From our UK edition
Clare Balding I love a good walk on Boxing Day followed by watching the racing at Kempton. Avoid the internet. Be present in the moment, enjoying time with family rather than being distracted by online conversations. Alain de Botton My favourite ritual is reminding everyone involved that we will, of course, be having a sad
From our UK edition
‘Whose idea was it to hold this in winter?’
From our UK edition
From our UK edition
‘Darling, we need to engage in a meaningful dialogue.’
From our UK edition
From our UK edition
‘The fools! Don’t they know we’re already there?’
From our UK edition
‘Did you leave the thermostat on high again?’
From our UK edition
‘It’s a Twitter storm.’
From our UK edition
‘The usual dilemmas — who’s died, who’s had a sex change, who’s converted to Islam…’
From our UK edition
Bombers without borders Sir: To define this week’s debate as being about ‘bombing Syria’ (‘The great fake war’, 28 November) is ludicrous. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about fighting Isis. Whatever you call them, and wherever they are. The current deal, under which we bomb Isis in Iraq but not in Syria, is as if
From our UK edition
The first warmist The first attempt to quantify the link between CO2 in the atmosphere and global temperatures was attributed to Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius, in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science in 1896. He was working on a theory to explain the oscillation between ice ages and interglacial periods. He
From our UK edition
Home The House of Commons voted on air strikes in Syria. Labour MPs had been allowed a free vote by their party amid much ill-feeling. Members of the shadow cabinet shouted at Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition, when he tried to insist that the formal Labour party policy should be to oppose air
From our UK edition
The Islamic State is as monstrous an enemy as we have seen in recent history. It crucifies and decapitates its victims, holds teenage girls in slavery and burns captives alive. It is wrong to call it a medieval force, because such institutionalised barbarity was seldom seen in medieval times. As far as five centuries of
From our UK edition
From ‘Payment of members’, The Spectator, 4 December 1915: If the country could be polled at the present time, there is probably no subject upon which greater unanimity could be secured, apart from the general question of prosecuting the war, than that of payment of Members of Parliament. Barring Members themselves and the political agents whom
From our UK edition
Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Before I respond to the debate, I would like to say this directly to the Prime Minister: Although my right honourable friend the Leader of the Opposition and I will walk into different division lobbies tonight, I am proud to speak from the same Despatch Box as him. My
From our UK edition
The Islamic State is as monstrous an enemy as that has emerged in recent history. It crucifies and decapitates its victims, holds teenage girls in slavery and burns captives alive. It is wrong to call it a medieval force, because such institutionalised barbarity was seldom seen in medieval times. As far as five centuries of records
From our UK edition
Welcome to Coffee House’s coverage of the Syria debate in the House of Commons yesterday. Here are the best speeches in favour of and against the motion, with full quotes and audio clips. 10:15pm: The foreign secretary Philip Hammond has closed the debate on behalf of the government, making the case for the airstrikes: 9:45pm: Shadow foreign
From our UK edition
‘Like you, I’m very jumpy.’
From our UK edition
‘I’m not wasting my money watching that, I’ll download it illegally on my iPad.’
From our UK edition