Society

Thursday

Bruce Anderson

I’m a rosé convert

Paris is more than a city. It is a state of mind, an aspiration. Though it glorifies the military, it remains feminine and beguiling. Its heroes moved effortlessly from triumphs on the battlefield to triumphs in the boudoir. The very stones of Paris seem redolent of the dreams and ecstasies of past lovers, and of their frustrations, follies and pains. Heloise and Abelard loved and suffered here. We had come to perform two simple tasks: sitting in judgment over wine and food In many respects, alas, contemporary Paris has fallen a long way from romance. Everyone has stories of rubbish, dirt and rats. The days when bon chic, bon genre

Dot Wordsworth

Are cosmonauts really Russian?

Oleg Kononenko has been in space since 15 September last year and has just broken the cumulative record for time in orbit of 879 days. Being Russian he is referred to as a cosmonaut. Americans are astronauts. It seems odd that Russians can decide what English-speakers call their spacemen. It seemed odder to me that, when the Soviet Union promoted atheism, it should focus on the orderly universe that cosmos suggests. Cosmos is an ancient Greek concept. Pythagoras was credited with seeing all things as an ordered cosmos. The meanings of cosmos in Greek included ordered troops in battle and the ornaments of a woman’s dress. The Latin equivalent of

Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver

Are bad parents criminals?

In 2005 my seventh novel, about an unloving mother tortured by whether her son’s high-school mass murder was all her fault, designated me the go-to girl for commentary about school shootings. Consequently, the overweight, tremulous, flush-faced Jennifer Crumbley belongs to me. Known for arguably overloaded character names, I couldn’t have invented a better surname for an iconic Bad Mother. Hitting harmonics with ‘crummy’ (lousy) and ‘crumby’ (untidy), ‘Crumbley’ also suggests unsoundness, dereliction and collapse. In 2021, Jennifer’s son Ethan, then 15, killed four of his classmates and injured seven others at his Michigan high school with a handgun his father had bought him for Christmas. After pleading guilty to 24

Petronella Wyatt

I’ve finally solved the mystery of the Mayerling Affair

It was the mother of royal scandalabras, as Walt Winchell might have said, and remains one of the greatest historical conundrums of all time. I refer to what became known as the Mayerling Affair: the sensational apparent murder-suicide of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, son and heir of Emperor Franz Josef and the tragic Empress Elizabeth, and his young lover, Baroness Marie Vetsera. Both Elizabeth and Rudolf happen to be collateral ancestors of mine, and I recently visited their gilded and frescoed rooms at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, wondering what really befell the wretched prince, and, armed with new information, including personal letters never before published, I may (scoop

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Decarbonisation is Labour’s next green policy disaster

Keir Starmer isn’t even in Downing Street yet already his government-in-waiting is in danger of being defined by its £28 billion green spending pledge, just as Tony Blair’s administration was defined by ‘45 minutes’ – the claimed deployment time of Saddam Hussein’s fabled weapons of mass destruction. First, Starmer promised to spend that sum on green initiatives in every year of the next parliament. Then it was revised down to spending £28 billion in the last year of the next parliament. Last week he dropped the pledge and said instead that £4.7 billion a year would be spent on green investment. But in the melee a more rash policy has been

Melissa Kite

The wonder of an Irish blacksmith

‘What’s wrong with your lot?’ asked the blacksmith as he was shoeing our horses. And we had to admit that we really didn’t know.  Don’t be telling an Irish blacksmith that he might not be good enough for you and your rescue nags We came to Ireland to get away from liberal lunacy but the other English people who come here seem to be intent on bringing it with them. The blacksmith shook his head. He said he had just been to an English lady further down the peninsula who wanted him to trim a few old donkeys and llamas. When he arrived, he got out of the car and

Robin Oakley

Who’s afraid of Willie Mullins

Who’s afraid of Willie Mullins? Pretty well every other trainer and certainly the bookies who made his French import Ocastle Des Mottes a 7-2 hot favourite for the Betfair Hurdle – which is the richest event of its kind run in Britain – at Newbury on Saturday. You can see why. The ever-courteous Mullins holds the record for the most winners trained in a season by an English or Irish trainer at 245 and the most Grade One victories in a season at 34. No one has trained more than his 94 winners at the Cheltenham Festival. On Cheltenham Trials Day a fortnight before, being more concerned with the then

Susanna Gross

Bridge | 17 February 2024

I always put on weight when I play in bridge tournaments: the build-up of stress and concentration makes me ravenous. Sally Brock often reminds me of the time, many years ago, that we played in the women’s trials at the YC, which was then based in Earl’s Court. When it was over, she asked if I’d like to join her and a few others for dinner at a local Italian. I told her that, unfortunately, I had other plans. In truth, I was craving junk food. Fifteen minutes later, Sally and co were sitting at a window table, when they saw me walk past stuffing a Big Mac into my

Harry Mount

When John Lennon took on Barry Humphries

Barry Humphries would have been 90 on 17 February. To commemorate his life, Radio 4 is broadcasting Barry Humphries: Gloriously Uncut that evening. For the programme, I recalled the joy of talking to Barry about the column he wrote for the Oldie. What a delight, too, it was to hear from the great diplomat Sir Les Patterson on everything from Australian politics to the history of lesbianism: ‘A lot of high-achieving Sheilas – like Cleopatra, Mary Queen of Scots, Boadicea, Dusty Springfield and Florence Nightingale – all paddled the pink canoe at some stage of the game.’ One day, he asked my colleague Penny about me. On hearing I wasn’t

G.V. Chappell

What I learned from my father’s life of crime

I was on my way home from sixth-form college when I heard about Dad’s arrest for his alleged involvement in what, at the time, was the biggest heist in history. Three tonnes of bullion, along with platinum, jewellery and traveller’s cheques, had been taken from the Brink’s-Mat warehouse at Heathrow in the early hours of 26 November 1983. Fifty police officers raided our house. Mum, pragmatic as ever, put the kettle on and even made a bacon sandwich for a WPC who complained that she’d missed her breakfast due to the early start. Dad’s subsequent trial and conviction at the Old Bailey made worldwide headlines. He was jailed for ten

Peter Jones

Have actors always been self-indulgent?

Golden Globes, Baftas, Emmies – here we go again with the annual rituals of self-worship to which actors are so addicted. The ancient Greeks are to blame: they staged plays in competition, with awards for best plays, producers and actors. Their worldwide luvvies’ Guild, formed in the 3rd century bc, was called ‘Artists of Dionysus’ – some replaced ‘Artists’ with ‘Parasites’ – and lasted hundreds of years. Its last recorded title (under the emperor Aurelian) was suitably modest: ‘The Sacred Musical Travelling Aurelian Great World Guild of the Artists of Dionysus.’ They were very popular. One festival at Delphi attracted 251 Artists, including 40 from Corinth, 29 from Athens, 57 from

Luke McShane

Young contenders

Popular wisdom has it that the smartphone has shrivelled teenagers’ attention spans. But they are getting better at chess, and there is no doubt that technology is the main driver. Chess knowledge is more widely accessible than ever before, with any number of sparring partners, courses and coaches (like me!) available online. Chess engines, such as the famous ‘Stockfish’ program, are far more useful as training tools than they were 20 years ago, when they were tactically unbeatable but strategically patchy. These days their suggestions are invariably sound, and can harnessed for post-game feedback after playing human opponents. For promising young players, with the right guidance, there is no end

Luke McShane

No. 788

White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by V. Antipov, Kudesnik, 1998. Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 19 February. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution 1 Qg5+! Kf7 (1…Kh7 is similar) 2 Qf5+ Qxf5 3 Kxf5 wins, e.g. 3…Kg7 4 Kg5! Kh7 5 Kf6 etc Last week’s winner Jon Boyle, East Horsley, Surrey

Lucy Vickery

Spectator competition winners: stories behind the composition of famous poems

In Competition No. 3336 you were invited to supply the story behind the composition of a famous poem. This challenge drew a smart and diverse entry that proved tricky to whittle down to a prizewinning half-dozen. But after lengthy consideration, D.A. Prince, Brian Murdoch and Paul Voogt are awarded commendations and those printed below earn their authors £25 each. Dear Marlowe, so, you want to write poems to impress the London girls. Well, sonnets are still hot with the nobility, but let me tell you, Kit, rural idylls are all the rage! Think cheeping birds, pastoral imagery, sexy allusions to hills and valleys. Passionate, liberal shepherds go down a treat. The

Mr Magoo

2641: Mastermind

Two of the unclued entries combine to form a name (three words) responsible for the other unclued entries (one of three words, two of two words, and two of which combine to form a two-word name). Across 11    Custom I outlaw, hiding books for islander (7) 12    They must cool down the crowd (4) 14    Cast spell over snake in Paradise Lost? (6) 15    Natal piece, that is ejected somehow (8) 17    Fruit is cut back (5) 19    Things a man hates terribly (9) 21    The wrong tribe ultimately settled in Nevada desert (5) 23    I was a boss and had nothing to do (5) 25    Songbird’s attempt to conceal guano

The Spectator

2638: Capital fellow – solution

The key word is Berliner: 37D/26D said ‘9D Berliner’; 13A, 3D, and 20D are newspaper formats; 26A, 40A and 28D are doughnuts. First prize  Sam Snell, London SE10 Runners-up  Mike Morrison, London N20; Guy Taylor, London EC1

The Spectator

The Tories are too weak to capitalise on Labour’s failings

The polls suggest that Labour is in line for a general election victory later this year which could match or even exceed Tony Blair’s landslide of 1997. Yet the party exudes none of the confidence and maintains none of the self-discipline which it did 27 years ago. On the contrary, were the Conservatives not in an even worse state themselves, Keir Starmer’s party could well be in deep trouble. For Labour to contrive to lose a safe seat in the current circumstances is remarkable. But that is exactly what the party has done with its failure to vet properly Azhar Ali, the candidate chosen to fight the Rochdale by-election following

Wednesday

Alexander Larman

Why is Meghan launching another podcast?

In one of the many quotations spuriously attributed to Winston Churchill, the former prime minister was supposed to have said ‘success is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.’ It is a piece of advice – regardless of its origin – that the Duchess of Sussex seems to have absorbed wholesale, given the announcement that, after her short-lived and largely unloved podcast series Archetypes came to an end with Spotify, she is to return to the fray once again, this time in association with the independent company Lemonada Media. Meghan has thrown herself into business with an organisation that describes itself as an ‘award-winning, independent,

Laurie Wastell

The problem with the ‘paraglider girls’ ruling

Yesterday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, three women were convicted of terror offences for wearing clothes or carrying signs that appeared to glorify Hamas – and they were let off virtually scot-free. The leniency of this ruling raises yet more questions about judicial impartiality in this country At a central London pro-Palestine march the week after the October 7 attack in Israel last year, Heba Alhayek, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, had attached images of paragliders to their backs, while Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, had attached one to a sign. Paragliders, as had been reported widely in the media, were how Hamas terrorists crossed the Gaza-Israel border to carry out their barbaric pogrom

Tuesday

Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Too many people in Britain aren’t working

Britain’s worklessness crisis is getting worse. This morning the ONS released figures showing that 1.3 million are on unemployment. But that figure masks a welfare crisis that politicians are doing little to address. Unemployment only covers those actually looking for a job – the real problem is how few are. The true benefits figure goes unpublished and is buried in a password protected DWP database. Every three months the database is updated and we track the results on The Spectator data hub. It was updated this morning and shows the number claiming out-of-work benefits has hit some 5.6 million people. The increase is being driven by those in the Universal Credit (workless) category