The Coffee House | Politics and News Discussion Forum

There is more shopping in three streets in London than in Birmingham and Manchester combined

James Forsyth — , 20 Nov 2009 19:27:39 GMT

Prospect magazine’s In Fact column always contains some thought provoking numbers. This month, I was particularly struck by this statistic:

“The annual retail spend of Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street is £5.5bn—more than Manchester and Birmingham.”

On one level, this is testament to the importance of clusters. But it is also a sign of just how dominant in the UK London is; something that is not particularly healthy for the country as a whole.

]]>

There are moral absolutes: aspects of Sharia are barbaric

David Blackburn — , 20 Nov 2009 18:04:45 GMT

Credit where credit’s due, Peter Tatchell wrote an article for the Guardian describing Sharia law as being “especially oppressive”. He says:

‘Its interpretations stipulate the execution of Muslims who commit adultery, renounce their faith (apostates) or have same-sex relationships. Sharia methods of execution, such as stoning, are particularly brutal and cruel – witness the stoning to death this week in Somalia of a 20-year-old woman divorcee who was accused of adultery. This is the fourth stoning of an adulterer in Somalia in the last year.
Somalia is an extreme example of

]]>

The week that was

, 20 Nov 2009 17:58:40 GMT

Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week.

Fraser Nelson congratulates Michael Heath, and introduces Britain’s AWOL ally.

James Forsyth praises Chris Grayling’s commitment to elected police commissioners, and finds an example of corruption that is shocking even by the standards of the Karzai government.

Peter Hoskin says that Brown has misjudged the Afghan waiting game, and sees Ed Balls dump Gordon Brown into another lose lose situation.

David Blackburn argues that Gordon Brown has been hoist by his own petard, and challenges]]>

Portillo: the Tories won't succeed in cutting public spending - they'll have to raise taxes

Peter Hoskin — , 20 Nov 2009 17:14:22 GMT

Ever the contrarian, Michael Portillo makes a case that you don't hear from many on the right in his interview with Andrew Neil on Straight Talk this weekend. George Osborne has given "a fair amout of detail" about the Tories' debt-reduction plans, he says, but that could be the wrong approach:

"I wouldn’t seek probably to give very much more detail .... You know, I was with Margaret Thatcher when she came in to Government in 1979, we faced a big public spending problem. It was terrible. It was a hard slog

]]>

The Baroness and the bore: right for the EU jobs

Daniel Korski — , 20 Nov 2009 15:50:22 GMT

Among a batch of unpopular blogposts, this is the one that will get Coffee Housers to grab their pitchforks and hunt me down. Because I think the appointments of Belgium’s Herman Van Rompuy, as president of the European Council, and Britain’s Catherine Ashton, as EU “high representative” for foreign affairs, are not bad at all.

First, I have to eat my words. I thought Gordon Brown would fail to shoehorn a Briton into a top EU job. Credit goes to him and Britain’s diplomats, chiefly Kim Darroch, the UK’s Permanent Representative in Brussels.]]>

Elected police commissioners are a test of whether the Tories are serious or not about their agenda

James Forsyth — , 20 Nov 2009 13:50:14 GMT

Sir Hugh Orde, the head of the Association of Chief Police officers, has issued another broadside against Tory plans for locally elected police commissioner. Orde has warned that senior police officers will resign over the plans and that, “Even the perception that the police service of this country… is under any political influence, I think that suggests you cannot argue that you are a proper democratic society.” This is an absurd argument. The idea that you are not a proper democratic society because the police commissioner is accountable to the public via the]]>

The problem with Brown's latest Big Idea

Peter Hoskin — , 20 Nov 2009 12:05:59 GMT

There's some very readable stuff in this week's Economist (including a leader which outlines what Brown's government should – but almost certainly won't – do with its "last months in power"). But if you read only one article from it, make sure it's the Bagehot column and its dissection of Brown's latest Big Idea: public service guarantees.

These are the pledges-turned-legal entitlements which popped up throughout the Queen's Speech – such as the "guarantee" that patients will have hospital treatment within 18 weeks of being referred by a GP. As Bagehot]]>

Cameron goes Blond

James Forsyth — , 20 Nov 2009 10:45:45 GMT

In their party political broadcast last night, the Tories endorsed a community right to buy. The idea is that communities would be offered first refusal to take over and run local amenities that are faced with closure. For example, the community would be able to take over a Post Office rather than see it shut down. Community groups would also be able to bid to run publicly provided assets such as libraries. It is a policy that has doorstep appeal and also positions the Tories where they want to be. Thatcher offered individuals a]]>

Nothing’s changed

David Blackburn — , 20 Nov 2009 09:04:29 GMT

It’s a pity the Spectator has already run a political scandals supplement: the Telegraph’s latest scoop is a sordid classic. The Telegraph allege that Tory MP David Curry has claimed £28,078 on a second home from which his wife had banned from using after Curry used it as a rendezvous for assignations with a local school mistress. Curry is standing down at the next election and could make a packet if he sells the taxpayer funded property.

There is a further complication. Until last night, Curry was the chairman of the parliamentary standards]]>