Supreme idea Sir: My colleague Fergus Butler-Gallie is right about the deficiencies of the Church of England’s system for filling the See of Canterbury (‘Canterbury fail’, 12 July). May I make a modest proposal? Place untrammelled power of appointment in the hands of the sovereign. If there be no providence in Anglican polity we should
The unclued lights are the names of the principal members of the Spectator crossword compiling team since its inception in July 1981. 7 Across reveals JAC and DOC, while Mass appears in the red squares. The yellow squares can be arranged to spell La Jerazana. First prize Tim and Cathy Knox, London WC1N Runners-up Julian
Grand unions The BMA – or British Medical Association – called a five-day strike of junior doctors (which it now calls resident doctors). Some other grandly named trade unions: — Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (or Aslef) — Confederation of British Surgery — First Division Association (senior civil servants) — Royal College of
The United Kingdom’s immigration system is broken. Tens of thousands have entered the country who should not, and the bureaucracy which processes asylum cases is a creaking wreck. Those who do deserve a safe welcome are left in legal limbo for months, if not years. And yet the Home Office, which is responsible for this
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, agreed with President Emmanuel Macron of France that Britain could return perhaps 50 asylum seekers a week to France and accept in their place the same number of applicants through a regulated system. To celebrate, 573 people arrived that day in England in small boats, bringing the total
Watch Spectator editor Michael Gove, political editor Tim Shipman and assistant editor Isabel Hardman as they discuss where the Tories go from here, in a livestream exclusively for Spectator subscribers. The strange death of Tory England has been predicted before. But never has the ‘natural party of government’ faced a greater challenge to its survival. The Conservatives are facing attacks on all fronts from
NHS origins Sir: Your leading article ‘Wes or bust’ (5 July) credited Labour with founding the NHS. In fact, the NHS was founded during the second world war by the Labour, Liberal and Conservative coalition. The speech with the famous line ‘free at the point of use’ was in fact made by Winston Churchill. He
Bertrand RUSSELL, whose surname is hidden in the final column, said, ‘There’s a BIBLE on that shelf there. But I keep it next to VOLTAIRE – POISON and ANTIDOTE.’ The other four unclued lights are two synonyms each of ‘poison’ (VENOM, TOXIN) and ‘antidote’ (MITHRIDATE, SERUM). First prize Rhiannon Hales, Ilfracombe, Devon Runners-up Paul Harrison,
Home Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had given a theme to the week by sitting weeping behind Sir Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions. She later said: ‘It was a personal issue.’ Sir Keir said: ‘She will be Chancellor for a very long time to come.’ No. 10 said she and the Prime
Norman Tebbit, who died this week aged 94, was a self-made man who shouldered his way to the top of a party of old Etonians. He was, to many, the leather-clad bovver boy of Spitting Image, ordering the unemployed to get ‘on yer bike’. He was a devoted husband who stepped back from politics to
Only I was allowed to sit on the Golden Bidet of Lerici. Lord Byron sat on it as well as Percy Bysshe and Mary. D.H. Lawrence swung by and perched there like a demigod – as well as Frieda von Richthofen. Virginia Woolf sat on it in 1933 knocking out a beautiful sentence – Max
Movers and shakers Sir: As a parish priest of 35 years, I read Francis Pike’s account of his supernatural experiences (‘Happy mediums’, 28 June) with little surprise. Over the years, I have been approached by parishioners troubled by poltergeists, apparitions, unexplained odours, ‘friendly’ spirits and, in one case, cutlery and glasses flying off tables. In
Twelve unclued entries can be paired to make six portmanteau words: CHILLAX (CHILL + RELAX), MOTEL (MOTOR + HOTEL), DRAMEDY (DRAMA + COMEDY), BLOG (WEB + LOG), FRENEMY (FRIEND + ENEMY) and COSPLAY (COSTUME + PLAY). First prize Stephen Rea, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Runners-up Brenda Widger, Altrincham, Cheshire Michael Moran, Penrith, Cumbria
Labour swept to power on a pledge to ‘save the NHS’. As shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting said he would go ‘further than New Labour ever did’ to clear the health service’s backlog and, to achieve this, he claimed old taboos would be torn up, including the use of the private sector to improve services.
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, in the face of a rebellion by 120 backbenchers over the welfare bill, undertook to limit to new claimants restrictions on personal independence payments (Pip). Modelling by the Department for Work and Pensions predicted that 150,000 people might be pushed into ‘relative poverty’ by the revised welfare cuts,
Exclusive to subscribers, watch our latest event Living with a Politician live. Join Sarah Vine, (author of How Not to Be a Political Wife), with Michael Gove, Rachel Johnson (author of Rake’s Progress, her own odyssey as a political candidate) and Hugo Swire (whose wife Sasha wrote the bestselling Diary of an MP’s Wife) as they discuss the losses and
Moral support Sir: All of Tim Shipman’s reasons for the PM’s reluctance to support Israel sound outwardly plausible, though, from my experience, the spook excuse, ‘The CIA wants us to keep the embassy open’, is plainly specious. Mossad is clearly all over Iran and they’re not relying on an embassy (‘Starmer’s war zone’, 21 June).
During the Troubles, some 2,500 people were victims of kneecappings – punishment shootings, dished out by paramilitaries, for perceived crimes ranging from fraternising with British soldiers to drug dealing and rape. The term is something of a misnomer. The torture entails a low-velocity gunshot to the knee from a handgun. That isn’t guaranteed to destroy
The unclued lights are fielding positions in cricket. First prize Gillian Ollerenshaw, Altrincham, Cheshire Runners-up Richard Thorpe, Burntwood, Staffordshire; Fran Morrison, London SW15
Home MPs voted by a majority of 23 – 314 to 291 – for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which says people in England and Wales may lawfully ‘be provided with assistance to end their own life’. In the free vote, the Health Secretary voted against and the Prime Minister voted for.
