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The perfect gift, p61 THE WEEK 3 Leading article 6 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary I’m engaged! Maureen Lipman 10 Politics Davey’s game plan James Heale 11 The Spectator’s Notes Do you have a ‘story’? Charles Moore 15 Rod Liddle The tyranny of lawyers 18 Ancient and modern Life lessons 21 Douglas Murray Can the Tories be brave? 23 Barometer Nimbys, workwear and the best-used trams 25 Mary Wakefield The adult ADHD trap 27 Letters Raving cathedrals, Adam’s apple and the case for briefcases 28 Any other business Don’t tax banks more – but push them to lend to entrepreneurs Martin Vander Weyer Ready to pop, p50 Mad men, p35 BOOKS & ARTS 12 Nigel’s next target How Reform plans to take on Labour Katy Balls 13 Polly Walshe ‘I used to think’: a poem 14 Message received Where do Israel and Hezbollah go from here? Paul Wood 16 Bog down How the EU turned on Ireland’s low-tax project Ross Clark 18 Dial-a-death My chillingly seductive glimpse of assisted dying Matthew Hall 20 Wheels of fortune The joy of hiring an old banger Adrian Pascu-Tulbure 22 Brothers in arms Xi’s failed plan to make China a football superpower Ian Williams BOOKS 30 Andrew Lycett The Siege, by Ben Macintyre 32 Susanna Forrest Hoof Beats, by William T. Taylor 33 David Sexton Annihilation, by Michel Houellebecq Olivia Cole Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout 34 Simon Ings The Art of Uncertainty, by David Spigelhalter; On the Edge, by Nate Silver 35 Scott Bradfield The MAD Files, edited by David Mikics 36 Lucasta Miller Simone Weil: A Life in Letters, edited by Robert Chenavier 37 Lee Langley The Empusium, by Olga Tokarczuk 38 Max Décharné Long Agos and Worlds Apart, by Sean Egan Daniel Hardisty ‘Mercury’: a poem Let Ukraine into Nato – now! Boris Johnson 24 Own goal Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Natasha Lawson, Mark Wood, Nick Newman, K.J. Lamb, Bernie, Robert Thompson, Dredge, Royston, Kipper Williams, Matt Percival. www.spectator.co.uk Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Email: letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0128 Subscription and delivery queries The Spectator customer services, Tower House, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 9EF; Tel: 01858 438 781; Email: subscriptions@the.spectator. co.uk; Rates for a basic annual subscription in the UK: £119; Europe: £195; and £205 in all other countries. To order, go to www.spectator.co.uk/basic-rate or call 01858 438 781 and quote BAR; Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: dbrown@spectator.co.uk; Distributor Marketforce, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP. Tel. 0203 787 9001. www.marketforce.co.uk Vol 356; no 10,230 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson 4 the spectator | 21 september 2024 | www.spectator.co.uk
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Full blast, p22 Driving force, p20 Saddle up, p32 LIFE ARTS 40 Calvin Po reviews the Stirling Prize nominees 42 Pop American Football; Gruff Rhys/Jane Weaver Michael Hann 44 Cinema The Substance Zoe Strimpel 45 Television Nightsleeper; Strictly Come Dancing James Walton Daniel Hardisty ‘Regolith’: a poem 46 Exhibitions Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers Laura Gascoigne 47 Classical music Prom 72; Wang, Lapwood, LSO, Pappano Damian Thompson 48 Theatre Why Am I So Single?; 23.5 Hours Lloyd Evans 49 The listener Fontaines D.C.: Romance Rod Liddle LIFE 53 Lost life Sebastian Shakespeare 54 Real life Melissa Kite 55 The turf Robin Oakley Bridge Susanna Gross 57 The Vintage Chef Olivia Potts AND FINALLY . . . 50 Notes on… Corkscrews Henry Jeffreys 58 Chess Luke McShane Competition Victoria Lane 59 Crossword La Jerezana 60 No sacred cows Toby Young Battle for Britain Michael Heath 61 Sport Roger Alton Your problems solved Mary Killen 62 Food Tanya Gold Mind your language Dot Wordsworth The Queen gazed fondly at her son’s delightfully ditsy speech with exactly the same ‘Aw w, bless’ look on her face I sported when I realised my son might have left my stolen car’s window open. Maureen Lipman, p9 I have spent most of the morning tr ying to convince people online that Huw Edwards’s conviction does not mean that all, or even a majorit y, of Welsh people are sexually attracted to children. Rod Liddle, p15 There is nothing like being brought up in the 1980s by self-proclaimed ‘radical vegans’ to drive you into the arms of the church. Matthew Hall, p18 CONTRIBUTORS Dame Maureen Lipman, who writes this week’s Diary on p9, is an actress, writer and comedian. She plays Evelyn Plummer in Coronation Street. Matthew Hall, who on p18 warns against copying Canada’s assisted-dying laws, is the author of the Jenny Cooper crime fiction series. Adrian Pascu-Tulbure, who writes about the pleasure of driving a dilapidated car on p20, is a councillor for Parsons Green and Sandford in Hammersmith and Fulham. Susanna Forrest reviews a new book about how horses shape history on p32. She is the author of If Wishes Were Horses: A Memoir of Equine Obsession. Max Décharné is a musician who has played at Madison Square Garden. He reviews Sean Egan’s biography of Small Faces on p38. the spectator | 21 september 2024 | www.spectator.co.uk 5

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The perfect gift, p61

THE WEEK

3 Leading article 6 Portrait of the Week 9 Diary I’m engaged!

Maureen Lipman 10 Politics Davey’s game plan

James Heale 11 The Spectator’s Notes

Do you have a ‘story’? Charles Moore 15 Rod Liddle

The tyranny of lawyers 18 Ancient and modern

Life lessons 21 Douglas Murray

Can the Tories be brave? 23 Barometer Nimbys, workwear and the best-used trams 25 Mary Wakefield

The adult ADHD trap 27 Letters Raving cathedrals, Adam’s apple and the case for briefcases 28 Any other business

Don’t tax banks more – but push them to lend to entrepreneurs Martin Vander Weyer

Ready to pop, p50

Mad men, p35

BOOKS & ARTS

12 Nigel’s next target

How Reform plans to take on Labour Katy Balls 13 Polly Walshe

‘I used to think’: a poem 14 Message received

Where do Israel and Hezbollah go from here? Paul Wood 16 Bog down

How the EU turned on Ireland’s low-tax project Ross Clark 18 Dial-a-death

My chillingly seductive glimpse of assisted dying Matthew Hall 20 Wheels of fortune

The joy of hiring an old banger Adrian Pascu-Tulbure 22 Brothers in arms

Xi’s failed plan to make China a football superpower Ian Williams BOOKS 30 Andrew Lycett The Siege, by Ben Macintyre 32 Susanna Forrest Hoof Beats, by William T. Taylor 33 David Sexton Annihilation, by Michel Houellebecq Olivia Cole Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout 34 Simon Ings The Art of Uncertainty, by David Spigelhalter; On the Edge, by Nate Silver 35 Scott Bradfield The MAD Files, edited by David Mikics 36 Lucasta Miller Simone Weil: A Life in Letters, edited by Robert Chenavier 37 Lee Langley The Empusium, by Olga Tokarczuk 38 Max Décharné Long Agos and Worlds Apart, by Sean Egan Daniel Hardisty ‘Mercury’: a poem

Let Ukraine into Nato – now! Boris Johnson 24 Own goal

Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Natasha Lawson, Mark Wood, Nick Newman, K.J. Lamb, Bernie, Robert Thompson, Dredge, Royston, Kipper Williams, Matt Percival. www.spectator.co.uk Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Email: letters@spectator.co.uk (for publication); advertising@spectator.co.uk (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0128 Subscription and delivery queries The Spectator customer services, Tower House, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 9EF; Tel: 01858 438 781; Email: subscriptions@the.spectator. co.uk; Rates for a basic annual subscription in the UK: £119; Europe: £195; and £205 in all other countries. To order, go to www.spectator.co.uk/basic-rate or call 01858 438 781 and quote BAR; Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: dbrown@spectator.co.uk; Distributor Marketforce, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP. Tel. 0203 787 9001. www.marketforce.co.uk Vol 356; no 10,230 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson

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the spectator | 21 september 2024 | www.spectator.co.uk

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