he would pass, but combined with conclusions based on
So great have been the government’s failures over Covid that it would be easy to forget to give credit where it is due. The fact that Britain was the first country to begin a public vaccination programme — and this week became the first to have two vaccines in use — did not come about
Unclued lights are nicknames of works by Beethoven, born 250 years ago. The title referred to the Ghost piano trio, Op. 70/1. First prize Carlos de Pommes, Walton on Thames, SurreyRunners-up R.P. Wright, Loughton, Essex; Damian Hassan, Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham