29 april 2017 [ £4.25 www.spectator.co.uk [ est. 1828 Europe’s new emperor KELVIN MACKENZIE'S DIARY EURO ZONE €6.95 SOUTH AFRICA ZAR79.90 BAHRAIN BD3.20. CANADA C$7.50. UAE AED34.00. USA US$7.20. KEEPING BRITAIN TRADING ABP’s network of 21 ports handle around 100 million tonnes of cargo every year. Our ports connect British businesses to global markets and support 84,000 jobs. Together, our ports generate £5.6 billion for the UK economy. Hull Southampton Port Talbot Goole Teignmouth Garston Immingham Plymouth Fleetwood Grimsby Newport Barrow King’s Lynn *HYKPɈ Silloth Lowestoft Barry Ayr Ipswich Swansea Troon www.abports.co.uk www.abports.co.uk Keep in touch established 1828 Uniting the kingdom hen launching the Scottish England and Scotland. There is far greater it will mean voting Conservative. There are National Party’s election cam- variance in opinion between the south-west others, too, such as the late Charles Kenne- Wpaign, Nicola Sturgeon said the and south-east of England than there is dy’s seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber, where word ‘Tory’ 20 times in 20 minutes. For between England and Scotland. the Liberal Democrats have the best chance. much of her political lifetime, it has been The Conservatives have performed badly Many will feel an innate resistance to tac- used by the SNP as the dirtiest word in in Scotland over the past generation for the tical voting. There is a respectable argument Scottish politics. Nationalists have long liked same reason as the Liberals have performed that people should always vote for their to portray the Conservatives as the succes- poorly all over Britain since 1945: there is favoured candidate on the basis that even if sors to Edward Longshanks: an occupying not a lot of room in a two-party system for they don’t succeed this time around, a strong army with little affinity for the people they a third party. As nationalism grew stronger, performance by a losing candidate can help were trying to govern. voting habits tended to polarise between build a base for victory in a subsequent But things are changing fast in Scotland. the SNP and Labour. This was always a little election. But in Scotland there are special Amid the other political dramas of the past unsustainable because it meant that Scottish circumstances. The SNP is certain to try to few months, the revival of Tory support north politics was dominated by two left-of-centre use this election campaign as a mandate to of the border has gone relatively unnoticed. parties. But since 2014, Labour’s weakness inflict another referendum campaign on a They had only one MP after the last election, has led to the Conservatives emerging as the country still recovering from the last one. but a poll this week puts them on 33 per cent leading unionist party. Equally, it is hard to argue that in this in Scotland — enough to win 12 seats. There Now Scots who want to defend the Unit- election the result will be so close that the is a similar story in Wales, where one poll sug- ed Kingdom have the option of voting tacti- election of a few Labour and Liberal Dem- gests that the Tories might take a majority of cally to increase their chances of sending the ocrat MPs will change the composition of the seats in the principality for the first time Nationalists home to think again. Nicola Stur- the UK government. But ending the SNP’s since the 1850s. The idea that the Conserva- near monopoly on Scottish representation tives would become an England-only party, Ms Sturgeon seeks a new referendum at Westminster will make it much hard- reviled in the Celtic fringe, is now out of date. because she feels the momentum er for them to claim to be speaking for all The truth is that this narrative was always slipping away from her of Scotland every time they rise from their false. It suits the Welsh and Scottish nation- benches in the Commons. alists to pretend that their countrymen’s val- geon knows that a poor general election per- There was much talk that the Brexit vote ues are different, even inimical, to those of formance will damage her call for a second would lead to a surge in demand for Scottish the English. But the people of these islands independence referendum, hence her belat- independence. Instead, polls suggest more are united not only by a common culture, ed attempt to decouple the two questions. people are going off the idea. This is why Ms language, even a second language (Polish) Last week, Gina Miller, the pro-EU cam- Sturgeon seeks a new referendum: she sens- but also by a worldview. paigner, produced a spreadsheet to advise es the momentum slipping away from her. So The British Social Attitudes survey, the diehard Remainers on how they should vote far, the general election campaign has seen a gold standard for measuring public opinion, to kick pro-Brexit MPs out of parliament. country coming together rather than apart shows that what gaps there are in regional Tactical voting certainly has its place in gen- and a Tory party that is — now more than approaches to politics are small, and nar- eral elections, and this week The Spectator any time for a generation — speaking to the rowing. For example, when asked ‘are most publishes the results of a similar exercise whole of the UK. Mrs May could well return people on the dole fiddling?’ the fewest peo- advising those north of the border how they with a stronger majority, but to return with a ple answer ‘yes’ in London and the south- should vote in order to elect MPs opposed stronger union would be a far greater prize. east, and the most in Wales, with Scotland in to the break-up of the UK. In most cases, the middle. It is party-political disputes that such as Aberdeen North, it will mean voting Our guide to tactical voting in Scotland can explain the difference in policies between Labour; in some, such as Aberdeen South, be found at www.spectator.co.uk/unionist the spectator | 29 april 2017 | www.spectator.co.uk 3 Ruislip Lido: more attractive than you’d think, p52 Can we trust Bear Grylls? p47 THE WEEK BOOKS & ARTS 3 Leading article 12 What’s the matter with Macron? BOOKS 7 Portrait of the Week France’s young pretender is 28 Christopher Howse marching towards disaster The Cross, by Robin M. Jensen 9 Diary After Rossgate Jonathan Fenby 30 Emily Rhodes Kelvin MacKenzie 13 A little too perfect Reservoir 13, by Jon McGregor 10 Politics Talking up Labour Just who is France’s new golden boy? James Walton James Forsyth Jonathan Miller The Nothing, by Hanif Kureishi 11 The Spectator’s Notes 15 A Brit in the White House Fred Johnston The ‘Uberisation of politics’ Meet Sebastian Gorka ‘Riviera Incident’: a poem Charles Moore Freddy Gray 33 Sara Wheeler 14 Rod Liddle Silencing Tim Farron 16 Competition, not caps In the Land of Giants, by 17 Matthew Parris The intellectual May’s throwback energy policy Gabi Martínez passion of trainspotting Matthew Lynn Helen R. Brown 18 Ancient and modern Friends, 18 The lords of poverty The Blood Miracles, by Romans and Russians Corrupt UN aid keeps Africa poor Lisa McInerney 21 Barometer Pippa’s wedding; Aidan Hartley 34 Dominic Green Communists For Corbyn 20 Is boarding school cruel? The Earth is Weeping, by 25 Letters The downsides of aid; It can make — or break — children Peter Cozzens prudish pride; Farron’s allure Alex Renton and Lara Prendergast 35 Mark Mason 26 Any other business 22 Do do God Writer, Sailor, Soldier, Spy, Vote winners Chippy secularism doesn’t win votes by Nicholas Reynolds Martin Vander Weyer Theo Hobson 36 William Cook 23 Notebook The Shortest History of Germany, My irritation at the ‘sexist’ by James Hawes Archers storyline 37 Craig Raine Prue Leith The Bittersweet Science, edited by Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra 38 Tim Martin The Evening Road, by Laird Hunt Cover by Morten Morland. Drawings by Michael Heath, Castro, Phil Disley, Royston Robertson, Percival, Adam Singleton, Mike Turner, Grizelda, Geoff Thompson, Bernie, Nick Newman, Mike Stokoe, Cluff, K.J. Lamb., Dredge. www.spectator.co.uk Editorial and advertising The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: [email protected] (editorial); [email protected] (for publication); [email protected] (advertising); Advertising enquiries: 020 7961 0222 Subscription and delivery queries Spectator Subscriptions Dept., 17 Perrymount Rd, Haywards Heath RH16 3DH; Tel: 0330 3330 050; Email: [email protected]; Rates for a basic annual subscription in the UK: £111; Europe: £185; Australia: A$279; New Zealand: A$349; and £195 in all other countries. To order, go to www.spectator.co.uk/A151A or call 0330 3330 050 and quote A151A; Newsagent queries Spectator Circulation Dept, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP, Tel: 020 7961 0200, Fax: 020 7681 3773, Email: [email protected]; Distributor COMAG Specialist, Tavistock Works, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QX Vol 333; no 9844 © The Spectator (1828) Ltd. ISSN 0038-6952 The Spectator is published weekly by The Spectator (1828) Ltd at 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP Editor: Fraser Nelson 4 the spectator | 29 april 2017 | www.spectator.co.uk Please, sir, can I Catch me if you can, p33 go home? p20 Cover stories, p40 LIFE ARTS LIFE I accept being a trainspotter 40 James Walton 55 High life Taki does not make me a transport The album art that dazzled a Low life Jeremy Clarke generation expert: it makes me a man 56 Real life Melissa Kite with a mild case of a relatively 42 Interview 57 The turf Robin Oakley harmless mental condition Egypt’s rebel film-maker Bridge Janet de Botton Mohamed Diab Matthew Parris, p17 Tobias Grey Jeremy Corbyn sometimes tries 43 Opera AND FINALLY .