The Spectator

Thursday

The Spectator

What happens when a US president dies?

From our UK edition

Vice squad Donald Trump catching Covid-19 has concentrated minds on what happens if a US president dies in office. Normally, the vice-president will take over — which is why it matters who is on the ballot. In 1972, however, Americans had no idea who would end up president by the end of what should have been Richard Nixon’s second term. Nixon’s vice-president was Spiro Agnew, but he was forced to resign after pleading ‘no contest’ to charges of tax evasion. Nixon then appointed House leader Gerald Ford as vice-president. Ford became president when Nixon himself resigned before he was impeached over the Watergate scandal in August 1974. Ford lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election and so was never elected by the American people in a national election.

The Spectator

2475: Poem VI – solution

From our UK edition

The poem was The Brook by Alfred Tennyson. The words were HERN (8A), LINGER (20), BRIMMING (32A), FLOW (40), TROUT (44), SLIP (2), SPARKLE (6), SWALLOWS (21), BICKER (32D) and STARS (37). ALFRED TENNYSON (diagonally from 1) was to be shaded. First prize R.A.

The Spectator

Letters: The sorry state of BBC sport

From our UK edition

Misplaced Trust Sir: Charles Moore is as ever bang on target (The Spectator’s Notes, 26 September). National Trust members have had a raw deal this year, but so have many loyal staff and volunteers. It should not surprise any visitor to a National Trust property that a very rich person built it and lived there. No doubt they achieved great financial wealth by being quick-witted, entrepreneurial and above all ruthless in their dealing. They likely exploited everyone irrespective of race or creed. How many mill owners sent ‘boys’ up chimneys, down mines and into the machinery to clear blockages? The National Trust is a curator of buildings, artefacts and estates. They do not have a remit to delve into the background of their benefactors and make judgments.

Wednesday

The Spectator

The 2020 vice presidential debate — live blog

8:15 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Hello and welcome to The Spectator’s live blog for the vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, Utah, between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris. Along with six of my Spectator comrades, I’ll be offering commentary, analysis and jokes (much more my pace), on whatever unfolds on the University of Utah campus tonight. While the pair may offer a more sober affair than Trump and Biden did last week, Cockburn has knocked up a drinking game so you don’t have to join them. I have a six-pack of Carib, let’s get started. 8:16 p.m. ET — Freddy Gray: Vice presidential debates are not that interesting, as a rule. But 2020 is very weird and different and tonight does feel as if it should produce something unusual.

vice presidential

Monday

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: Monday

From our UK edition

Chancellor Rishi Sunak's set-piece speech is big billing of the day. With this autumn's budget overboard and the UK heading into some seriously choppy economic waters, expect the Treasury captain to chart a tight course between Boris Johnson's levelling up agenda and more massive state spending to bail us out. Those who can't withhold their excitement can read Sunak's interview in the Sun this morning.  Main Auditorium highlights 11.00 Department for Education The Conservative PartyRt Hon Gavin Williamson MP, Secretary of State for Education 11.

Sunday

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: Sunday

From our UK edition

Nothing irks Tory party members like a big new development on their patch, so the interview with Robert Jenrick should be an interesting watch. Let's hope someone asks him about the growing cladding scandal, covered by The Spectator here. Other sessions to look out for include Priti Patel's keynote speech — expect more hardline rhetoric on law and order and immigration. Here are today's highlights:  Main Auditorium highlights: 10.30 A Meeting of the National Conservative ConventionThe Conservative Party (Members only) Interview with the PM, Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Chairman of the National Conservative Convention) 13.

Saturday

The Spectator

What’s on today at Conservative conference: Saturday

From our UK edition

This year's party conference won't be quite the same. Gone is the warm white wine at ugly hotel bars, instead replaced by ministers desperately trying to unmute themselves on Zoom. That being said, Michael Gove's 'fireside chat' will certainly be one to watch, as will Matt Hancock's talk on the future of the NHS. Here are the main highlights:  Main Auditorium highlights 11:30 Welcome from Andrew Colborne-Baber and the Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP Opening of Conservative Party Conference Rt Hon Amanda Milling MP, Co-Chairman of The Conservative Party and Minister Without Portfolio; Andrew Colborne-Baber, President, National Conservative Convention.

Thursday

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: Curfew street parties, Trump’s taxes and a bone-eating vulture

From our UK edition

Home More than a quarter of the population of the United Kingdom (three-fifths of the Welsh, a third of the Scots and two-thirds of those in northern England) were put under harsher coronavirus restrictions. Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, amid a flurry of local lockdowns, found himself unable to state the coronavirus restrictions suddenly imposed on the north-east. He said ‘six in a home, six in hospitality’ could meet, though the law said that members of different households could not meet at all indoors. Universal laws, brought in by statutory instruments, prohibited eating or drinking in bars, restaurants or clubs after 10 p.m.

The Spectator

Who started America’s presidential debates?

From our UK edition

Word for word US presidential debates are often traced back to the first televised debate, between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy in 1960. But they were inspired by a series of seven debates held between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas while contesting an Illinois senatorial seat in 1858. The debates would have stretched a modern audience — they were each three hours long. It is hard to imagine, too, how modern candidates would have coped with the format: the first speaker was invited to speak for an hour, the second for 90 minutes, and then the first candidate was allowed a further half-hour. Douglas won the seat and, two years later, found himself again facing Lincoln for the presidency. This time, Lincoln declined to debate — and went on to win the top job.

The Spectator

Letters: Lessons for Boris from the classroom

From our UK edition

Lessons for the government Sir: James Forsyth suggests that the Prime Minister wishes to avoid sounding as if he is blaming voters for the rise in coronavirus infections (‘Lockdown breakdown’, 26 September). Mr Johnson appears to have already crossed that line. In education we recognise that a teacher has lost control of their class and of their own good judgment when they become exasperated with their pupils for not learning anything. Fortunately, we know a great deal about how to help someone stuck in this negative cycle. Good teachers are predictable and consistent; they know that it is futile to claim that a rule is vitally important if it comes with a list of options and exemptions.

The Spectator

The lockdown battle of Marseilles is a warning for Boris

From our UK edition

From the vantage point of Downing Street, Boris Johnson may feel reassured that the further measures against Covid-19 he imposed this week, along with the extraordinary fines with which he has decided to enforce restrictions across the country, appear to have public support. Indeed, one poll suggested that upwards of 60 per cent of the population believe the government did not go far enough last week when it ordered pubs to close at 10 p.m. But the Prime Minister should not be fooled by that apparent backing. Before he commits himself to any further action he needs to look to Marseilles, where President Emmanuel Macron has come unstuck after trying to impose similar measures.

The Spectator

2474: Love Me Do solution

From our UK edition

In George Orwell’s 1984 WINSTON SMITH (31/3) worked for the MINISTRY of TRUTH (43/21). The MINISTRY of LOVE (43/34) got him for THOUGHT CRIME (24/35) and sent him to ROOM 101 (28). He finally gave in to BIG BROTHER (15).

Tuesday

The Spectator

The first 2020 presidential debate — live blog

7:25 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Hello and welcome to The Spectator’s live blog for tonight’s tête-à-tête between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden. Along with eight other Spectator contributors and editors, I’ll be guiding you through the evening’s shenanigans in Cleveland. Hopefully we can offer a better quality of debate... 7:30 p.m. ET — Matt McDonald: Here’s a lovely picture of some anti-Trump protesters gathering in Cleveland’s Wade Park to whet your appetite. Next up, what our writers are most looking for tonight. [caption id="attachment_10426806" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Protesters in Wade Park, Cleveland (Getty)[/caption] 7:35 p.m.

debate live blog

Friday

The Spectator

Covid-19 update: Counting lives lost by the lockdown effect

From our UK edition

The Spectator brings you the latest insight, news and research from the front line. Sign up here to receive this briefing daily by email, and stay abreast of developments both at home and abroad. News and analysis Stockport and Wigan are expected to be put under stricter lockdown measures due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases, which would include no longer being able to mix with other households, apart from support bubbles.The UK is now on track for a £400 billion deficit in 2020-21. The government borrowed £35.9 billion in August – the highest amount borrowed in August since records began. UK debt has hit £2.024 trillion, surpassing the £2 trillion mark for the first time in history.

Thursday

The Spectator

Whose bright idea was the circuit-breaker?

From our UK edition

It’s electrifying! Who invented the circuit-breaker? Thomas Edison patented it in 1879, realising what damage could be caused to electrical equipment in the event of a surge in current created by short-circuit. However, his early electrical installations did not use them, opting instead for fuses — thin wires designed to burn out when the current flowing through them reached a critical level. The first circuit-breaker — with spring-loaded contacts designed to open when the current became too much — was not installed until 1898, at L Street Station by the Boston Electric Light Company. Vehicle recovery Has the recovery in car sales been maintained?

The Spectator

Letters: It’s too late for Boris

From our UK edition

Disastrous decisions Sir: In his otherwise excellent analysis of Boris Johnson’s premiership (‘The missing leader’, 19 September), Fraser Nelson suggests that he could still succeed. It’s too late. Although we ‘know that he’s not responsible for the pandemic’, he is responsible for the government’s response to it. The consequences of that hysterical response, seemingly contrived by a small, mostly unelected cabal, have been, and will be, disastrous for huge numbers of people; the enormity of the failures too great to be set against subsequent successes. Boris persuaded us to support him with a carefully crafted image of a jovial positive thinker, a libertarian and man of the people. He’s been found out.

The Spectator

Iran hasn’t earned the right to bear arms

From our UK edition

Hard though it is to remember now, 2020 began with a very different dark cloud on the horizon. For a week or so it looked as if the West’s cold war with Iran would burst into full-scale conflict. The assassination by US forces of Iran’s revolutionary guard leader Qassem Soleimani on 3 January sent oil prices soaring and raised fears that President Trump’s reputation as a war-monger was finally to be deserved. As we now know, the crisis fizzled into nothing. In retaliation, Iran halfheartedlyfired missiles at a couple of air bases in Iraq where US forces were stationed, killing no one. Donald Trump announced ‘all is well’ and, as he had already done with North Korea, succeeded in de-escalating a crisis which he was widely believed to be escalating.

The Spectator

Portrait of the week: New Covid restrictions, a Supreme Court vacancy and an earthquake in Leighton Buzzard

From our UK edition

Home Pubs and restaurants would have to close at ten o’clock, under new coronavirus restrictions announced by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, in the Commons. Shop staff and passengers in taxis would have to wear face masks and weddings be limited to 15 people. ‘We’ve reached a perilous turning-point,’ he said. The new laws could be in force for six months. Official advice was changed back to: ‘If you can work from home, you should.’ Police would be able to impose £10,000 fixed-penalty notices on people caught outside their house who had been ordered to stay in quarantine. People in Scotland would not be able to visit each other’s homes. Wales and Northern Ireland made up their own laws.