Innholdsfortegnelse for V. 1208 i The Week

Academic rigour, after an official report found that grades at more than 80% of universities have inflated beyond a level attributable to rising standards. Last year, 18% of students who got CCD or below at A level graduated with a first; 50% of students at Surrey University got a first; at Bristol, UCL and Durham, 2:2 and third-class degrees were given to fewer than 10% of students. The Labour Party, after Fiona Onasanya, its MP for Peterborough, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice: she had lied to the police in order to avoid a speeding penalty. If she stands down, as seems likely, it will trigger a by-election in her constituency – which she won by only 607 votes last year. Jeremy Corbyn, who was accused of…

Berlin Fascist cell in army and police: Germany’s attorney general has launched an investigation into reports that a far-right network has infiltrated the country’s armed forces. Known as the Preppers, and believed to include service personnel, reservists and members of the security services, the extremists are believed to have ambitions to build “a state within a state”, and to have drawn up a list of political opponents they wish to “hold to account”. Meanwhile in Frankfurt, prosecutors are investigating a suspected neo-Nazi group within the city’s police force. The cell is accused of telling a German-Turkish lawyer, Seda Basay-Yildiz, that it will kill her two-year-old daughter unless she leaves Germany. The threatening message was signed “NSU 2.0”, a reference to the National Socialist Underground terror cell that murdered ten people…

Hold the champagne on climate change Leslie Hook Financial Times To judge from the cheers at the end of the UN climate talks in Poland, you’d think the delegates had taken a huge step towards halting global warming, says Leslie Hook. Sadly, no. They’ve merely hashed out rules for how to implement the Paris climate accord when it comes into force in 2020. They’ve agreed that all countries must submit their emissions data to the UN every two years from 2024. What they haven’t agreed on is how to reduce those emissions: nations can still set their own climate targets at any level they want, and face no real sanctions for backsliding. The core responsibility lies with the top five polluters (China, the US, the EU, India and Russia), who…

The Highlands The first polar bear to be born in Britain for 25 years made its first public appearance in March. The cub, later named Hamish after a public vote in which 36,000 ballots were cast, was born to two resident bears, Victoria and Arktos, at the Highland Wildlife Park at the end of last year. Newborn cubs are very vulnerable – they weigh little more than a guinea pig and only open their eyes after their first month – so Hamish was kept out of public view for some months. But once news of his arrival spread, people flocked to see him: reportedly, visitors to the zoo almost doubled in the months after his birth. Liverpool An Afghan refugee who arrived in the UK aged 15, won a place…

Just 4% of the population drink nearly a third of the alcohol sold in England. Public Health England Over the course of a year, Google stores enough data from its search engine, maps, GPS and other services to fill more than half a million A4 pages for each of its users. The Mail on Sunday The average Briton buys 26.7kg of clothes a year – the most in Europe, and almost twice as much as fashion-conscious Italians (14.5kg). The Times Only 4% of the 9,115 children’s books published in the UK last year had black, Asian and minority ethnic characters, and only 1% had a BAME main character, although 32.1% of schoolchildren in England are of BAME background. The Guardian The average price of a pint is £5.19 in London,…

To The Guardian Bernie Evans suggests that an Oxbridge candidate from a school in a deprived area with A-level grades of B may be more talented than a privileged candidate with grades of A. But is such a general observation likely to prove helpful in making decisions about specific candidates? An Oxford don who actually had responsibility for admissions told me how she worked. Candidates from elite schools are well prepared for interview. The task of the interviewer is to determine how much genuine ability lies behind the expertly prepared facade. Candidates from state schools are less well prepared. But the task of the interviewer is to determine how much talent lies hidden behind this inexpertly prepared front. I was left in no doubt about the determination with which my…

Danai Gurira is best known as the hard-as-nails warrior in Marvel’s groundbreaking global smash Black Panther, said Sarah Crompton on What’s On Stage. But the Zimbabwean-American is also a supremely gifted playwright. This terrifically meaty play, The Convert, is a “rich, thoughtful, carefully crafted” piece set in late 19th century colonial southern Africa, said Sarah Hemming in the FT. “We never see the British, but their presence is constantly felt” – especially in the orderly home of the would-be Catholic priest Chilford, who is a “fully paid-up convert, not just to Christianity, but to Victorian gentility”. Chilford, brilliantly played by Paapa Essiedu in this “electrifying staging” by Ola Ince, is thrilled when his housekeeper’s young niece, Jekesai, proves a willing convert in exchange for sanctuary. But political and personal crises…

Best books… Gary Kemp The actor and Spandau Ballet lead guitarist picks his five favourite books. He is appearing in Pinter Six at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London SW1, until 26 January. Pinter at the Pinter runs until 23 February (pinteratthepinter.com) Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton, 1941 (Abacus £8.99). My favourite novel of all time. Hamilton reflects the glowering doom of the approaching World War in George Harvey Bone, his alcoholic anti-hero. The pubs of Earl’s Court are where Bone suffers the unrequited love of the manipulative, beautiful Netta. You’re left gasping as Hamilton leads them all to hell. London Belongs to Me by Norman Collins, 1945 (Penguin £10.99). I’m a big fan of old London books. This is the story of a lodging house in south London, where the…

I know that chardonnay is deeply unfashionable, but no wine goes better with turkey leftovers, says Fiona Beckett in The Guardian. Drink it with a turkey and tarragon pie, say – or a classic turkey tetrazzini (a creamy pasta bake). Chardonnay also goes down very nicely with ham and with fish pie. At the bargain end of things, The Best Western Australia Chardonnay 2017 (£8; Morrisons) is more elegant than you might imagine for a wine from Australia, a country that has been much vilified for its “over-oaked chardies”. From M&S, the Petit Chablis 2017 (£12) is clean, crisp and fresh. This is the sort of bottle to go for if you enjoy picpoul or albariño. If you “prefer a slightly fuller, creamier style” – and have the budget –…

This “vast yet cosy” lodge sits in a 90,000-acre natural “wonderland” on the southern tip of South Africa, says Tatler Travel Guide. Completely off-grid, it is furnished with recycled timbers and organic fabrics, and has solar-powered underfloor heating, wood-burning stoves, and beautiful glass-fronted suites with uninterrupted ocean views. On the doorstep are hiking and cycling trails, as well as “Olympic-scale rock pools” and “enormous dunes begging to be sand-surfed”; and for half the year, this place has some of Africa’s most reliable whale-watching – the “best vantage point” being the lodge’s rooftop bar, “fynbosinfused gin cocktail in hand”. Africa Travel (africatravel.co.uk) has three nights from £1,730pp, including flights.…

There may be trouble ahead, says James Coney in The Sunday Times. Here are some worrying “red lights”: Broken houses It’s a serious concern that borrowers are “taking on ever higher debt to get on the property ladder” when prices look unstable. “If you’re borrowing now with a small deposit, you could find yourself in negative equity,” warns Candid Financial Advice’s Justin Modray. Shrinking nest eggs The amount that households are saving has reached “record lows”. In the 1990s, the percentage of our income that we put away stood at 14%. By 2016, that had halved to 7%. In Q2 this year, the figure almost halved again to 3.9%. Racked-up debt The Money Charity estimates that UK borrowers are paying £141m a day in interest on personal debt. Outstanding consumer…

JANUARY The dramatic collapse of the giant builder and government outsourcer Carillion, with debts of up to £5bn, left 20,000 jobs hanging in the balance and threatened to wipe out many of its 30,000 suppliers. Auditor KPMG, which gave Carillion a clean bill of health ten months previously, was under mounting pressure to account for its role in the collapse. But the debacle fuelled criticism of the “oligopoly” run by Britain’s Big Four accountants, who together audit 96% of the FTSE 100. The price of bitcoin, which had hit a high of $20,000/per unit last December, crashed; its value fell by half and failed to recover over the year. The pound rose above $1.40 for the first time since 2016, reflecting the market’s more upbeat mood about exit talks with…

Tunbridge Wells is “a town of honey-coloured stone buildings, brasseries, tailors and delicatessens”, said Sarah O’Connor in the FT. Yet in this well-off commuter town, the number of people sleeping rough, “often in the doorways of these glossy shops”, has doubled in the past eight years – a local problem that reflects a national one. “England is witnessing the biggest sustained rise in rough sleeping since the 1990s.” Official counts suggest that 5,000 people sleep rough, though homelessness charities think the real figure could be five times that. And these people are only the tip of the iceberg. For every rough sleeper, there are another 57 homeless people in hostels or in temporary accommodation. Oddly, this surge has coincided with a jobs boom in the UK: unemployment is at its…

A “drone attack” at Gatwick – the UK’s second-busiest airport – forced some 800 flights to be grounded in the run-up to Christmas, throwing out the travel plans of more than 120,000 passengers. Planes due to land were diverted to Amsterdam, Cardiff, Paris, Bordeaux, Liverpool and other airports. The attack began at 9.03pm on Wednesday 19 December when two drones, which police described as being of “industrial specification”, were spotted over the airport. The runway, which was then closed for a few hours, reopened at 3.01am, but was closed again 45 minutes later when another drone was sighted. Some 50 drone sightings were made in the 24 hours following the first sighting. Sussex police were powerless to stop them, and the Army was called in to try and catch the…

Des Moines, Iowa Democrat favourite: With more than a year to go before Democrats start voting for their next presidential candidate, Joe Biden is emerging as a clear favourite. The 76-year-old former vice-president (left) – who recently said he was “the most qualified person in the country to be president” – has the backing of 32% of Iowa’s Democrats. In a crowded caucus field, only two other likely candidates have double-digit support: Bernie Sanders has 19%, while Beto O’Rourke, the telegenic congressman who almost defeated Ted Cruz in the recent Senate race in Texas, has 11%. Iowa is the first state in the nomination process, and in every caucus since 1996, the candidate it nominated has gone on to win the Democrat race. New York Trump embarrassed: Donald Trump has…

Asked before Christmas what he’d most like to find in his stocking, Noel Gallagher replied, “Poetry, any poetry. I love reading it. It’s very inspiring when you’re stuck for a lyric.” Yet as The Times pointed out, Oasis lyrics sometimes prized rhyme over content. The band’s 1995 song She’s Electric, for instance, has the lines: “She’s got a sister/ And God only knows how I’ve missed her/ And on the palm of her hand is a blister.” Gallagher explained that he likes Scottish poetry, which is like Irish poetry except it has a blue cover, whereas the Irish one is green. “They’re all about the heather,” he said. “And the weather.” Robbie Williams appears to have won his planning battle with his rock star neighbour in Holland Park. Kensington and…

A team of British soldiers became the first all-female group to ski across Antarctica using muscle power alone. The Ice Maiden expedition reached Hercules Inlet in January, having covered 1,000 miles in 62 days. Led by Major Nics Wetherill and Major Natalie Taylor, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, the six women (right) walked for up to 27 miles a day in temperatures as low as -40°C, pulling 12-stone sledges. An amateur runner who works full time as a nurse came second in the Boston Marathon in April, beating scores of professional athletes in only her second marathon. Sarah Sellers, 26, had got up at 4am to train before shifts; she completed the course in 2:44:04. Thanks to what the UN called “the world’s largest beach clean-up”, hatchlings from a…

Tory Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg was sent a stern letter from The Beano in April, accusing him of copying the “trademarked imagery” of one of its best known characters: Walter the Softy. The “cease and desist” letter claimed that Rees-Mogg had “stolen” everything from Walter’s glasses and hair parting to his vintage apparel and appreciation of classical music. “A swift response would be appreciated,” the letter read, “to avoid getting Teacher involved.” A Romanian court ruled that a 63-year-old man was dead, even though he had appeared in front of the judge himself to offer evidence to the contrary. Constantin Reliu moved to Turkey to find work in 1992, and lost touch with his family. This year, he finally returned home, only to find that his wife had registered him dead…

What the scientists said in 2018 Spinach never seemed to do much for Popeye’s intelligence – but according to research reported in January, people who eat substantial quantities of leafy green vegetables are less likely to experience cognitive decline in old age. The study, involving 960 people with an average age of 81, was observational, and did not establish a causal link, but added to a growing body of evidence that certain foods are good for the ageing brain. Being female has some advantages – one of which is that it makes you hardier, according to a study of historical death rates. This found that not only have women typically lived longer than men, they’ve also proved more likely to survive periods of hardship and disease. An international team examined…

Mark Ravenhill is nowadays a respected “elder statesman” of international theatre, rather than the “gobby young firebrand” who in 1996 broke through with Shopping and Fucking, said Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. Yet he hasn’t staged a major new play since 2009, and some feared his inspiration might be drying up. On the evidence of The Cane, though, it would seem the playwright, now 52, is just getting going. This superbly acted and “drolly menacing” production of his new play, directed by Vicky Featherstone, is a riveting and complex moral drama. It’s vintage Ravenhill, and more than worth the wait. The premise of this “clever, witty, slyly provocative three-hander” is immediately dramatic, said Paul Taylor in The Independent. Edward (Alun Armstrong) is a dedicated teacher about to retire after 45…

Revealed The giant 12-panel altarpiece of St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent – completed by Jan and Hubert van Eyck in the 1430s – is one of the masterpieces of European art. It is also one of the most stolen artworks of all time – seized by, among others, the French Republican army in 1794, by German troops in the First World War, and by the Nazis. One of its panels, The Just Judges, is still missing as a result of a 1934 heist. And back in the 16th century, as experts who began restoring it in 2012 discovered, much of its central and most famous panel, The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, had been overpainted. The panel symbolises Christ’s sacrifice: it shows the lamb’s blood pouring into a Communion chalice.…

Tips of the week... how to survive your first ski trip ● Book lessons – everybody needs them. It will surprise you how quickly you can go from useless to pretty confident. And a bonus is you often get to skip the queues for the lifts if you’re with an instructor. ● Don’t be afraid to change instructor. Having the right person teaching you, who makes you feel comfortable, is the secret to enjoyment and improvement. ● If you’re having group lessons, make sure the people are your age (not youngsters); it can be demoralising to be with children, and you'll miss out on the camaraderie. ● Allow plenty of time for renting your skis and kit. It can take ages to get the right fittings and the queues can…

Powell should tell Trump to zip it Nils Pratley The Guardian The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the fourth time this year to 2.5% – despite pressure from the White House to hold rates down. “Another day, another tweet from Donald Trump” telling the Fed “how to do its job”, says Nils Pratley. Arguably Trump had a point when he urged the supposedly independent central bank to, in his words, “feel the market, don’t just go by meaningless numbers”. US growth may be slowing already and there is a decent case for taking a break from rate rises. “Yet it remains extraordinary that a US president could try to pressure the Fed in this way.” Other presidents have certainly “prodded” behind the scenes, but Trump has publicly accused…

Politics Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean politician, died 14 February, aged 65. Baroness Dean, union leader, died 13 March, aged 74. Winnie Mandela, anti-apartheid campaigner, died 2 April, aged 81. Barbara Bush, former US First Lady, died 17 April, aged 92. Tessa Jowell, former Labour minister, died 12 May, aged 70. Lord Carrington, former Conservative minister, died 9 July, aged 99. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN, died 18 August, aged 80. John McCain, US senator, died 25 August, aged 81. Lord Melchett, environmental campaigner, died 29 August, aged 71. Pik Botha, South African politician, died 12 October, aged 86. Baroness Trumpington, former Tory minister, died 26 November, aged 96. George H.W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, died 30 November, aged 94. Writers & thinkers Peter Preston, journalist, died…

Employers are being warned not to write emails to staff in capital letters, in case they are accused of bullying. Lewis Silkin, one of Britain’s biggest employment law firms has said that writing all-caps messages is “equivalent to shouting” at employees and could lead to disciplinary action. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, which represents HR managers, has similarly said that emails written in a “very shouty or direct manner” are “problematic”. A 12-metre helter-skelter is to be installed in the nave of Norwich Cathedral in August as part of its Seeing it Differently initiative. The aim, the diocese says, is to give visitors “the chance to experience the space in a new way and open up conversations about faith”.…

One in 12 American parents with at least one child under the age of ten admit to having been too hung-over after a night out to look after their children properly. University of Michigan/ Daily Mail 8% of Britons think that when someone says “don’t get me any presents”, they do want a gift and will be upset if they don’t get one. A further 13% think they won’t be upset, but really do still want a present. YouGov Asked about their attitudes to sexual harassment, 38% of UK adults say that in the past year, they have started to think differently about what behaviour is and isn’t acceptable; 53% think there has been a change in what others think is acceptable. Survation…

New Delhi Politician jailed: A senior politician from India’s main opposition Congress party has been sentenced to life imprisonment for inciting a massacre of Sikhs in New Delhi following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Sajjan Kumar, 73, was found guilty of leading a lynch mob into a Sikh neighbourhood the day after Gandhi’s murder in 1984. The official death toll in the pogroms was 2,733; Sikh leaders say it was far higher. The alleged involvement of Congress politicians in the massacres has long been a stain on the party. Abuja Herder-farmer clashes: Two thousand people have been killed in clashes between mainly Muslim cattle herders and Christian farmers in central Nigeria this year, more than twice as many as in the previous two years put together,…

JANUARY Theresa May’s new year relaunch falls flat when her reshuffle descends into what one insider describes as “the night of the blunt stiletto”. Jeremy Hunt insists on staying on as Health Secretary rather than taking the business brief, and Justine Greening chooses to resign rather than move from Education to Work and Pensions. A tell-all book about life in the White House by Michael Wolff claims that Donald Trump sits in bed from 6.30pm most nights, watching three TVs at once and eating cheeseburgers. UKIP leader Henry Bolton briefly makes headlines when he is revealed to have left his wife for a 25-year-old model. He is later ousted. Comedian David Walliams says he is “appalled” by reports that “hostesses” at the all-male Presidents Club charity dinner he hosted were…

How well do we all get along? Outside social media, rather less sociably than we used to. 21% of 18- to 24-year-olds don’t talk to their next-door neighbours, whereas all but 1% of people over 55 do; and 27% – compared with just 5% of the over 55s – say they’ve never spoken to a stranger on a bus (CRUK/Independent). However, the younger generation is in some respects better mannered: 53% of 18- to 24-year-olds say they send thank-you letters for Christmas presents: only 42% of over 55s and 40% of 45- to 50-year-olds do so (Royal Mail/Telegraph). We still tend to keep mum when others misbehave: 56% of rail passengers would rather stand or look for another seat than ask someone sitting in their reserved seat to move (LNER/Telegraph).…

Two fingers to the law... To The Times You report that Perrie Harvey, who showed two fingers to a speed camera, received a £30 “victim surcharge” as well as points and a fine. Who was the victim, exactly? Was it the person in the speeding office, who was upset by seeing the photograph from the camera? We live in dangerous times. Jeremy Maltby, Winchester ... and to the judge To The Times In May 1973 a Mr Bangs made a two-finger gesture at no less magisterial a figure than Mr Justice Lawson, caparisoned at the time in a civic Rolls-Royce on his way to preside at Teesside Crown Court. The judge instantly had him arrested and brought before the court for contempt. Mr Bangs was, however, exonerated on explaining that…

The largest prime of all The largest prime number ever found was unveiled in January, discovered by an engineer from Tennessee. It has more than 23 million digits, making it a million digits longer than the previous record holder, found in 2015. The number is known as a Mersenne, and is expressed as 2 to the power of 77,232,917 minus 1. Expanding wine glasses We’re not just drinking more wine than our forebears – we’re drinking it from ever bigger glasses (the phenomena may be connected). A team from Cambridge University analysed 411 wine glasses from different eras, and found that the ones we use today are, on average, seven times larger, at 449ml, than those used in the Georgian period. Fake news travels fast It’s what we’ve long suspected,…

Lily is late for lunch cooked by Russ as she’s been helping run Deck the Hall. Elizabeth doesn’t show up at all. Russ dismisses Lily’s suggestion that he helps out in the Orangery kitchen to earn money. Ruairi is back from school and hanging out with Ben. He suggests to David that he and Ben find volunteers to fix the barn. Ben and Ruairi are amused when they overhear Shula telling David that Lily is dating an ex-teacher from Felpersham College. Russ tries to apologise to Lily, but they end up rowing about his reluctance to take on paid work. Brian and Tom learn that Roy’s neighbours, the Kemps, are looking for a tenant. Tom gets their number off Roy. Brian asks Roy to put in a word for him.…

The Little Chartroom 30-31 Albert Place, Edinburgh (0131-556 6600) This place modestly calls itself a “small neighbourhood bistro”, says Marina O’Loughlin in The Sunday Times – which might be its way of keeping the “snarkier critics” well away. But I wasn’t deterred, which was lucky for me: The Little Chartroom is “divine”. I never thought I’d write the words “exciting soup” – but chef Roberta Hall’s game broth fully deserves it. It “shimmers with layer after layer of flavour”, and comes with mini chunks of rosy pink duck breast and a juicy, suety duck bun on the side. Together they are “undiluted rapture”. And venison three ways is “quite the event”: thick slices of tender, gamey loin; a savoury tangle of braised neck; and a kind of sausage roll…

A good pruning? After a year of wild rides, which saw many of the world’s largest tech stocks hit record highs, the sector has had what some see as a welcome correction. A case in point is SoftBank, the Japanese tech giant, which floated its telecoms business this month, marking Japan’s “biggest-ever IPO”, said The Economist. Prior to the listing, intended to raise $23.5bn, SoftBank increased the amount of stock sold by 160 million shares, citing strong demand, said CNBC. Investors weren’t convinced. Shares finished 14% down on the opening day, a dismal debut and a worrying omen for next year’s tech floats. The Thucydides trap Move over Sun Tzu, there’s another ancient philosopher jostling for attention in multinational boardrooms. “As tensions between the US and China rose in 2018,”…

Barbara Judge and Stephen Martin The “Cats in a sack” trophy for 2018 must surely go to the Institute of Directors, says City Spy in the London Evening Standard. This was the year when the bastion of the business establishment revealed itself to be a “nest of vipers”. The chief casualty was the IoD’s chair, Lady (Barbara) Judge – a former banker and serial director, once described as the “best-connected woman in Britain” – who resigned in the wake of allegations of racism and bullying, which she denies. Lady Judge was “tearfully waved out of the door” by director-general Stephen Martin, who had taken the precaution “of secretly taping a conversation with her”. Not a great year for this supposed “beacon of UK corporate governance”. Adam Neumann Four years ago,…