Spectator Blogs

Livingstone will get away with it, of course — because he's on the ‘left’

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:54:35 +0000

When is a homophobic comment not a homophobic comment? When it is spoken by somebody on the ‘left’ of course.

Ken Livingstone has just reminded us of a prevailing rule in British politics. His comment that the Conservative party is ‘riddled’ with homosexuals ‘like everywhere else’ would have earned him a sacking if the parties had been reversed and a Conservative politician had talked of the Labour party in this fashion. In the same way, if a Conservative had made the kind of smearing racial generalisation that Diane Abbott recently twittered, they]]>

One for the Tories' manifesto in 2015

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:30:58 +0000

David Cameron’s comments today that he finds a Swedish-scheme that offers tax breaks for employing domestic workers ‘very interesting’ and would ‘want to look at further’ are, predictably, being attacked by Labour. They are claiming that they are proof that he is ‘out of touch’. But it is, actually, a thoroughly sensible idea.

As I wrote back in October, the Cameroons have long been interested in the idea of trying to make childcare tax deductible. The appeal of this policy is that it would make it far more attractive for]]>

The Waugh Scale of Schools: Some Aren't Even Schools

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:33:09 +0000

As is customary, one prefaces this post with the observation that there are very many fine state schools and many others, a good number of which are also grand, that do tireless work in demanding circumstances. Nevertheless...

According to government data released today, in England last year there were:

137 schools where no pupils were entered for geography GCSE
57 schools where no pupils were entered for history GCSE
30 schools where no pupils were entered for a modern language GCSE
219 schools where no pupils were entered for French GCSE
1,067 schools where

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Donald Trump: I Am Trying To Save Scotland

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:51:24 +0000

The SNP's other big idea - apart from independence - is to make Scotland a kind of renewable energy pioneer. To that end, something close to open season has been declared on parts of the countryside as developers rush to erect as many windfarms as can feasibly be erected in, well, just about every part of the country within easy cabling distance of the national grid. Like many others, I am not wholly persuaded this is an unmitigated blessing. Tidal and wave power in the Pentland Firth (or Sound of Islay) is]]>

Ken's gaffe and what it tells us about his campaign

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:44:50 +0000

We now have the first major gaffe of the 2012 London Mayor race and to everyone's surprise it wasn't Boris. Ken Livingstone granted an extraordinary interview to the New Statesman, where his comments on the incumbent mayor, Margaret Thatcher and his work ethic have caused a decent stir. However, it is the thoughts on homosexuality in the Conservative Party - 'the Tory party was riddled with it like everywhere else is' - that have prompted outrage. He was claiming hypocrisy, but instead came off bitter and twisted.

The pro-Boris politicos are delighted]]>

Cameron's quotas: a policy or a threat?

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:27:52 +0000

We've heard enough about David Cameron's woman troubles to regard anything he says about the fairer sex as a naked pitch for votes. But I reckon his comments today, about getting more women into boardrooms, are just as much motivated by concerns about the economy. ‘The drive for more women in business is not simply about equal opportunity, it's about effectiveness,’ is how he put it earlier, ‘It's about quality, not just equality.’

It's a claim that reflects both the thinking of Masters of Nothing — a book]]>

The Great Pundit Hope: A Deadlocked Convention

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:02:10 +0000

The Santorum Surge is, plainly, grand news for pundits desperately in search of new ways of spinning out the low drama and even lower comedy of this year's Great Presidential Handicap. Nothing, equally plainly, could be better than a race that stretches into June. Nothing, that is, save a deadlocked convention this summer and all the fun and chaos that would ensue from that. Can Mitt Romney actually win the 1,144 delegates he needs to secure the nomination?

The Washington Examiner's Philip Klein has his doubts, reckoning that, should matters continue as they are, Romney could still come]]>

Making a call on Qatada

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:33:35 +0000

The Prime Minister, we are told, has been trying to reach the King of Jordan to see if some kind of arrangement can be made so that Abu Qatada can be deported legally and that no forms of torture-gained evidence will used against him in a Jordanian court. This seems like a sensible thing to do. But it is important that the government balances its counter-terrorism policy with its foreign policy.

Here is what I mean. Jordan is a friend of Britain, but the King is under tremendous pressure to reform.]]>

A feast of Quantitative Easing

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:25:09 +0000

Fire up the printing presses, once again. The Bank of England has just announced another £50 billion of Quantitative Easing, bringing the total monetary expansion up to £325 billion. And it probably won't end there: Citi, among other analysts, forecast that it could go as high as £600 billion next year.

So what are we getting for all this free money? The Bank would tell you that its supporting the economy: keeping interest rates down and encouraging investors to flush money into growth-inducing schemes and mechanisms. And there's obviously truth]]>