Table of contents for 1569 in The Week

Controversy of the week The art of the deal “By the end of this year, Russia’s war against Ukraine will have lasted as long as the Soviet Union’s against Nazi Germany” – and we are still no closer to peace, said Lawrence Freedman in The New Statesman. The latest efforts failed in Moscow this week; following five hours of talks with President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Vladimir Putin rejected a revised deal. The main obstacle remains Putin’s fixation with gaining total control of the eastern provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. But Team Trump have only caused confusion and prolonged the bloodshed. First, they presented a 28-point peace plan so sympathetic to Putin’s demands it might as well have been drafted by the Kremlin. It…

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, who has been sentenced in absentia to two years in jail for corruption by a Bangladesh court. Siddiq, a former Treasury minister, was convicted of “manipulating” her aunt, the ousted Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to embezzle plots of land for her family. Siddiq said the trial was driven by a “political vendetta” and heard by a “kangaroo court”. Daddy Pig, after the male model David Gandy launched a savage attack against the Peppa Pig character for promoting a “bad narrative” about hapless fathers. Gandy, 45, who has two daughters, complained that Daddy Pig is routinely portrayed as incompetent and silly. “Why are my children reading this book and the dad is a useless fool?”, he asked. Airbus, which last week grounded more than 6,000 of…

Kemi Badenoch is currently the most popular party leader, having leapfrogged her rivals following a wellreceived response to the Budget. The Conservative has a net favourability figure of -3. Nigel Farage, the second-most popular, has dropped to -6, dipping into negative territory for the first time this year. Keir Starmer is on -45. BMG Research/The i Paper Dementia is now Britain’s biggest health concern among family carers, overtaking cancer. Almost a third of those surveyed (31%) name it as the disease they fear the most, while concerns around cancer have dropped from 30% to 21%. 63% called for the Government to declare dementia a health emergency. Home Instead…

Gascoigne’s promise Despite his talents, Paul Gascoigne certainly hasn’t had it easy, says Matt Rudd in The Sunday Times – with “the alcoholism, the obsessive compulsive disorder, the bulimia, the 50-a-day Red Bull addiction”, and so on. Behind it all, as his new memoir reveals, is a Gateshead childhood that “sounds bleak, bordering on Dickensian”. When he was 21, Alex Ferguson tried to sign him for Manchester United – only for a “well-timed bung” to his late father John to send him to Tottenham instead. His father had learnt that they were offering him £120,000, and told his son: “Well, get it signed then. And tell them I want a car as well.” Years later, John swiped a gold watch from his injured son’s hospital bedside; but Paul is remarkably…

A high-profile US doctor issued some unconventional advice to Americans ahead of Thanksgiving last week: make time for a “fart walk”. Dr Trisha Pasricha said people should walk for 10-15 minutes after their meal, to relieve bloating and bring their blood sugar levels down. Dr Pasricha is an authority on such matters: as well as her work as director of Boston’s BIDMC Institute for Gut-Brain Research, she is the author of the new book You’ve Been Pooping All Wrong. The mayor of an Italian town has apologised, after a statue of Luciano Pavarotti was left encased by a Christmas ice rink. Andrea Biancani had joked that skaters would be able to high-five Pavarotti as they whizzed around the rink in Pesaro, on the Adriatic coast. But he backtracked after being…

FRANCE Macron’s cynical fighting talk L’Humanité (Paris) It’s always the same old story, says Pascal Mazet. Just when a political leader is on the brink of defeat – when the social injustices under his watch have become all too visible, and the democratic fractures “too deep” – he cynically manufactures an outside enemy to try and distract the country and present himself as “the man of the hour”. So it is with Emmanuel Macron. The president has just announced a new form of military service, supposedly in response to growing fears of a confrontation with Russia. It’s part of a broader trend of “martial rhetoric” from the executive: days before, the army chief-of-staff warned that France must accept “losing its children” in war; Macron regularly dramatises the international conflict and…

The surgeon who performed the UK’s first successful heart transplant has died, aged 93. Sir Terence English was born in South Africa and worked as a diamond driller in Rhodesia before moving to London to study medicine at Guy’s Hospital. In 1967, Christiaan Barnard performed the world’s first heart transplant in Cape Town: the advent of heart-lung machines, among other developments, had made open-heart surgery possible. Three heart transplants quickly followed in London, but all failed, and the Department of Health imposed a moratorium, amid ethical objections to an operation that involved cutting out one person’s heart and giving it to another. Even so, in January 1979, English managed to get permission to go ahead. His first operation failed – the patient had a cardiac arrest and died – but,…

Hats off to the Government, said The Times. It belatedly did “the right thing” last week by scrapping its manifesto commitment to give workers the right to claim unfair dismissal from their first day in a new job. There will instead be a six-month “qualifying period”, down from the current two years enshrined in UK law. The about-turn came after two days of talks between business groups, unions and ministers. Officials said the compromise was struck to speed up passage of the Employment Rights Bill, which has been blocked in the House of Lords. Ministers and unions concluded that it was better to get the bill’s other protections onto the statute book than to hold out for this most controversial right. It was a wise decision. Let’s hope the reversal…

It’s fair to say that Liverpool’s £240m “new boys” – Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz – haven’t come close to justifying their price tags since joining the club in the summer, said Sam Dean in The Daily Telegraph. Both have been in wretched form, and this has contributed to the defending champions suffering their worst run of results in 70 years, with “nine defeats in 12 matches”. Yet finally, at West Ham on Sunday, the pair showed signs of finding their feet. Isak produced a “wonderfully sharp finish” to score his first league goal for Arne Slot’s side. And Wirtz, while he didn’t score or provide an assist (he has yet to do either in a Liverpool shirt) produced his best performance to date, as Liverpool overcame the Hammers 2-0.…

The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly Bloomsbury 416pp £18.99 The Week Bookshop £16.99 Alice Jolly’s “deeply researched” novel, set in Vienna in the 1930s and 1940s, is narrated by a mute autistic girl, said Lee Langley in The Spectator. We first meet Adelheid Brunner as a 12-year-old, being observed by a team of doctors – including a “young Hans Asperger, later to find fame with his syndrome”. With her “secret notebooks, her pet rat and her cherished collection of matchbox covers”, Adelheid is an “enchanting creation”. The novel charts her life over the next decade, during which she becomes an assistant to Asperger – a position threatened once the Nazis take over Austria, and vow to eradicate “useless eaters”. “I am generally sceptical of books that use child narrators to…

Monument to the Unimportant at Pace Gallery The title of this compelling group show is an instructive one. It consists of around two dozen works that isolate that which we might consider banal in modern life, and dignify it with a focus that tends towards the heroic. It’s hardly a new proposition – pop art, after all, is more than half a century old – but this being a blue-chip American gallery, the names assembled are stellar, and the works they field are almost unanimously joyous. There’s a fabulous David Hockney iPad drawing of his device’s charger; some delectable paintings of mass-produced desserts from Wayne Thiebaud; and Keith Coventry’s abstracted close-ups of the McDonald’s logo, rendering the “Golden Arches” in a way that recalls Russian avant-garde suprematism. Elsewhere, Rachel Whiteread…

Showing now The much-loved Giffords Circus welcomes audiences home to the Slad Valley for its first Winter Show. Expect the usual magical mix of aerial acts, animals, music and storytelling in a cosy barn setting. Until 21 December, Fennells Farm, Stroud (giffordscircus.com). This stage adaptation of David Copperfield offers “delightful dollops of mischief and invention” as it compresses Dickens’s sprawling novel into a three-hander (Guardian). Until 20 December, Jermyn Street Theatre, London SW1 (jermynstreettheatre.co.uk). “Few exhibitions are worth visiting for one artwork alone”, said The Times, but Caravaggio’s Cupid is one of them. On loan from Berlin, the “shockingly beautiful” painting is part of a small display, including two Roman sculptures from the same collection (Times). Until 12 April, Wallace Collection, London W1 (wallacecollection.org). Book now The young musicians of…

● Check if your travel insurance covers skiing; read the small print. Most exclude winter sports, and cover varies wildly. ● If you plan to ski off-piste, check your policy carefully. There may be extra charges and conditions, like being with a qualified guide. All policies from the Ski Club of Great Britain include off-piste without a guide. ● Be aware that drinking may invalidate your insurance if you have an accident while under the influence. Italy has strict rules on drinking on the slopes, like driving. ● Some policies will exclude cover for injuries if you ski without a helmet. Helmets are now compulsory in Italy. ● There is often a £500 limit on loss or damage to your own skis, but they may not be covered if left…

UK betting giants: worth a punt? You’re better off in bingo. That seemed to be the message from the Chancellor as she walloped Britain’s biggest bookmakers with a £1.1bn “online gambling tax raid” while scrapping “bingo tax”, said Jessica Newman in The Times. Few can disagree with the aim of targeting the industry segment “associated with the highest levels of harm”. But there were predictable shrieks from betting groups, who claim the hike will “hit profits, deter investment, put jobs at risk and drive consumers to the black market”. Shares in Rank, the Mecca Bingo owner, jumped by 10%; while Entain (the FTSE 100-listed owner of Coral and Ladbrokes) – which was heavily hit by speculation before the Budget – also gained, because the new tax excludes both high-street betting…

Populists aren’t all bad for markets Daniel Avigad The Times Giorgia Meloni has achieved what no Italian PM has managed in more than two decades, says Daniel Avigad: an upgrade to Italy’s sovereign credit rating from Moody’s. Her feat is all the more remarkable given the drubbing she got from investors on inheriting Italy’s debt, then a sliver above “junk”, in 2022. An even more dramatic example of this “populist discount” occurred in Greece where – against the odds – the left-wing Syriza party laid the foundation for the country’s return to investment grade status. Although populist movements historically win office on policy platforms seemingly “hostile to fiscal credibility”, the realities of governing – and the discipline of the bond market – are “a remarkably effective constraint on ideological overreach”.…

The Budget fallout What happened The Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, accused Rachel Reeves of lying to the public so that she could fund increased welfare spending with tax rises in last week’s Budget. Reeves faced calls from the Conservatives, the SNP and Reform UK for her resignation. In a speech on 4 November, the Chancellor had raised expectations of tax rises by warning that the UK’s productivity was weaker “than previously thought”, and that this would have consequences for the public finances. But it emerged last Friday that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR, see page 13) had told the Treasury on 31 October that the downgrade in productivity would be offset by larger tax revenues from higher wages, meaning that Reeves was actually on course to meet her fiscal…

If you find your blood pressure rising as you scroll through your news feed, you’re not alone. Oxford University has chosen “rage bait” as its word of the year – use of the term having tripled in the past 12 months. The phrase refers to online content that is “deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive”. A Cambridgeshire school attended by Samuel Pepys has proposed removing his name from one of its houses, because of his “abusive and exploitative” attitudes towards women. Hinchingbrooke School said the author’s behaviour – in his diaries he writes of trying to touch at least one woman’s “mameles” (breasts) every day – did not “align with [our] values”.…

More than a quarter of police forces in England and Wales have not implemented “basic policies for investigating sexual offences”, a report has found. Elish Angiolini KC’s inquiry – commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman – looked at the prevention of sexually motivated crimes against women in public; it revealed gaps in national data collection, and advised that ministers consider a “good Samaritan law” requiring bystanders to intervene. Angiolini also noted that recommendations made in the first part of her report, which was published in February 2024, were still to be actioned.…

Saint-Étienne, France Sex tape scandal: The long-standing mayor of the French city of Saint-Étienne, Gaël Perdriau, has been sentenced to four years in jail for blackmailing with a sex tape the man he’d appointed as his deputy back in 2014. Perdriau had feared that Gilles Artigues, a Roman Catholic fiercely opposed to homosexual marriage, would turn against him, so he instructed his aides – whom he rewarded with €50,000 taken from municipal funds – to lure Artigues into meeting up with a male prostitute in a Paris hotel room, and to film the encounter with a concealed camera. He then used the tape to dissuade Artigues from running against him in municipal elections. The blackmail went on for several years, until an insider leaked the tape to French media in…

1 Take Me Home, Country Roads by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert and John Denver, performed by John Denver 2 Brandy in the Airidh by Calum Macleod, Innes Scott and Uilly Macleod, performed by Peat and Diesel 3 Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix, performed by the Jimi Hendrix Experience 4 Heart-Shaped Box by Kurt Cobain, performed by Nirvana 5* High and Dry, written and performed by Radiohead 6 Last Nite by Julian Casablancas, performed by The Strokes 7 Electrical Storm, written and performed by U2 8 Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) by Beyoncé Knowles, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Terius “The-Dream” Nash and Thaddis Harrell, performed by Beyoncé Book: Teach Yourself Tap Dancing by Derek Hartley Luxury: a mask, snorkel and fins * Choice if allowed only one record…

Based on the 14th floor of a brutalist tower in Westminster nicknamed the Grey Lubyanka, the OBR is led by a so-called “Budget Responsibility Committee” of three people, appointed for five years by the chancellor after Treasury Select Committee approval. The trio (Osborne’s “three wise men”) is comprised of David Miles, an academic economist who previously served on the Bank of England’s interest-rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee; Tom Josephs, a former Treasury official; and, until this week, Richard Hughes, formerly of the left-wing Resolution Foundation thinktank. Beneath them sit a permanent staff of just 52 civil servants, who do their work without much in the way of resources: reportedly, the OBR cannot afford a single news subscription; its officials can often be found wandering over to the Treasury to note down…

Why Doge really mattered Eric Boehm Reason Is it alive, or has it finally been put out of its misery? The exact status of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) is unclear today, says Eric Boehm, but the reality is that the muchhyped body never amounted to much anyway. Elon Musk promised $2trn in budget cuts (off a $7trn budget), yet Doge appears, by some estimates, to have delivered a “paltry” $32.5bn. Still, it wasn’t a total failure. For a while, it did generate some real excitement. “It made cutting spending look fun – if a little chaotic.” Had Donald Trump been serious about reducing spending and given Doge authority to target the parts of the budget that are actually driving the US deficit – spending on welfare and health…

The number of emergency admissions to hospital for lung conditions soared by almost half a million in two years, official figures show. In 2024/25 there were 2,268,865 emergency admissions for asthma, chronic obstructive respiratory disease and other lung problems in England, up from 1,841,010 in 2022/23, an analysis of NHS data found. In December 2024 alone, 221,325 people were rushed to hospital with breathing problems. There has also been an increase in “bounce-back” admissions. In 2024/25, 405,795 people with lung conditions were discharged from hospital only to be readmitted within 30 days – 29% more than in 2022/23. The charity Asthma + Lung UK said that “dismal” routine care means patients then need emergency care. With this year’s flu season predicted to be the worst in a decade, the charity…

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among British men, with 63,000 cases diagnosed each year, said The Daily Telegraph. In some, such as the former PM David Cameron, it’s caught early enough to be treated – often by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, which men can request from their GPs. In others, such as the Olympic champion Chris Hoy, it is terminal: the diagnosis simply arrives “too late”. Last week, the National Screening Committee (NSC) had an opportunity to fix this sorry state of affairs, by recommending a new prostate cancer screening programme for millions of men over 50. Such a step, it is estimated, could save 1,500 lives a year. Yet in a “deeply disappointing” draft recommendation, it said that PSA checks aren’t sufficiently reliable to justify…

“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they are finished.”David Brooks, quoted in The Salt Lake Tribune “All wars are fought twice, the first on the battlefield, the second in memory.”Viet Thanh Nguyen, quoted in The Critic “Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it.”J.K. Rowling, quoted in The Harvard Gazette “It is better to be quotable than to be honest.”Tom Stoppard, quoted in Psychology Today “A satirist is a man who discovers unpleasant things about himself and then says them about other people.”Peter McArthur, quoted on The Other Pages “The state is the kind of organisation which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly…

To The Daily Telegraph I recently spent ten days on jury service for what was essentially a minor crime resulting in a suspended sentence. This was a total waste of everyone’s time and simply added to the massive backlog. More importantly, it stopped serious crimes being tried. We can all agree that creating more courts would provide the real answer. However, that will never happen. Steve Churchill, Shrewsbury To The Times I spent my working life in the criminal courts of England. I heard many complaints about the conduct of the police, solicitors, barristers and judges. I never heard a complaint about the jury. That is because people trust their fellow citizens to reach a fair and just decision. Trust, as we all know, is hard to gain and quick…

Paddington has travelled a long way since Michael Bond created him in 1958, said Sarah Crompton on What’s on Stage. After the vast success of the three films, it was perhaps inevitable that a musical would be next. What wasn’t inevitable is that Tom Fletcher (music and lyrics) and Jessica Swale (book) would “fashion a show so emotionally and tonally perfect that the entire audience is enraptured from the moment the bear steps on stage – and keeps cooing and oohing, laughing and sobbing, until the very end”. State-of-theart animatronics, a stunning set, fabulous performances and witty songs about marmalade – all combine in a show that will “fill you with joy and melt your heart”, said Arifa Akbar in The Guardian. Paddington is the “new Mary Poppins: a well-known…

A previously unknown work by French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir depicting his son Jean sold for €1.8m (£1.57m) at a Paris auction last week. The painting, L’enfant et ses jouets – Gabrielle et le fils de l’artiste, Jean (The Child and His Toys – Gabrielle and the artist’s son, Jean) – had never been exhibited or sold before. It features the artist’s second son, later a famous filmmaker – the director of La Grande Illusion (1937) and La règle du jeu (1939) – who is shown sitting with his nanny. The painting belonged to Jean’s godmother, Jeanne Baudot, a friend and student of Renoir’s, who passed the painting on to her inheritors. Drouot, the auction house, said it was acquired by an “international buyer”. Renoir has become rather unfashionable in…

As Amber continues to stall on wedding plans, George tells Brad he thinks she’s going off him; later, Brad visits Amber to see if she’s OK and she insists she’s fine. When Eddie mislays his turkey money, Amber suspects George of stealing it to pay for the engagement ring. Joy and Ruth put their idea of a Christmas Tractor Run to Tony, remembering his son John’s accident. Kirsty worries about Justin’s commitment to rewilding, when he’s late for the beaver release. Rex and Alice share an awkward moment. When Amber’s suspicions come out, angry George accuses her of having cold feet, even when Eddie finds the missing money. Tracy asks Brad why he’s so distracted of late. Despairing George vents at Ed and ends up pushing him – Ed falls…

Why we aren’t eating up our veg Despite being bombarded with messages trumpeting the benefits of healthy eating, it seems that today we are eating fewer vegetables than we did 50 years ago. Defra’s annual Family Food Survey, which asks about 4,000 households to track their food and drink consumption, found that the average person consumes nearly 1kg of fresh and processed vegetables (excluding potatoes) per week, compared with around 1.2kg in 1974. The survey “also found a dramatic shift in the types of vegetables we eat”, said Dominic Hauschild and Matilda Davies in The Sunday Times: courgettes, cucumbers and mushrooms have largely replaced traditional British favourites such as cabbages, sprouts and peas. Another change highlighted by the survey is the move towards processed and ready-made food. We now eat…

The spectacular Grote Markt in Antwerp has over 100 stalls spilling out from the main medieval square. Enjoy Belgian waffles and smoutebollen doughnuts, plus there’s an ice rink and Ferris wheel (until 4 Jan). The Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg dates back to the 16th century, and is known for its traditional decorations and iced gingerbread. Don’t miss the German bratwurst and glühwein (until 24 Dec). Vienna’s Christkindlmarkt has more than 100 stalls with lots of local delicacies including spätzle (noodles) and vanillekipferl (vanilla cookies), plus an ice rink, reindeer rides and a traditional merry-go-round (until 26 Dec). The market at Budapest’s St Stephen’s Basilica has 160 stalls with gifts, chocolate bonbons and goulash, plus a skating rink, light show and folk dancing (until 1 Jan). Stockholm’s Christmas market started in 1837. The charming…

Mar Hall Golf & Spa Resort Bishopton, Renfrewshire This 19th century mansion sits on the banks of the Clyde just 20 minutes west of Glasgow, and 30 minutes south of Loch Lomond. It became a hotel in 2004, and has just emerged from a stylish £20m makeover, says Annabel Grossman in The Independent. Its 74 rooms have “rich, warm” decor, comfy king-size beds, and marble bathrooms. The restaurant serves Scottish classics, such as St Bride’s Farm confit duck and Perthshire beef. There’s a spa and gym with a 20m pool, and a “world-class” golf course. Other activities include falconry, archery and clay pigeon shooting. Doubles from £300 b&b; marhall.com.…

Horrid for Henry “All the experts are saying the same thing” about Rachel Reeves’s “cruel” Budget, said Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail: that it has “condemned us to a doom loop of everhigher taxes, debt and welfare spending” – and is an attack on ambition. Certainly, the real losers from the Chancellor’s financial statement “were not the wealthy, but those still on the way to wealth”, said the FT: a youthful group which some have dubbed “Henrys” (High Earner, Not Rich Yet) and “Henriettas”. The good news, said Claer Barrett in the same paper, is that many of the changes to pensions, Isas and investments announced by Reeves won’t kick in for a year or more – so “fill your boots” while you can. Strategies First off: “Get sacrificing!”…

Kevin Hassett The front-runner to succeed Jay Powell at the US Fed was all aglow after last week’s holiday, claiming that “a great Black Friday” and “a great Thanksgiving sales weekend” had “disproven” the doomsters. But then Kevin Hassett has every reason to be cheery, said DealBook in The New York Times. The prediction market Kalshi gives him “commanding odds” for the top job. The central worry about Hassett, a long-time economic adviser to Trump and fellow crypto enthusiast, is that he looks like the candidate “most easily bullied”, said Neil Dutta of Renaissance Macro Research in The Times. There are also fears about his judgement. In a “breathlessly optimistic prediction” in 1999, on the eve of the dotcom bust, he forecast that “shares were about to quadruple”. Richard Hughes…

What happened The Government announced this week that it is abolishing jury trials in England and Wales for offences with a probable sentence of three years or less. Justice Secretary David Lammy said that Crown Court judges will sit alone in “swift courts” to decide “either-way” cases, in which defendants could previously choose to be tried by a jury or by magistrates. The reforms are designed to help clear a backlog of 78,000 cases in the criminal justice system; other measures unveiled by Lammy include the removal of jury trials in many cases involving fraud or complex financial crime. The announcement follows the release in July of a government-commissioned report by the former senior judge Brian Leveson, which said that, without major reform, the criminal justice system faces “total system…

The Cornish language, which is to be given protected status. Kernewek is spoken as a first language by 563 people, according to the last census; it will be recognised alongside Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic under a Council of Europe charter, meaning people will have a right to use it in legal hearings and in education. Grace Richardson, who became the first openly gay Miss England. The 20-year-old, who will compete at Miss World 2026, said she was bullied badly for her sexuality at school. “So it’s nice being able to stand up now and say, ‘Look what I’ve done.’”…

The families of Hillsborough victims suffered “yet another bitter injustice” this week, after a report concluded that a chief constable and 11 police officers cannot face gross misconduct proceedings for their role in the disaster. Ninety-seven Liverpool fans died during a crush at a 1989 FA Cup match. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said that, were they still serving, the officers would have faced action – but they cannot, because all have retired (and some have died). The law at the time precluded such actions.…

“I can’t remember exactly when it started, but some time in the last few months, AI went from being a topic of largely theoretical interest to an actively intrusive pest. It began when a bluish-purple circle appeared unbidden on my WhatsApp screen; it was ‘Meta AI’, a chatbot eager to help me find a restaurant or a recipe or other things I never want to find on WhatsApp. Since then I have realised something: that any time I tried to send an email, write a document or do virtually any other type of online work, AI barged in and tried to do it for me. I would be thrilled if AI would do one thing: go away and let me get on with whatever I was doing before it interrupted.”…

What happens when it’s all made in China? Robin Harding Financial Times To trade means to exchange, so what do we in the West have to exchange with China? “Nothing”, is the awful truth, says Robin Harding. For now, it looks to the US for hi-tech products, to Europe for Louis Vuitton handbags and higher education. But there’s nothing China believes it can’t make better and cheaper, so once it outshines us on even these, we’ll find “there’s nothing that China wants to import”. This is a huge problem. If we can’t sell anything to China, how will we pay for all the stuff it sells us? One answer would be for Beijing to level the playing field: to halt its vast industrial subsidies, to urge more domestic consumption. For…

Falling puffin numbers The Farne Islands are home to one of the largest colonies of puffins in Britain, with tens of thousands of pairs returning each spring to raise their chicks – but numbers have dropped by almost a quarter in a year. The National Trust, which owns the group of islands off Northumberland, counted 38,500 breeding pairs this year – down from 50,103 in 2024. The puffins were hit by bird flu in 2022/23, though they weren’t as badly affected as other seabirds, owing to their “naturally self-isolating behaviour of nesting in burrows and their regular burrow cleaning”. Storms have eroded the island soil though, and the scarcity of sand eels, an important food source, may also have affected puffins – as may the Farne Islands’ growing population of…

As well as a playwright and screenwriter, the late Tom Stoppard was also a script doctor who would receive panicked calls from directors looking for last-minute help with their scripts (see page 38). He once improvised a solution for Steven Spielberg about a scene in Schindler’s List while standing naked, having heard the phone ring when he was in the shower. Years before, Spielberg had asked Stoppard to write the screenplay for Jaws. When Stoppard said he couldn’t, as he was writing a play for the BBC, Spielberg replied: “I’m offering you a fortune to collaborate with me on a Hollywood blockbuster, and you turn me down to write a play for BBC TV?” “No,” Stoppard said. “BBC Radio.” When Stoppard’s friend Harold Pinter – not known for his modesty…

It “was meant to be a turning point”, said Bethany Dawson on Politico: a chance to wipe the slate clean, following the calamitous launch of Britain’s newest political party. But in the end, a “sense of quiet mayhem” hung over Your Party’s inaugural conference in Liverpool last weekend. The drama started the moment the doors opened, when co-founder Zarah Sultana announced she was boycotting her own event in protest at an internal “witchhunt”, following a row about whether activists from the Socialist Workers Party should be banned from joining the far-left outfit. When she and on-off comrade Jeremy Corbyn finally patched things up, the party announced that neither would be leader – members having voted for a “pioneering” collective model that puts a (minimum) 20-member executive committee in charge until…

Just under a fortnight ago, in Las Vegas, a technical infraction by McLaren led both their drivers – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – to be disqualified, said Molly Hudson in The Times. It was a blunder that put Max Verstappen back in the hunt for a fifth consecutive title. And last Sunday, in Qatar, the team made another “colossal error” – one which gifted Verstappen victory and ensured that this Sunday’s season finale in Abu Dhabi “will now be a three-way title fight”. The mistake occurred on lap seven, when a collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly resulted in a safety car coming out. Usually, teams aim to pit under a safety car, because the lower speeds mean that drivers lose less by pitting. And so “the entire…

Football Arsenal lead the Premier League by two points, after drawing 1-1 with Chelsea. Manchester City are in second place, after beating Fulham 5-4. Cricket Andrew Cornish, the chief executive of Middlesex Cricket Club, has taken a leave of absence after being accused of misconduct by another member of staff. Athletics Swedish polevaulter Armand Duplantis has been named World Athletics’ male athlete of the year. He broke four world records in 2025. US 400m runner Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the women’s award.…

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, 1972 (Sort of Books £9.99). In this slim, magical novel, a wild young girl and her equally wild grandmother spend the summer on a remote Finnish island, using adventure and creativity to heal from loss. Never has childhood girl power been more eloquently expressed. I call this my favourite book nobody has ever read. The Awakened Woman by Dr Tererai Trent, 2017 (Enliven £12.99). There is no easy pathway from rural African poverty, illiteracy and early marriage to a doctoral degree in America – but in this memoir, Trent shows how she created that path for herself, with relentless drive and the guidance of her ancestors. This is the heroic journey of a woman I admire more than anyone else I’ve met. Matrix by…

Programmes The War Between the Land and the Sea Five-part Doctor Who spin-off starring Russell Tovey as a soldier who must fight for humanity’s survival when an ancient sea creature reappears. Sun 7 Dec, BBC1 20:30 and 21:15 (45mins each). Apollo 1: Destination Moon Using personal archive, this film tells the inside story of the three Nasa astronauts selected for the USA’s ill-fated first mission to the Moon. Sun 7 Dec, C4 21:30 (90mins). Our Girls: The Southport Families Poignant documentary following the parents of the three young girls killed in the Southport attack, as they attempt to create lasting legacies in their daughters’ names. Tue 9 Dec, BBC1 20:00 (60mins). See No Evil Two-part investigation into one of the biggest scandals in Church of England history, tracing John Smyth’s career of…

Yields 5 medium jars 1.5kg mixed vegetables (e.g. cauliflower, green beans, flat beans, courgette, pearl onions, green tomatoes; onions peeled and halved, everything else cut into bite-sized pieces) 45g salt 5g fenugreek 5g cumin seeds 5g coriander seeds 600ml cider vinegar 30g cornflour 10g ground turmeric 10g English mustard powder pinch of dried chilli 5g ground ginger 200g caster sugar 15g mustard seeds • Toss the vegetables and salt and leave, preferably overnight. • Strain and rinse well under cold water. • Toast the fenugreek, cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant and add to the vinegar, cornflour, turmeric, mustard powder, chilli and ginger in a blender. • Blend at high speed until the spices are finely ground and the cornflour has dispersed in the vinegar. Alternatively, you can grind spices…

Sir Tom Stoppard 1937-2025 Sir Tom Stoppard, who has died aged 88, “wrote plays of dazzling language, intricate wit and dependably intelligent characterisation that touched on everything from quantum physics and landscape gardening to moral positivism and the lives of minor characters in Hamlet”, said The Daily Telegraph. Over his long and distinguished career, “Stoppard, who had never been to university, was credited with bringing ideas back into British theatre”. The word “Stoppardian” became “shorthand for rapid-fire wit” and “shimmering wordplay”, and for dramatising complex ideas in a way that both flattered audiences and amused them. The critic Kenneth Tynan argued that the key to understanding Stoppard was never to forget that he was an émigré: because he had no native land or mother tongue, he was freed from the…

Six months after Britain’s “prosperity” deal with the US promised “preferential treatment” for UK pharma, a deal on tariffs and drug-pricing has finally been hammered out. Who has got the best of it, asked The Wall Street Journal. Keir Starmer can trumpet that Britain is now the only country with a 0% tariff on pharma sales to the US – a boon for the likes of AstraZeneca and GSK. But in exchange, the UK Government has agreed to spend 25% more on new patented US medicines, and reduce the rebate paid by drugmakers on sales to the NHS (from the current 23% level to a maximum of 15%). “Kudos” to President Trump: this is a big win for US firms, and for his drive to force foreign “socialist health systems”…

1929 by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Allen Lane £30). The author of the definitive account of the 2008 financial crisis, Too Big To Fail, brings the same sparkling flair to this epic tale of “the greatest crash in Wall Street history”, said the FT. Its lesson is “still relevant”. The Lost Orchid by Sarah Bilston (Harvard University Press £24.95). At the peak of 19th century “orchidomania”, the flowers became “status symbols akin to a Birkin bag or sports car”, said The Economist. A colourful tale of the orchid’s “multifarious meanings” – for “horticulturists and economists alike”. Drayton and Mackenzie by Alexander Starritt (Swift Press £16.99). Contemporary business novels are rare. This one – about two British McKinsey consultants taking a gamble on a green energy business – is a comedy cracker,…

THE WEEK CROSSWORD 1494 Two Connell Guides and three Week-branded items will be given to the sender of the first correct solution to the crossword and the clue of the week opened on Monday 15 December. Send it to The Week Crossword 1494, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR, or email the completed grid/listed solutions to crossword@theweek.co.uk. By Paul McKenna This week’s winner will receive Week-branded items, as well as two Connell Guides (connellguides.com). ACROSS 1 With clot returning foil a way in (8) 5 Way out, for example, on steamship (6) 10 Chapter turning round point of punctuation (5) 11 Perhaps half pint is something of little importance (5,4) 12 Everything seems to go down from this point (5,4) 13 Poet laureate being absent delighted and relieved (5) 14 Hunger…