Innholdsfortegnelse for 1384 i The Week

What happened Liz Truss confirmed this week that ministers would bring forward a new law to unilaterally suspend parts of the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland, which she said was “undermining” the peace process. The Foreign Secretary stressed that the Government was seeking to fix, not scrap, the Protocol, and claimed the bill would be legal under international law. Truss said negotiations with the EU about the operation of the Protocol would continue “in parallel” with the passage of the law through the Commons, which could take up to a year. The EU said it was happy to continue discussions, but warned that it would “respond with all measures at its disposal” if the UK pushed ahead with the new legislation. The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Jeffrey…

“It’s almost as if the Tories have a death wish,” said James Forsyth in The Times. For years, they’ve failed to tackle the lack of affordable housing in the UK, particularly for younger people, though it poses a profound threat to their party. House prices have risen by 20% since 2020. “The average age of a first-time buyer today is 34; in the 1990s it was 29.” Since homeowners are much more likely than renters to vote Conservative, the Tories should be doing everything they can to boost home ownership. This Government was in fact elected in 2019 on a pledge to build 300,000 homes a year, but efforts to relax planning rules by former housing minister Robert Jenrick turned out badly: a backbench revolt and a “thumping defeat” in…

Margaret Thatcher, after eggs were thrown at her statue, within hours of it being installed in her hometown of Grantham. Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock was among those who condemned the egging; however, such incidents were not unexpected. The statue was offered to Grantham after Westminster Council turned it down, partly over fears it would be targeted. The alleged egg-thrower was identified as an official at the University of Leicester. Cambridge dons, who were accused of insensitivity for feasting on beef during a student-organised vegan dinner. While the students at Emmanuel College ate spring rolls with spicy sauce, as part of the university-wide “green week”, fellows at the high table tucked into roast sirloin with shallots and a tarragon jus. Jonathan Van-Tam, who missed his own knighthood ceremony because he…

36% of UK adults think the term “woke” is an insult. 26% see it as a compliment. The proportion who have never heard of “being woke” has halved from 32% in 2020 to 16% now. Ipsos UK/Daily Mail 46% of British voters say the political issue they feel “most passionate about” is the cost of living, followed by the NHS, the war in Ukraine, and climate change. 6% say they feel “passionate” about whether trans women should take part in women’s sport. Opinium/The Independent 45% of adults in Scotland support keeping the monarchy, compared with almost six in ten people across Britain; 85% of British adults expect the monarchy to still exist in a decade. British Future/The Guardian…

Minnie Driver on Weinstein It’s 25 years since Minnie Driver starred opposite Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting. The role changed her life: it won her an Oscar nomination, and led to a very public relationship with Damon. Yet it almost didn’t happen: the film’s producer, the convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, had tried to block her from being given the part. “Nobody would want to f*** her,” he allegedly told the film’s casting director. Driver was “devastated”, she told Louise Carpenter in The Times. “Until I realised, ‘Hold on, just consider the source for a minute. That is an unutterable pig – why on earth are you worried about this f*** saying that you are not sexy?’ How awful to think that I was one of the lucky ones [who…

A pub in Cornwall received a legal letter from Vogue magazine demanding that it change its name or face swift “remedial action”. The Star Inn at Vogue, which is in the hamlet of the same name near Redruth, was told the name might lead people to infer “a connection” between the two businesses. Landlord Mark Graham said he’d initially assumed “some bugger in the village was having me on”, and that since receiving the letter, he’s been urged to launch “a parish magazine and call it a ‘Vogue magazine’, and have a fashion week and call it ‘Vogue fashion week’.” Condé Nast, Vogue’s parent company, has now withdrawn its request. Police are investigating how a Conservative club in County Durham came to host a wrestling “death match” in front of…

SRI LANKA A detested president and a broken nation Daily Mirror (Colombo) It will go down as a “Day of Shame in Sri Lanka’s postwar history”, says the Daily Mirror. On 9 May, the prime minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, finally resigned in the face of huge anti-government protests fuelled by our worst economic crisis since independence. Yet his supporters didn’t go quietly. Instead, his announcement was accompanied by horrifying violence in Colombo which left at least eight dead and 250 injured. Rajapaksa loyalists, bussed in from around the nation, went “on the rampage”, attacking unarmed protesters – including Buddhist monks, women and children – with “iron rods and wooden clubs”. Infuriated by the brutality they’d faced, many retaliated by turning on ruling party politicians, “setting fire to their homes, shops, business…

“There are battles,” said Marina Hyde in The Guardian. “There are libel battles.” And then there is… the Wagatha Christie trial. The country has been gripped by the epic High Court clash between Rebekah Vardy and Coleen Rooney. The question being disputed: did Rooney, wife of ex-England captain Wayne, defame Vardy when she publicly accused her of leaking stories from a private Instagram account to the tabloids? Their fallout has given us much voyeuristic merriment. The court was reminded, for instance, that in 2019, Vardy declared: “Arguing with Coleen is like arguing with a pigeon. You can tell it that you are right and it is wrong, but it’s still going to shit in your hair.” There was a time when big libel trials involved patrician politicians battling “equally grandiose…

For years, sceptics have predicted Eurovision’s imminent demise, said The Sunday Times. In Britain especially, it has been dismissed as an outdated festival of camp, as silly as it is glitzy. But this year the song contest, with its many ballads and daft costumes, not only “vigorously reasserted life after the pandemic”, but was more than usually freighted with political drama. Representing Ukraine, the members of the folk-rap Kalush Orchestra – who’d received special permission to leave the country for the event in Turin – put on a spirited performance which they ended with a plea to “help Ukraine, help Mariupol, help Azovstal”. This moved so many TV voters that the band rose in the rankings from fifth place, based on national jury scores, to a “resounding first”. The win,…

A year ago, Phil Mickelson wrote himself into the record books by becoming the oldest golfer to win a major title, said Ewan Murray in The Observer. The then 50-year-old, long one of America’s most admired players, was “mobbed” by adoring fans after triumphing in the US PGA Championship. It’s not a scene you can imagine happening today, said Daniel Zeqiri in The Daily Telegraph. For in the past 12 months, the player known as “Phil the Thrill” has suffered a “spectacular decline in popularity”. His problems began in February, when it was revealed that he was considering joining a Saudi-backed rebel tour, led by the former Australian champion Greg Norman. The comments Mickelson made about the scheme made him appear insincere and duplicitous: he insisted it was worth taking…

To The Times Bruno Waterfield is right in his analysis that “If Britain moves to unilaterally override EU regulations… that would be tantamount to an act of aggression, as well as a breach of a treaty that was negotiated and ratified by Britain only a few years ago.” Pacta sunt servanda – treaties must be observed – is a golden rule in all international negotiations. The DUP regards the Good Friday Agreement as a “capitulation” and wants a return to a border sealing the six UK counties of Ulster from the rest of Ireland. They have a right to that position, but the people of Northern Ireland, as we saw in the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, do not share that minority view. For more than a century, the…

by Maggie Shipstead Doubleday 288pp £16.99 The Week Bookshop £13.99 Maggie Shipstead’s “thrilling” historical epic, Great Circle, not only earned her a place on last year’s Booker shortlist, but also “proved a huge hit with readers”, said Lucy Scholes in the Financial Times. So it’s “savvy” of her publisher to bring out this collection of her short stories, written over the past 13 years. The tales vary widely in tone and setting – they transport us “from the catacombs of Paris, via an Olympic Village, to a guano island in the middle of the Pacific” – but taken together, they forcefully illustrate the “remarkable scope of Shipstead’s imagination and talent”. While one or two of these stories seem a bit “too self-conscious”, most are superb, said Lizzy Harding in The…

Fender Play helps you learn the basics of guitar from scratch, by playing popular songs. It has bite-sized step-by-step video tutorials, with feedback (free; Android/iOS). Yousician is similar to Fender Play, but feels more like a video game, with lessons for guitar, piano, bass, ukelele and singing. You play in time to notes and chords that move across the screen. Play time is limited in the free version (free; Android/iOS). With Flowkey you can learn the piano by playing the songs you love. It tracks your efforts via mic input, gives instant feedback and can wait for you to play the right note before it continues (free; Android/iOS). EarMaster builds music theory skills for all musicians. It trains you to recognise melodies, scales and chords, improves your sight-singing skills and…

A watersports holiday for all For families with disabled children, creating holidays that work for everyone can be a challenge – so thank heavens for the Children’s Sailing Trust, says David Hutt in The Sunday Times. This charity has a watersports centre and six “super-stylish” self-catering holiday lets next to Trevassack Lake on Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula. The newest, Clare Milne House, has a wooden deck with a hot tub, and the living room has big sliding doors, so children feel connected to the action outside even on rainy days. There are “amazing” volunteer supervisors, lifts to all facilities, and equipment for all needs, including personal hoists, double kayaks, oversized paddleboards and even a “floating classroom” for wheelchairs. Being on water can be magical, and chances are the whole family will…

Ron Galella 1931-2022 “My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous,” wrote Andy Warhol in 1979. “It’s being in the right place at the wrong time. That’s why my favourite photographer is Ron Galella.” Galella, who has died aged 91, was known as the godfather of American paparazzi. He photographed Warhol many times, along with countless other public figures, from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and Robert Redford to Mick Jagger, Tom Cruise and Paris Hilton. Yet he was most closely associated with Jacqueline Onassis, said The New Yorker, whom he stalked so relentlessly in the 1970s that she took out a restraining order against him. She was, he admitted, his “obsession”. Galella’s methods were controversial, and in…

Food prices have been soaring, but we should prepare for “more shocks”, said Jessica Beard in The Daily Telegraph. The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has warned of “apocalyptic” price rises in the months ahead. Wheat prices jumped by almost 6% on Monday after India banned exports – adding to the pressure caused by supply falls from Russia and Ukraine. Fertiliser prices, meanwhile, have soared by more than 400% since sanctions were imposed on Russia, the world’s biggest exporter. Which foods have already gone up the most this year? Cooking oils Prices of rapeseed oil and coconut oil are up by more than 40%; sunflower and vegetable oil by 39%, according to supermarket tracker trolley.co.uk. Dairy and meat Semi-skimmed milk is up by 15.3%, butter by nearly 14%, and…

The week’s best shares FD Technologies Investors’ Chronicle A “welcome ray of light” amid the battered tech sector, FD’s KX software platform, which provides real-time performance data, has seen a 148% rise in subscriptions. A Microsoft partnership should boost margins. Buy. £24.80. Grainger The Times The private rental landlord intends to double net income rental by adding 4,000 homes to an existing portfolio of around 7,400 properties. Occupancy is at a record 98% and divis are forecast to grow. Buy. 281p. Oakley Capital Investments The Mail on Sunday This private equity firm, founded by an entrepreneur, helps business owners develop and grow their companies. Focused on online, digital and “quirky” firms, including a German golf ball-maker and Globe-Trotter luggage. Undervalued. Buy. 415p. Next The Daily Telegraph The retailer has been…

What happened Finland and Sweden formally submitted their applications to join Nato on Wednesday, paving the way for a significant shake-up of Europe’s security architecture. Support for membership has surged in the previously neutral countries since Russia invaded Ukraine. Their applications were welcomed by Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, but must be approved by all 30 Nato states. Last week, Boris Johnson visited both Nordic countries, where he signed deals saying that the UK would come to their aid were they to be attacked before gaining full membership. Russia – whose troops finally seemed to have seized full control of Mariupol this week (see page 5) – warned of “retaliatory steps” of a “military-technical nature” after Finland announced its Nato plans, though it later rowed back somewhat. Nato member Turkey…

Calling a man “bald” at work amounts to sexist harassment, an employment tribunal has concluded. The ruling came in a case between a manufacturing firm and an electrician, who alleged he’d been called a “bald c**t” by a supervisor during a shop-floor row. Commenting on baldness is like remarking on the size of a woman’s breasts, three judges decided, as it is “inherently related to sex”. First there was “mansplaining”; now staff at the exam regulator Ofqual have been urged to avoid “hepeating”. In an internal handbook, the term – a portmanteau of “he” and “repeating” – is defined as referring to situations in which a man repeats a woman’s ideas, and is praised for them “as if they were his own”.…

Rising food prices are a “major worry”, the Governor of the Bank of England told MPs this week. Apologising for sounding “apocalyptic”, Andrew Bailey warned that the war in Ukraine was affecting global supplies of cooking oil and wheat in particular, and that this could have a serious impact on Britain, and on the developing world. UK inflation hit 9% in April – its highest level in 40 years, and well above the Bank’s 2% target. However, Bailey said he did not think the Bank could have prevented the “overshoot”, which he said was mainly down to Covid and the war in Ukraine.…

Mariupol, Ukraine The city falls: After a devastating siege lasting three months, the fall of Mariupol seemed this week to be complete. Around 260 Ukrainian troops who had been holed up in the Azovstal steelworks laid down their arms on Monday, and were evacuated out of the city; and efforts were under way to evacuate the hundreds more who were still trapped. The soldiers – many of whom were emaciated and severely wounded – were taken to Russian-controlled territory. Ukraine said it hoped that they would be freed as part of a prisoner exchange; but some influential Russian officials described them as “terrorists” and neo-Nazis and called for them to be executed. The Azov Battalion was formed as a volunteer militia to fight Russian separatists in 2014, and some of…

1 Life on Mars? written and performed by David Bowie2 March of the Mods by Tony Carr, performed by Joe Loss and His Orchestra3 Bye Bye Baby by Bob Crew and Bob Gaudio, performed by the Bay City Rollers4 I’m Mandy Fly Me by Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman and Kevin Godley, performed by 10cc5 Firefly by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, performed by Tony Bennett6 The Hungry Years by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, performed by Neil Sedaka7* Always and Forever by Rod Temperton, performed by Heatwave8 That’s Life by Dean Kay and Kelly Gordon, performed by Frank Sinatra Book: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas Luxury: Golf clubs and balls * Choice if allowed only one record…

Over its 70 years, Nato has built up its own culture, says Thomas Meaney in The Guardian. As its third supreme allied commander Alfred Gruenther once declared: “Nato is a state of mind”, a community of shared values. There are Nato towns across Europe: from Ramstein in Germany to Aviano in Italy and Brunssum in the Netherlands. There are Nato academies where its military curriculum is taught (“smart training for smart defence”); a Nato Defence College in Rome; Nato schools for its employees’ children; even an annual International Model Nato for university students. Nato has its own underground pipeline for jet fuel, its own songbook, and its own hymn, composed in 1989 by André Reichling, a Luxembourgian military officer. In 1959, Bing Crosby recorded a Nato ballad marking ten years…

There is a close to 50/50 chance that average global temperatures will exceed the key 1.5°C limit by 2026, a Met Office study has found. The Paris Agreement of 2015 set a target of limiting temperatures to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, deeming this the threshold vital to prevent the worst effects of global warming. To miss that target, temperatures would have to overshoot for a couple of decades; the Met Office’s model only predicts a 48% chance of temperatures exceeding the limit in one of the five years to 2026. However, its scientists said that it shows how close we are to failing to hit the Paris goal. In the five years to 2021, the risk of overshooting the target was only 10%. The Met Office also found there was…

“As a matter of basic courtesy”, it would have been better if civil servants had heard it from their bosses, said The Times. Instead, when they turned on their radios last Thursday morning, they learnt that the Government plans to cull a fifth of the civil service, or 91,000 jobs, within three years. Ministers have provided few details, beyond saying that they expect the cuts will save £3.5bn a year, enabling them to lower taxes; where the axe will fall is unclear. “The civil service has been told to come up with ideas.” No doubt some branches of the state could be much more efficient: agencies such as the DVLA have become “flabby and intransigent”. And a good number of jobs, such as running the NHS test-and-trace scheme, have been…

“Tell people there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”George Carlin, quoted on Next Draft “No one has ever doubted that truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other.”Hannah Arendt, quoted in The Washington Post “A romantic relationship is a sort of delusion between two people.” Sheila Heti, quoted in The Paris Review “There are two tax systems: one for the informed and one for the uninformed. Both are legal.”US judge Learned Hand, quoted on The Browser “Just about anybody can face a crisis. It’s everyday living that wears you out.”From George Seaton’s The Country Girl, quoted in The Guardian “If you…

“Normal People was a lockdown TV hit that made stars of Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal and neck chains,” said Ben Dowell in The Times. Now Sally Rooney’s first novel, Conversations with Friends, has been brought to the screen, with its story about a “love square” between four millennials, who inhabit arty circles in Dublin. The book is dialogue heavy, but the TV adaptation is remarkably visual: emotions are conveyed via long silences and “snatched looks”, and whether you can hack all 12 episodes will depend “on your appetite for earnest and extremely slow drama”. For those “happy to hop aboard”, however, it carries “an addictive pull”. I found this adaptation “dramatically superior” to Normal People, said Ed Power in The Irish Times – with one main reservation. Joe Alwyn, playing…

In under four minutes of bidding, Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, Andy Warhol’s 1964 silkscreen of the actress’s face, sold for $195m to an unknown buyer at Christie’s in New York last week. It was the highest price for any US work of art at auction, and the highest for any 20th century work of art. Warhol’s Marilyn is “the most iconic face of pop art”, said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. His first Marilyns were made in 1962, after Monroe died by suicide; he cropped a still from her film Niagara, and had “a silkscreen mesh made so he could print it on canvas as many times as he liked, adding hand-painted colours”. In 1964, a new series was commissioned, said Blake Gopnik in The New York Times. The “retreads”,…

It’s the opening match of the Ambridge Veterans against Darrington. Downcast Tracy is a no-show until Pat convinces her that the team needs her, and Ambridge wins. Inspired by using the wrong ingredients in a quiche, Fallon decides to hold a competition for a “Jubilee” dish. At the shop, Stella and Jim exchange views about the slurry plan. With Alistair’s mediation, they reconcile, and Jim agrees to take the matter to the parish council. Tracy reluctantly shares her money worries with Chelsea. Jazzer likes his new telesales job, but Lily points out he’s not pulling in customers. Coming to his rescue, Alistair makes an appointment with a sales rep and nearly ends up buying a new kitchen. Meanwhile, Chelsea got the job Tracy was going for at the Orangery and…

Makes 10 350g self-raising flour, plus extra for rolling a generous pinch of salt 1 tsp baking powder 85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing 3 tbsp caster sugar 175ml whole milk 85g sultanas (optional) 1 egg, beaten, to glaze To serve: Devonshire or Cornish clotted cream English strawberry jam • Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan and put a lightly greased baking tray inside to heat up at the same time. • Tip the self-raising flour into a large bowl with the salt and baking powder, and mix to combine. Add the butter, and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine crumbs (you can do this in a food processor, but take care not to over-process the mixture). Stir in the caster sugar. • Make a well…

Lake District retreat Set in Cumbria within the Eden Valley, the 4-star Appleby Manor Country House Hotel is offering 3 nights from £199pp b&b. 01768-351571, applebymanor.co.uk. Arrive 21 September. Luxurious Mauritius resort Stay 6 nights at the 5-star The Residence Mauritius, set along a stretch of powder white sand, from £1,491pp half-board (including London flights). 0800-540 4103, awayholidays.co.uk. Depart 7 July. Traditional Moroccan hotel Stay 7 nights at the Riad Zahra, a short walk from the beach and 20 minutes from the medina & souks, from £382pp b&b including Manchester flights). 020-8974 7200, travelrepublic.co.uk. Depart 4 July. The ideal country escape Stay 2 nights at The Lodges at Feldon Valley, nestled on the wood line of the golf course and amazing Cotswolds scenery, from £155pp b&b. 01608-685633, feldonvalley.co.uk. Arrive 16…

Twitter/Musk: tweet-by-tweet negotiation “Chocolate milk is insanely good. Just had some,” tweeted Elon Musk last Monday in what would be the social media site’s third most popular post for the week. Less heartening for Twitter was a later post in which the Tesla boss declared he had put his $44bn takeover “on hold”, due to concerns about the high number of fake accounts (or “bots”) on the platform, said The Daily Telegraph. Despite a follow-up tweet in which Musk claimed he is “still committed to acquisition”, Twitter’s shares promptly dropped 10%, valuing the company at just over $31bn. Cynics reckon Musk is using the bots issue to soften up Twitter’s management and negotiate a lower offer, said The Washington Post. If so, it was a neat trick. Shares in Tesla…

How Andrew Bailey let a tiger loose Patrick Hosking The Times Fifteen months ago, when UK inflation was a mere 0.7%, the Bank of England’s then chief economist, Andy Haldane, gave “one of the most prescient speeches in the history of British economics”, says Patrick Hosking. He warned of complacency about the “tiger” of inflation which, if unleashed, would prove hard to tame. “Like Cassandra, Haldane was destined not to be believed.” Governor Andrew Bailey would persist with “his sunny claim that inflation would be mild and transitory”, and that the Bank’s “super-stimulative position” was correct. He now stands accused by MPs of being “asleep at the wheel”. Why were Haldane’s concerns ignored? Partly because they went against the herd and “backward-looking official data”. But also, worryingly, because “the Bank…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1312 An Ettinger shoe horn and two Connell Guides will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 30 May. Send it to The Week Crossword 1312, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid or listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive an Ettinger (ettinger.co.uk) Bridle Hide travel shoehorn in black, which retails at £75, and two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 Prize-winning sheep in new type of business (5-2) 5 Chuck meets Kitty in boozer (7) 9 Where Russians gather in political alliance, not Conservative (5) 10 Rubbish disposal around right sides of motorway (4-5) 11 Nancy’s noodles brought about a conversation (4-1-4)…

Rambo, a Limousin bull and “superstud”, who sold at auction for a world record price of £189,000. Bidding for the Welsh-reared breed champion started at £5,250, but quickly escalated. George Bromley, a former Army captain, who celebrated the end of a 44-day trek in which he had travelled from Land’s End to John O’Groats, in a straight line. The “beeline challenge” had involved kayaking from Cornwall to the Isle of Man and climbing through the Cairngorms, among other challenges.…

The Government has unveiled a bill that would give immunity from prosecution to some perpetrators of Troubles-era crimes in Northern Ireland. The bill would create a body, the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery, which would investigate the conflict and have the power to grant immunity to individuals who cooperated with it. The Government said the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill would provide “answers” to families; but critics said it was a worrying interference with the rule of law.…

Buffalo, New York Racist massacre: The teenager accused of shooting dead ten people in a supermarket in the city of Buffalo last Saturday had planned the attack for months, and had driven 300 miles from his home to carry it out, police believe. The suspect, 18-year-old Payton Gendron, donned combat gear and a military helmet before the attack, which he live-streamed to social media. Police say that he had earlier posted online a 180-page “manifesto” in which he identified himself as a white supremacist, and claimed that white people were being intentionally “replaced” by other races. He is believed to have targeted the Tops supermarket because it is in a mainly black neighbourhood; 11 of the 13 people he shot were black. One of the ten people he killed was…

“Last week, after just over 20 years, it was announced that the iPod was going to be discontinued. It redefined how music is listened to; the iPod put vast choice in our pockets and made it portable. I keep thinking about that element of choice. It is a luxurious position to be in, I know, but two decades later I often feel stifled by choice, not just when it comes to music but with all entertainment. How can anyone settle on anything when there is so much to choose from, all the time? Like many, I felt nostalgic for the passing of the iPod. I am nostalgic for what might have been the perfect balance of choice: just enough for the possibilities to seem endless, without them actually being so.”…

Too many food banks, too few cooks India Knight The Sunday Times “An idiot.” “Crass and cruel.” It’s safe to say that Tory MP Lee Anderson’s recent remarks about food banks – there’s no “massive need” for them; people who know how to cook and budget could make meals for 30p a day – didn’t go down well, says India Knight. From the reaction, you’d guess he was “some languid toff honking on about things he knows nothing about”. Not so. The son of a miner, and until four years ago a lifelong Labour Party member, he has volunteered for Citizens Advice for a decade and has worked in hostels for the homeless. In his Nottinghamshire “red-wall” constituency, he’s involved with a food bank that runs a training scheme on…

Are the Republicans “the proverbial dog that caught the car”? For decades, they’ve been working to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 precedent guaranteeing American women the right to abortion, said Alex Shephard in The New Republic. But now that the supreme court is poised to deliver this prize, it’s dawning on the party that the move may carry a “devastating” political cost; polls show a clear majority opposes it. Hence the oddly muted response of Donald Trump and many other GOP leaders. It’s one thing to fire up your base by attacking Roe as a symbol of undemocratic judicial overreach, but what the removal of this constitutional right “means in practice – prosecuting women who have had miscarriages, deaths from ectopic pregnancies, a precipitous rise in America’s already abysmal…

Spare tyres increase cancer risk Men who are overweight are at an increased risk of dying from prostate cancer, a new meta analysis has found. For the study, a team from the University of Oxford reviewed data on 2.5 million men from 19 existing studies, with a fresh analysis of data on 200,000 men from the UK Biobank. None of the men had cancer at the start of the studies. Having assessed weight using various measures, they found that every extra 3.9 inches of waist circumference raised the risk of dying from prostate cancer by 7%, while every five points of extra BMI increased the risk by 10%. The researchers calculated that as many as 1,300 prostate cancer deaths could be prevented in the UK each year if men aged…

As president, Donald Trump repeatedly asked national security aides if China was using a “hurricane gun” to shoot storms at the United States, it has been claimed. “He asked if China ‘made’ hurricanes to send to us,” a former official told Rolling Stone magazine. “One guy in the room responded, ‘Not to my knowledge, sir.’ I kept it together until I got back to my office.” Another recalled: “It was almost too stupid for words… I did not get the sense he was joking at all.” Katharine Birbalsingh is well-known for the high standards she demands of the pupils at her school in Wembley, where forgetting a pencil can lead to a detention. But this week, a clip from a documentary about Birbalsingh’s methods led some to suggest she should…

“It is looking increasingly possible that Ukraine can win its war against Russia,” said The Times. This is not just the view of President Zelensky and the Ukrainian military, who think they can defeat the Russian army by the end of the year, but also of Jens Stoltenberg, the secretarygeneral of Nato. Ukraine’s soldiers appear to have decisively won the battle for Kharkiv, its second city, just as they won the battle for Kyiv. Russia has wound down its major offensive in the southeastern Donbas region, in favour of a far more limited operation to capture a smaller part of it, in Luhansk. British military intelligence estimates that Russia has lost a third of the ground forces it committed since the start of the invasion. The overall picture is complicated,…

A hallmark of Liverpool FC during this “never-to-be-forgotten season” for the club, is that even their more unheralded players produce the goods when they really need to, said David Hytner in The Observer. And so it proved in Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea. This time it was the turn of the Reds’ back-up left-back, Kostas Tsimikas, to make his mark. The 26-year-old, who joined from Olympiacos in the summer of 2020 for £11.6m, was brought on as a substitute late in extra time, with the scores locked on 0-0. And in the ensuing penalty shoot-out, it was he who ultimately “made the difference” when he cooly slotted his spot kick – Liverpool’s seventh – past the Chelsea goalkeeper, Édouard Mendy, moments after Alisson had produced an “outstanding save to…

A new majority in Belfast To The Guardian A lot of attention has been given to Sinn Féin becoming the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly as a result of last week’s election. More significantly, the parties supporting the Northern Ireland Protocol received 53.5% of first preference votes, compared with 40.1% for those parties against, resulting in 52 members in favour to 35 against. Of course, not everyone voted with the Protocol in mind, and there were some small parties not in these figures. But it does indicate that those against the Protocol are a minority. Obviously, this does not mean that the opinions of those against do not matter. Their concerns should be addressed – but only in ways which take into account the views of the majority…

by Patrick Galbraith William Collins 320pp £18.99 The Week Bookshop £14.99 Patrick Galbraith was in a pub toilet when it dawned on him that if he didn’t hear a nightingale, a turtle dove or a capercaillie soon, he “probably never would”, said Jamie Blackett in Country Life. “This type of random epiphany probably occurs to most people, although few of us bother to do anything about it.” Galbraith, however, “is different”. A precociously talented young journalist (he was appointed editor of the Shooting Times aged just 23), Galbraith resolved to find out as much as he could about the decline of birds in Britain – and to seek out some of the most threatened species. Accordingly, he set out on a journey to some of Britain’s “remotest places”, in search…

In 1918, a 16-year-old Walt Disney made the first of many visits to France, said Rachel Campbell-Johnston in The Times. The trip would have a pivotal effect on his career: he had come to work as a Red Cross driver, but left as a devotee of the country’s decorative arts. He found a “huge influence” in the creations of the rococo movement, an exceptionally theatrical and ornamental late Baroque style, to which some of his studio’s best-loved films owe an immense debt. This idiosyncratic exhibition pairs original drawings from Disney’s animations with rococo works from the Wallace Collection, taking in everything from paintings to “candlesticks, clocks and teapots”. It demonstrates how Disney’s drawings took their “main creative cues” from rococo artists and designers. Like them, Disney sought to “create an…

Swimming Home by Deborah Levy, 2011 (And Other Stories £8.99). Levy is my favourite modern writer – her work is forever fresh and beautiful. This novel is a masterclass in character, with a story that pulls the rug out from under your feet. Made me gasp it was so brilliant. Delicacy: A Memoir about Cake and Death by Katy Wix, 2021 (Headline £9.99). I read this just after I’d finished Letters From Brenda and found it mesmerising and comforting in equal measure; 21 moments in a life that define love, trauma, darkness and hope. Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe, 2019 (Penguin £8.99). Stibbe is one of our greatest comic novelists and I absolutely loved this third part of her Lizzie Vogel trilogy, a novel about love, lust and…

Programmes Britain’s Strictest Headmistress Katharine Birbalsingh reveals how she ensures the smooth running of a culturally diverse school in one of London’s most deprived boroughs. Sun 22 May, ITV1 22:15 (60mins). Silent Witness Return of the long-running crime drama about forensic pathologists. The team are recruited to investigate the murder of the health secretary. Mon 23 and Tue 24 May, BBC1 21:00 (60mins each). Troy Deeney: Where’s My History? The footballer, who has long campaigned for the history of Britain’s ethnic minorities to be taught in schools, examines why progress is so slow. Mon 23 May, C4 22:00 (65mins). State of the Union Season two of Nick Hornby and Stephen Frears’ comedy about a married couple dealing with their woes, in tenminute episodes. Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson star. Tue…

• Ginger is easy to grow as a house plant. Look for a piece that is roughly 10cm long, with plenty of nodules, as these will become shoots. Supermarket ginger may be treated with a growth regulator to stop shoots, so you’ll need to wash it ASAP. • Find a warm spot, such as a sunny kitchen windowsill. Half-bury the ginger in a seed tray with peat-free compost mixed with grit for drainage. As it grows, allow the top half of the root to be exposed to the light. • Ginger is a thirsty plant, but doesn’t like sitting in a puddle: it likes a warm, humid environment. Water frequently, particularly in summer, but let the water drain away. • As green shoots emerge and the plant gets bigger, replant…

James Anderton 1932-2022 James Anderton was just 44 when he became the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police – England’s largest provincial police force – with 7,000 officers under his command. He was Britain’s youngest chief constable and served in that role for 15 years; and yet it is as “God’s cop” that he will be remembered, said The Guardian. A one-time Methodist lay preacher who later converted to Catholicism, Anderton claimed to be on a divine mission; and at the height of the Aids crisis in 1986, his remarks about gay people “swirling around in a cesspit of their own making” made him “the most controversial police officer in Britain”. Such pronouncements caused consternation at the Home Office. And yet Anderton made no effort to temper his words, said…

Dr Swati Dhingra “From an economic perspective, the best policy would be to cancel Brexit,” wrote Swati Dhingra before the parliamentary vote to leave the EU single market and customs union in December 2019. She was writing as a London School of Economics academic, specialising in trade, said Phillip Inman in The Guardian. But now the “prominent Brexit critic” has a chance to influence policy. Dhingra has been appointed by the Chancellor to join the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee as one of its four external members. Her research into the UK’s trade links with China and the Far East will doubtless come in handy as Britain “searches for new export markets”. But her views may “prove controversial” with some Tory MPs. Dhingra, who was born in India and…