Table of contents for 1421 in The Week

What happened Rishi Sunak sought to draw a line under weeks of negative coverage on Sunday by sacking Nadhim Zahawi as chair of the Conservative Party. The PM acted after an inquiry by ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found that Zahawi had repeatedly breached the ministerial code by failing to be transparent about his tax affairs. The inquiry had been launched six days earlier in response to media reports that Zahawi had reached a £4.8m settlement with HM Revenue & Customs last summer over unpaid taxes, which included a penalty of around £1m. Magnus criticised Zahawi for, among other things, failing to declare that he had been under investigation by HMRC from April 2021, and dismissing news reports last summer about him being under investigation as “smears”. At a Cabinet…

This week, the International Monetary Fund “consigned Britain to the economic doghouse”, said Chris Giles in the FT. It forecast that the UK would be the only major industrialised country to see its economy shrink in 2023, by 0.6%. Even Russia, fighting a war and besieged by sanctions, is expected to do better, growing by 0.3%. As ministers have pointed out, such predictions are often wrong, said The Times. But the IMF forecast is broadly in line with the Bank of England’s. And Britain has certainly “suffered a unique combination” of economic shocks in recent years. The energy crisis has hit us hard, given our reliance on gas. The “workforce is shrinking” due to ill health, early retirement and shortages of low-skilled workers. Trade has recovered slowly, “held back by…

The Government, after Sir Rod Stewart – a long-time Tory supporter – became the latest celebrity to denounce its record. The rock star phoned a Sky News call-in programme last Thursday to express his outrage about the state of the NHS. He said he would pay for “10 or 20” people to have scans himself, and called for the Tories to stand down, so that Labour “can have a go”. Flybe, which ceased trading, cancelling all its scheduled flights and leaving passengers stranded. Ryanair reacted to the news by setting up a fast-track recruitment service for ex-Flybe employees. Bands, with a new analysis showing that the charts are now dominated by solo acts. Last year, only four new songs by bands made it into the official top 100 singles. Industry…

54% of adults in Great Britain now agree that “the UK was wrong to leave the EU”, including 37% who strongly agree. 28% disagree (19% strongly). 18% neither agree nor disagree. The most “Bregretful” constituency is Bristol West. The least is Boston and Skegness. UnHerd/Focaldata One in ten workers in the UK often or always feel lonely at work. Among senior managers, 32% say they are lonely, and more than half feel estranged from their colleagues. Opinium/Red Cross 68% of UK adults believe that the police have given up on trying to solve crimes such as shoplifting and burglaries. More in Common/Public First…

Two sides of Blackpool Jenna Coleman was born and raised in Blackpool, but left to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, says Helen Brown in The Daily Telegraph. Today, she says she has a “complicated relationship” with the seaside town. On the one hand, she has fond memories of “racing down the promenade” where her grandfather ran darts and hoopla stalls. On the other, she was always conscious that the town had a darker side. “I’d be doing my Saturday chores aware that other people had come there for these more extreme experiences,” she says. “People are there to lose themselves, wanting a kind of obliteration.” She was recently given a book of photographs of stag and hen dos in Blackpool. “There’s lights, glitter, happiness, feathers! Then, this undertow…

A priest from Michigan claims to have briefly died and gone to hell, where he witnessed “indescribable” torture, and heard demons singing pop songs. According to Gerald Johnson, the ordeal began in 2016 when he had a heart attack and found his soul sinking to the “centre of the Earth”. There, he saw a man “walking on all fours like a dog and getting burned from head to toe”; in one section, Satan’s minions sang songs such as Umbrella by Rihanna and Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin to “torment” sinners. Since his return, he has seen pop music in a new light. “On Earth a lot of the lyrics and music are inspired by demons,” he said. Wildlife officials in Colorado were surprised to find hundreds of pictures…

“Between 2016 and 2019, a shaven-headed thug by the name of Adam Graham carried out two violent rapes,” said Julie Bindel in the Daily Mail. He first appeared in court in 2019, but by the time he was convicted last week, “a dramatic transformation had taken place”. The jury at Glasgow High Court was told that the defendant was now a woman who went by the name of Isla Bryson – and who was duly despatched to a women’s prison, Cornton Vale in Stirling, pending assessment. The case caused an uproar, and the Scottish government soon intervened: it ordered Bryson to be sent to a male prison, and the Scottish prison service rules that allow male-born transgender offenders to be housed in women’s prisons are now under “urgent review”. But…

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who founded the Wagner mercenary group, doesn’t like people looking into his affairs, said Dominic Nicholls in The Daily Telegraph. After Novaya Gazeta ran an article about him in 2018, a severed ram’s head was delivered to the newspaper’s offices, and a funeral wreath was addressed to the journalist specifically. I escaped that fate when I wrote about him in 2021, but Prigozhin’s London-based solicitor did fire off an 87-page complaint to Ipso, the press watchdog, that led to months of wrangling. Prigozhin said my report was misleading, insisting that the Wagner Group did “not exist” and that he was just a successful restaurateur. Last week it emerged that the Treasury, in the same year, allowed the sanctioned Prigozhin to access funds in the UK…

In eight months’ time, England go to India to defend the ODI World Cup they so dramatically won in 2019, said John Westerby in The Times. On current evidence, their chances of a repeat victory are slim: for some time now, their performances in the 50-over format have betrayed their status as “world champions”. Since Jos Buttler succeeded Eoin Morgan as white-ball captain last summer, the team have failed to win any of their one-day international series, and have won just two out of 11 games. Their poor run is continuing in South Africa, where the home side secured victory last week to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. At least these defeats were closer than the thrashings England were handed by Australia in the autumn, said…

The cost of Russia’s war To The Daily Telegraph Two different reports on your front page yesterday were inextricably linked. The first announced that the United States and Germany would, at last, send tanks to Ukraine, thereby confirming in the strongest possible terms that we in the West, with Britain at the forefront, are also fighting a war with Putin’s Russia. The second report was on record taxes raised by the Treasury. We have a near 40-year high rate of inflation. Taxes and inflation are a price we have to pay for our commitment to freedom. The Government needs to explain this link in much clearer terms. Alan Law, Streatley, Berkshire Inequality is not a given To The Guardian Your editorial calls for wealth taxes to address extreme inequality, but…

by Caroline Dodds Pennock Weidenfeld & Nicolson 320pp £22 The Week Bookshop £17.99 Like other historians writing about the Americas during the “age of discovery”, Caroline Dodds Pennock “begins her new book with an account of a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean”, said David Olusoga in The Guardian. The difference is that the journey she describes – in 1519 – was from west to east, not the other way round. On the ship, belonging to the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, was a group of “Totonac men and women from what is now Mexico”, heading to Europe to be presented to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. On Savage Shores reverses the traditional narrative by foregrounding the thousands of indigenous Americans who “discovered Europe” during this time. Most…

In this “punchy” action film, Gerard Butler plays a former RAF pilot who now makes a living flying commercial routes in Southeast Asia, said Wendy Ide in The Observer. His next trip matters more than most: it’s New Year’s Eve, and if all goes to plan, he will be reunited with his daughter at the end of it. Unfortunately for him, all does not go to plan, as there is bad weather to contend with as well as a shackled prisoner on board (Mike Colter) who is being extradited to stand trial for murder. The film may be “big, brawling and somewhat inelegant in approach”, but there’s no denying it’s also “an aviation fuel-powered good time. Think Die Hard meets Big Jet TV (or Fly Hard, if you prefer).” I’m…

Tate Britain is rehanging its galleries so as to “highlight the work of artists previously marginalised” and “offer a more inclusive narration of British art and history”. In practice, says Craig Simpson in The Daily Telegraph, that means that when the rehang opens in May, a series of paintings linked to the British empire will have been taken out of storage and displayed with labels explaining links to colonialism and the slave trade. Joseph Van Aken’s 1720 work, An English Family at Tea (above), for instance, will carry the explanation: “Tea was a bitter drink sweetened with sugar produced in British colonies.” Less controversial works, however, such as John Constable’s landscape Flatford Mill (1816) and Edwin Landseer’s A Scene at Abbotsford (1827), featuring two dogs, will be taken down. The…

Gathered for a Sunday roast, the Aldridge children discuss the great time Jennifer is having on her weekend break with Lilian. There’s a call from Brian – Jennifer has collapsed. Rushing to hospital, they find a traumatised Lilian; Brian emerges to tell them Jennifer is gone. As the news spreads, broken Brian wants to be left alone. Alice can’t get hold of Ruairi, so Chris drives her to London, where they find him at Julianne’s and break the news. As Ruairi returns to Ambridge with Alice and Chris, he swears them to secrecy about Julianne. There’s upset as it emerges that Jennifer was seriously ill. Lilian is hurt that Jennifer told Tony and not her, while the children angrily question Brian. He says Jennifer didn’t want to worry the family…

These crunchy fritters make for a perfect speedy lunch, says Tom Kerridge. Carrots bring sweetness and there’s gentle spicing from the nigella seeds and cumin, all cooled down with a herby yoghurt dip. Once you’ve got the hang of making them, play around with the ingredients you use – any root veg, or courgettes, will work. Makes 16-20 500g grated carrots 2 large free-range eggs, beaten 1 tsp nigella (black onion) seeds 1 tsp ground cumin 4 spring onions, finely sliced 3 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped 6 tbsp plain flour 4 tbsp finely grated parmesan salt and freshly ground black pepper 50ml vegetable or sunflower oil, to cook lemon wedges, to serve Herby yoghurt: 250g Greek yoghurt juice of ½ a lemon 1 small garlic clove, finely grated 2 tbsp mint…

“Piercing material, brilliantly played”, the BBC SO Rachmaninov and Lyatoshynsky includes a Ukrainian symphony subtitled Peace Shall Defeat War, with a Ukrainian conductor and piano soloist (BBC Sounds). BSO Felix Plays Glière The solo in Glière’s traditional Horn Concerto is beautifully performed by Felix Klieser, who was born without arms and plays with his toes, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (bsolive.com until 10 February). Storms of Passion – Janácek’s Katya Kabanova No other work by Janácek generates the same heat as this dramatic opera in three parts, featuring Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra (streaming on Marquee TV, 2 February 7pm, lso.co.uk). Master musician Sir Stephen Hough reveals his soul as a composer in this collection of 31 songs, including the sophisticated new song cycle Songs of Love…

Skiing in snow-bound Norway As resorts in the Alps were suffering from a “dearth of the white stuff” last month, “Norway’s recorded their deepest snow cover in over 100 years”, says Peter Hardy in The Daily Telegraph. Yet relatively few Britons see Norway “as a serious holiday rival to the Alps”. They’re missing a trick. Yes, restaurants and bars are very pricey (canny travellers stock up on duty-free booze on arrival), but there are compensations. Winter sports are not confined to “downhill skiing” but cover everything from ice-fishing to snowmobiling; nearly everyone speaks English; the food is “delicious”, and features an abundance of fresh fish and venison; childcare facilities are “exceptionally good”; and travel from the UK is “easy” and relatively cheap. Resort-wise, Geilo and Hemsedal are a good bet,…

Adolfo Kaminsky 1925-2023 Adolfo Kaminsky was a former clothes dyer’s apprentice who used his knowledge of inks to save thousands of lives during the War. Recruited to the French Resistance in 1944, he was sent to work in an underground laboratory in Paris where he forged identity cards and other official documents for Jews and others facing persecution by the Nazi regime. It was stressful work – “the smallest error and you send someone to prison or death” – but he knew he could not stop. “Keep awake,” he explained. “Struggle against sleep. The calculation is easy. In one hour, I make 30 false papers. If I sleep one hour, 30 people will die.” He estimated that the network he worked with saved 14,000 lives. Kaminsky was born in Buenos…

The latest Beauhurst survey offers an interesting snapshot of the state of venture capital funding in Britain, said Richard Tyler in The Times. Here are some highlights: Falling deal numbers Overall investment declined in 2022. Beauhurst tracked 2,722 deals, down 7% on the previous year. The total amount of cash invested fell by 16% to £19.7bn. Levelling nowhere More than half of the deals struck went to companies based in London, which sucked in 69% of the total money invested. Suffering science The number of deals backing life sciences companies fell by 24%, adding to concerns that too little investment is being made in the UK pharmaceuticals industry. More deals for women… Despite the overall decline, more companies founded by women secured funding. 27% of all equity deals involved high-growth…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1348 An Ettinger pass holder 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 13 February. Send it to The Week Crossword 1348, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. Tim Moorey (timmoorey.com) This week’s winner will receive an Ettinger (ettinger.co.uk) travel pass holder in assorted colours, which retails at £115, and two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 How optimistic Americans like their eggs? (5,4,2) 7 Condition of underwear at the laundry! (9) 8 City oil supply brings complaint (1,4) 10 Nomadic African’s mother mentioned endlessly (5) 11 Most slender weapon kept in secluded place (9) 12 What you wear at international…

What happened Days after Germany, the US and other allies agreed to send tanks to Ukraine last week, Kyiv put in a plea for 200 advanced fighter jets, such as US-made F-16s. President Biden was quick to rule out the idea. The UK said it would not be sending any jets for now; France said that it might offer fighter jet pilot training, and that nothing was “excluded”. Ukraine said that it expects to receive up to 140 Western tanks in a “first wave” of deliveries, from as many as 12 countries. Germany is sending 14 of its Leopard 2 tanks; Poland has confirmed that it will send 74 tanks, including a further 14 Leopard 2s; other European countries, including Norway and the Netherlands, are expected to send smaller numbers.…

The Associated Press (AP) news agency has apologised for suggesting that its journalists avoid terms such as “the French”. In a much-mocked tweet last week, AP’s stylebook said: “We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanising ‘the’ labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated.” In response, the French embassy in Washington tweeted that it would be renaming itself the “embassy of Frenchness”. AP later decided that its advice had been “inappropriate”. Just a third of people under the age of 26 in England and Wales identify as Christian, according to the latest data to be released from the 2021 census. The average age of Christians is now 51.…

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace admitted this week that the British Army has “fallen behind its peers”. He was responding to reports that an unnamed US general had told him that the Army is no longer regarded as a tier one fighting force. Defence sources have warned that British troops could run out of ammunition in days, were they called upon to fight; it has also been said that the UK lacks the ability to defend its skies from the type of assaults being launched on Ukraine. Wallace said there was no “magic wand”, but that the Government would be investing £34bn into the Army’s defence equipment plan by 2033.…

Amsterdam Holocaust ignorance: Almost a quarter of Dutch people born after 1980 think that the Holocaust is “a myth”, or that the number of Jewish people killed by the Nazis is “greatly exaggerated”. That is the finding of new research by the Claims Conference, a body that negotiates and administers payments to Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and their heirs. It found “shocking” levels of ignorance among millennials and Generation Z in the Netherlands, higher than in the US, UK, France, Austria and Canada, where it carried out similar surveys. More than half of respondents didn’t know that some six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust; 23% of younger people said Nazi crimes were untrue or exaggerated; and 12% of Dutch people overall said that the Holocaust itself was…

1* La Vida Es Un Carnaval by Victor Daniel, performed by Celia Cruz2 Les Copains d’Abord, written and performed by Georges Brassens3 We Are the Champions by Freddie Mercury, performed by Queen4 Harmonie du soir à Châteauguay by Robert Léger, performed by Beau Dommage5 Proud Mary (Live) by John Fogerty, performed by Tina Turner6 Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen, from Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by Edita Gruberová, Bernard Haitink and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks7 LDN by Lily Allen, Iyiola Babalola, Darren Lewis and Tommy McCook, performed by Lily Allen8 Three-Part Inventions: Sinfonia No. 15 BWV 801 by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Martin Stadtfeld Book: World Atlas of the Oceans by Dave Monahan Luxury: a mask and a snorkel * Choice if allowed only one…

The Second World War, in which at least 24 million Soviet citizens died, has been commemorated ever since as the Great Patriotic War; it has become the focus of cult-like devotion, and an integral part of first Soviet, and now Russian, identity. At the centre of that cult is Stalingrad, which was designated by Stalin as a “hero city” in 1945 (though it was renamed Volgograd during Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinisation period). In 1967, a huge statue – The Motherland Calls, the tenth tallest in the world – was installed overlooking the Volga. The anniversary of the battle’s end is marked by military parades; Mamayev Kurgan, the hill on which the statue sits, is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year. Generations of schoolchildren are taught about the heroism…

California is running out of water Charles G. Thompson Los Angeles Times As a fourth-generation Californian, I’m aware that worrying about water is nothing new, says Charles G. Thompson. The state has always had a “feast-or-famine relationship” with this vital resource, characterised by long droughts and occasional disastrous floods. I remember my great-grandmother, who grew up having to collect water each day from a local pump, constantly fretting about it. “There isn’t enough water for all these people,” she would say. Even when she moved into a house with plumbing in the mid-1960s, she kept her water use to a bare minimum. Back then, fewer than 19 million people lived in California. Now, almost 40 million do – and the water situation really is dire. The recent winter storms won’t…

Nearly half-a-million people missed out on starting medicines to lower their blood pressure during the pandemic, according to new research backed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). By comparing data on prescriptions dispensed in England, Scotland and Wales in the three years from 2018, the scientists were able to show that 491,306 fewer people than expected had started taking blood-pressure lowering drugs between March 2020 and the end of July 2021. They warn that if these people are not identified, and treated for their blood pressure, it could lead to 13,500 extra cardiovascular events, including more than 2,000 heart attacks. “Yet again we’re seeing clear evidence of the major disruption to healthcare people in the UK experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said cardiologist Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, of the BHF. “But…

With an ageing population and a shortage of workers, the Government is keen that people delay their retirement. Yet it has just spurned a golden opportunity to help “thousands of older women” remain “at the top of their professional game for longer”, said Gaby Hinsliff in The Guardian. The cross-party Women and Equalities Committee had recommended making it illegal to disadvantage workers because of menopause symptoms – by making menopause a “protected characteristic” like age or race – and proposed trialling “menopause leave” for women who are badly affected. The committee, chaired by Tory MP Caroline Nokes, cited its finding that women who experienced at least one “problematic menopausal symptom” at the age of 50 were 43% more likely to leave their jobs by 55 than those who didn’t. But…

“Politicians do not concentrate on the most serious problems but on the ones that they are most likely to be blamed for.”Jonathan Sumption in The Daily Telegraph “My definition of an intellectual is someone who can listen to the William Tell Overture without thinking of the Lone Ranger.”Billy Connolly, quoted in The Times “To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.”Attrib. Bill Vaughan, quoted in The Knowledge “Grudges get heavier the longer they are carried.”P.K. Thomajan, quoted in The San Francisco Chronicle “Throughout the world, the more wrong a man does, the more indignant is he at wrong done to him.”Anthony Trollope, quoted in The Sunday Times “Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.”Mark Twain, quoted in the Sleepy Eye Herald-Dispatch…

To The Times Your editorial on a libel action by a Russian “gangster” suggests that it is “shameful” for barristers and solicitors to act for “dubious clients”, and that we should take more notice of our “wider ethical obligations to society”. The primary ethical obligation of lawyers is to the rule of law, which requires that all persons, however “dubious”, have access to legal advice and representation. This applies to alleged murderers, rapists, paedophiles, and also to Russians. There are exceptions to this professional obligation, and rightly so – in particular, that we may not assist litigation which we believe to have no reasonable basis or which is being pursued to harass others. But in general, judges, not lawyers, decide whether litigation by clients is well-founded. A hard case should…

by Laurent Mauvignier (translation by Daniel Levin Becker) Fitzcarraldo Editions 504pp £16.99 The Week Bookshop £13.99 “Imagine a Stephen King thriller hijacked by Proust,” said Lee Langley in The Spectator. Laurent Mauvignier’s “mesmerising” novel does for terror “what Javier Marías did for the spy story”. Set in rural France, it revolves around a surprise party that farmer Patrice is preparing for his wife’s birthday. Christine, their neighbour, is baking a cake when a stranger knocks on her door, asking to be shown around. She sends him away – but he returns later, no longer alone. What results is a story of “nerve-shredding tension, but related in serpentine, elegant prose”. This is a novel that “has us reading from behind our hands, as we watch its ensemble cast stumble into catastrophe”,…

“Steven Spielberg’s cinematic love letter to his parents, to the craft of making movies and, frankly, to himself, arrives on the silver screen endorsed by a raft of Academy Award nominations,” said Brian Viner in the Daily Mail. And “they are well-earned”. The Fabelmans has been described as “semi-autobiographical”, but it is more “seven-eighths”, and offers “a compelling insight” into how the most commercially successful film-maker of all time became enchanted with the medium that would make him a household name. The story begins in 1952, with young Sammy Fabelman (effectively Spielberg) going to the cinema for the first time, to see The Greatest Show on Earth. He is “both riveted and horrified by a train crash scene”, and replicates it at home with his toy train set. Eventually, his…

The Pedant in the Kitchen by Julian Barnes, 2003 (Atlantic Books £8.99). Sheer magic for anyone who, like me, loves cookbooks and cooking. Side-splittingly funny: Barnes muses over issues such as what cookery authors mean when they list a “medium” onion (how big exactly is that?!) in the ingredients list – and why on earth they do it. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, 2005 (Canongate £9.99). Atwood’s searingly short retelling of Homer’s Odyssey through the eyes of his wife Penelope, now a ghost and living out a limbo-like existence in the Underworld, is nothing short of genius. With each artfully crafted verse Atwood makes you want to read (or reread) the epic and think about it very differently. The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, 1945 (Penguin £9.99). When I…

Programmes Roy Orbison: In Dreams Documentary chronicling the life and work of the singer, featuring interviews with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Bono and k.d. lang. Sat 4 Feb, BBC2 21:20 (90mins). Walter Presents: Top Dog Swedish crime drama from the makers of The Bridge. A kidnapping brings together a well-heeled lawyer and a convict out on parole. Continues on All 4. Sun 5 Feb, C4 23:15 (60mins). The Shamima Begum Story Currently stateless and living in a camp in Syria, Begum tells her story to investigative journalist Josh Baker. Tue 7 Feb, BBC2 21:00 (90mins). Women and the Police: The Inside Story – Exposure A timely investigation into the misogynistic culture within many UK police forces, with testimony from former and serving female officers. Thur 9 Feb, ITV1 22:45…

Stunning Lake Garda Offering lush parkland and a private beach, the Spendido Bay Luxury Spa Resort offers a 7-night stay from £683pp b&b (incl. London flights). 01234-230440, loveholidays.com. Depart 16 March. South Korea adventure Embark on a 12-day cultural tour, starting in Seoul and finishing in Jeju-do. From £1,349pp (incl. accom., some meals, a guide and internal transport). 0800-802 1046, tourradar.com. Arrive 1 June. Award-winning Cyprus hotel Spend 5 nights at the 5-star Azia Resort and Spa, with Kissonerga beach a few steps away. From £772pp b&b (incl. Edinburgh flights). 020-8016 3295, thomascook.com. Depart 3 April. Unique couple getaway Located in West Wales, Dragon’s Eye offers beautiful lake views and plenty to do on site. A 4-night stay costs from £229pp self-catering. 01686-628200, walescottageholidays.co.uk. Arrive 19 May. Covid-19: please check…

Twitter: PayPal redux? Is Elon Musk’s Twitter in too much trouble to cover its debts? Apparently not, said Bloomberg. In what was widely seen as the first big test of Musk’s financial stewardship, the social media giant has made its first $300m quarterly interest payment on the $12.5bn debt taken out to part-finance its $44bn acquisition last year – a relief for the group of seven lenders, led by Morgan Stanley, who’d advanced the cash. And doubtless for Musk too. “There have certainly been some wobbly moments,” said Matthew Lynn in The Sunday Telegraph. But Twitter has “steadied and may finally be on the path to profitability”. Musk may never be able to justify the whopping price he paid, but “if anyone can turn it into a viable business”, it’s…

UK business is running on empty Oliver Shah The Sunday Times The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which includes $369bn in tax incentives for green energy investments, has become “the dominant topic of conversation for multinational bosses”, says Oliver Shah. The plan is controversial: there’s a lot to dislike in terms of statism and protectionism. But what a bold contrast its makes with our own Government’s lacklustre efforts to stimulate growth. When Chancellor Jeremy Hunt outlined his four “Es” last week – enterprise, education, employment and everywhere – the Institute of Directors suggested a fifth: “empty”. Clearly, Britain doesn’t have the funds to match America’s “big green bazooka”; nor yet the European Sovereignty Fund that the EU has proposed in response. But we shouldn’t need “a Bidensized chequebook” to…

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Caffeine junkies, who learnt where to go for the biggest caffeine hits. According to a Which? analysis of coffee chains, Costa sells the strongest cappuccino, with a “massive” 325mg per cup: five times more than the Starbucks version, which trailed last with 66mg; Pret a Manger has the strongest espresso, with 180mg of caffeine per shot, six times more than the Starbucks one. The Treasury, with reports that a Moscow-born businessman who recently renounced his Russian citizenship was Britain’s biggest taxpayer last year. According to The Sunday Times, Alex Gerko, 43, contributed £487m to the public finances in the year to last April, equivalent to £55,639 per hour. The figures include various taxes including corporation and capital gains.…

Firefighters across the UK have voted in favour of industrial action in support of better pay. The Fire Brigades Union said that 88% of its members who’d voted had backed action, but that no strike dates would be announced until after it had met employers (the regional fire services) on 8 February. This week, thousands of schools were either fully or partially closed on Wednesday, owing to tens of thousands of teachers taking part in a UK-wide “day of action”, along with university lecturers and other staff, civil servants and rail workers.…

Columbia, South Carolina Trump returns: Donald Trump returned to the campaign trail in two key states last weekend, as he tried to steal a march on potential rivals in his as yet uncontested bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. Trump spoke first at a meeting of party officials at a high school in Salem, New Hampshire, and then at an “intimate” event in South Carolina’s state capitol in Columbia. Both states vote early in the Republican primaries. Trump, whose stock in the party fell when various candidates that he had endorsed struggled in November’s midterm elections, told the audience in New Hampshire that he was “more angry” than ever; he mocked senior Democrats including “Cryin’” Chuck Schumer, and spoke out against “left-wing gender ideology” and green energy policies.…

“There is an axiom often attributed to the historian Robert Conquest: any organisation that is not explicitly right-wing will sooner or later become left-wing. The genius of the insight is that it avoids paranoia. There is no plot afoot. It just recognises a general gravitation of left-leaning people to careers where the profit motive is not paramount. Imagine, if you can bear it, the life of the stand-up comedian. You traipse from pub to pub for a small fee. No one who is financially motivated would do it. And that – not the innate unfunniness of conservatives, not a liberal plot against them – is why comedy is a near-monopoly of the Left. If I were being cheeky, I’d call it the invisible hand of the market.” Janan Ganesh in…

The economic folly of DIY capitalism Rana Foroohar Financial Times The dramatic decline in worker productivity in the West is one of the economic mysteries of our time, says Rana Foroohar. Economists have adduced all sorts of explanations for it, but one culprit routinely overlooked is “the rise of shadow work” – that is to say, the growing burden of unpaid work that companies have offloaded onto us, their customers. It’s amazing how many tasks once left to others we now have to perform ourselves. Travel bookings? Managing your money? No need to seek out specialist advice, just download the app. Bagging your groceries? Do it yourself, sir. Problem with your order? Input your information here and see if the chatbot can help. You might argue that all this shadow…

The risk of being “fat and frail” Having a bulging waistline in middle age more than doubles a person’s risk of being physically frail in older age, a study has found. The research, published in BMJ Open, drew on data from 45,000 people in Norway, who were 51 on average when, in 1994, their BMI was recorded and their waist circumference was measured. Two decades later, the participants were surveyed again for five indicators of frailty: a recent feeling of exhaustion, slow walking speed, unintentional weight loss in the previous six months, weak grip strength, and low physical activity levels. If they had three or more of these, they were deemed frail; if they had between one and three they were “pre frail”. The researchers, from the University of Oslo,…

The former astronaut Buzz Aldrin was flooded with congratulatory messages when he marked his 93rd birthday last month by marrying for the fourth time. But none came from Jeremy Clarkson. “I’ve always never wanted to meet him because he’s famously difficult,” Clarkson wrote in The Sun. “A few years ago he agreed to take part in a live interview, and as the director used his fingers to count down silently from five, he leaned over to the reporter and, with one second to go, said: ‘Nothing about the Moon, OK?’” The Bond actress Eva Green told the High Court this week that when she dismissed two film producers as “super weak and stupid”, it was merely her “Frenchness” coming out. Green is embroiled in a legal battle with a production…

The US public may have grown accustomed to “de facto snuff films of people dying at the hands of the police”, said David A. Graham in The Atlantic. But no one could fail to be appalled by the footage of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols being beaten to a pulp by five cops following a traffic stop in Memphis last month. We cannot say if the cops intended to kill the FedEx worker (who, like them, was black). But what the clips do show is that they beat him savagely, and eagerly. In the first clip, the officers, all of them big and burly, can be seen dragging the slight and clearly bewildered young man from his car at gunpoint. Screaming at him, they force him to the ground and pepper spray…

Novak Djokovic faced quite a few extra challenges in his bid to be crowned 2023 Australian Open men’s champion, said Christopher Clarey in The New York Times. For a man who was deported on the eve of last year’s tournament for failing to get a Covid vaccination, a return to Australia “would have been plenty to process on its own”. But the Serb had to contend with much else besides: not just the hamstring injury he carried into the tournament, and which visibly affected him in the early rounds, but also the “latest controversy sparked by his father, Srdjan, who posed for photos with flag-carrying Russian supporters inside Melbourne Park”. Remarkably, none of this appeared to affect Djokovic’s performance on court, said Mike Dickson in the Daily Mail. The 35-year-old…

Football Everton have appointed Sean Dyche as their manager, following the sacking of Frank Lampard. Manchester City reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, beating Arsenal 1-0. Golf Rory McIlroy, the world No. 1, won the Desert Classic for the third time, hitting two birdies on the final two holes to see off the challenge of America’s Patrick Reed. Tennis World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus claimed her first grand slam title with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final of the Australian Open.…

“Thank heavens for Michael Frayn and his restoratively silly play Noises Off,” said Dominic Cavendish in The Daily Telegraph. This sublime “meta-farce” – about a troupe of frazzled actors touring a terrible sex comedy called Nothing On – gives us a play that goes wrong three times: first in rehearsal, then as seen from backstage, and then in a final performance in which the whole thing disintegrates. In Lindsay Posner’s “superior” West End revival, there’s a “sense – spurred by the pandemic? – of top-rank stage-actors relishing the deranging peculiarity of their profession”. Felicity Kendal is “adorably on song” as the veteran TV actress Dotty, who plays the part of a doddery housekeeper, and who “lives up to her name with every fluffed line and bungled action”. But Kendal’s is…

“When I hear the words ‘wedding-themed romcom starring Jennifer Lopez’, I reach for my pistol,” said Leslie Felperin in the Financial Times. “And yet Shotgun Wedding is a pleasant surprise.” Lopez plays Darcy, a middle-aged bride who is poised to marry her fiancé Tom (Josh Duhamel) at a luxury island resort in the Philippines, when a bunch of pirates – “not the jolly sort” – turn up and take the guests hostage. The direction from Jason Moore (Pitch Perfect) is “cake-knife sharp, while Mark Hammer’s script never wastes a gag”; but what really gives the film a boost “is the casting of sleeper agents in the supporting roles, such as the divine Jennifer Coolidge and protean D’Arcy Carden”. This romcom has a “tough” and “cynical” exterior, which creates some problems,…

Jam Delish 1 Tolpuddle Street, London N1 (jamdelish.co.uk) This new restaurant on an Islington backstreet is noteworthy for a couple of reasons, says Grace Dent in The Guardian. First, it’s far from the sort of “laughably expensive, 200-seater” that investors seem mainly to back these days. And secondly, it serves vegan Jamaican food – which is highly “unusual” in Britain. In my experience, vegan food often looks “utterly delicious”, yet tastes “like polystyrene”. But at Jam Delish, everything we eat, from the fried “chicken” with ackee and green lentils to the Caribbean tacos made with glazed tofu “codfish”, is very good indeed – “hearty, spicy, accomplished and memorable”. As each dish arrived, I kept asking: “But how? How is this happening without butter, cream, stock or, well, meat?” Clearly, the…

The quieter winter months can still be a good time to sell your home; buyers are often more committed and with less on the market, your property will stand out more. ● Make the house feel cosy – cushions, candles, wool throws and sheepskin rugs help convey warmth and homeliness. Turn the heating on an hour before viewings. ● Ensure your photos for the listing reflect the season. If they haven’t changed since the summer, ask the agent to update them. ● Tidy the garden, clearing away sodden furniture and clutter. Rake leaves, trim hedges and add window boxes for colour. ● Make sure your home is well lit inside and out. Try oversized lanterns outside the front door, and lights hidden in shrubbery and along paths. Turn off the…

David Crosby 1941-2023 With his long hair, walrus moustache and fringed buckskin jackets, David Crosby, who has died aged 81, looked like a “frontiersman for the Age of Aquarius”, said The Guardian. And in California in the heady 1960s, he became a rock’n’roll star twice over. He emerged first as a founder member of The Byrds, whose “shimmering” recording of Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic in 1965. An “arrogant and argumentative” man who spoke about love and peace while clashing with almost everyone he worked with, Crosby was sacked by The Byrds in 1967; but not long after, he formed Crosby, Stills & Nash and created some of the finest close-harmony singing of the era. The band’s eponymous debut album was…

Tufan Erginbilgic Until last Friday, shares in Britain’s premier engineering group, Rolls-Royce, were recovering so strongly that they had hit an 11-month high, said Jessica Newman in The Times. Then the new boss broke his silence. In a “brutal” broadcast to staff, former BP executive Tufan Erginbilgic observed that the 117-year-old group is in such a sorry state that “every investment we make, we destroy value”. “Rolls-Royce has not been performing for a long, long time,” he said. “It has nothing to do with Covid, let’s be clear.” It was no surprise that, after the tirade, the share price went into a tailspin. He’s right, of course, said Ben Marlow in The Daily Telegraph. If ever there was a British blue-chip in need of a dramatic shake-up it is Rolls.…