Politics
Politics: Alex Salmond’s three-card trick
Not since 1745 has the union been in such danger. It now seems certain that there’ll either be a referendum on Scotland leaving the union in 2014 or that Westminster… Read more
Politics: Who will speak for the middle 98 per cent?
The year has begun with the British political class obsessing about the government’s new housing benefit cap. The cap is a sensible move to make sure that no one can… Read more
Politics: Can the coalition survive a good year for the Tories?
Westminster used to think that 2012 would be the year that the ‘feel-good factor’ returned. Back in May 2010, all three parties expected the economic mood to lift. Combine that… Read more
Crusader on the attack
Why have we forgotten John Bright? In his day he was a massive political celebrity. He could command audiences of 150,000, delivering thrilling impromptu speeches night after night. Perhaps, as… Read more
Politics: Cameron is at his best when he is boldest
David Cameron must sometimes wonder if the gods are against his modernising project. Events have forced him back on to the traditional Tory territory of Europe and the economy. This… Read more
Politics: Whitehall’s own Scottish nationalist
The notion of Scotland being reoriented as a ‘Scandinavian’ country, at the expense of links with England, the Commonwealth and Europe, is odd enough; but stranger still is the revelation… Read more
Politics: Osborne’s Autumn Statement was about creating more Tories
It was political jujitsu. The coalition turned the public sector unions’ strike back against them. When the unions first decided to stage a walk-out the day after the government’s Autumn… Read more
Politics: When it comes to the crunch, Cameron will choose his party over Europe
Downing Street’s negotiating team returned from Berlin last Friday afternoon in good spirits. Angela Merkel had accepted that Britain deserved concessions as part of Germany’s plan for a new European… Read more
Politics: Recovery begins at home
There’s a pattern emerging to George Osborne’s autumn. He gives a big domestic set piece speech on growth and then immediately leaves the country for a meeting of European finance… Read more
Politics: Miliband pitches his tent with the protestors
During the Depression, tent cities sprung up across America. Today, in the second great contraction, they are appearing in the financial centres of the western world. But there is a… Read more
The Price of Civilization by Jeffrey Sachs
Half a century ago J.K. Galbraith’s The Affluent Society changed the political consciousness of a generation in the English- speaking world and beyond. It vividly re-established in the minds of… Read more
Politics: Nick Clegg is in better political shape than anyone would have guessed
It is too early to call him the comeback kid of British politics, but Nick Clegg enters the party conference season in better shape than anyone expected him to be… Read more
Politics: Can the coalition survive the crises ahead?
Can the coalition survive the crises ahead? For something cobbled together by eight sleep-deprived men over four days, the coalition agreement has proved remarkably durable. Even now, with relations between… Read more
Michael Gove’s free schools are a triumph – but can they keep up with the baby boom?
When Michael Gove first proposed ‘free schools’ four years ago, he could have been written off as another Tory daydreamer. The idea of creating an education market, with independent state… Read more
Politics: Will Gaddafi’s fall go to Cameron’s head?
David Cameron’s public utterances often appear to have been crafted to make him sound as much like Tony Blair as possible. David Cameron’s public utterances often appear to have been… Read more
Politics: Euroscepticism isn’t just for Tories any more
When Ed Balls lists the greatest accomplishments of his career, he does so with a wonderful lack of modesty. He may have been a mere Treasury adviser when Labour came… Read more
Politics: An economy killed with kindness
About ten thousand years ago, man learned to control fire. That was one of the most important events in pre-history: a crucial part of the transition from a humanoid past… Read more
Politics: Ed Miliband has given himself a chance to be heard, but he won’t take it
After the carnival barking of the phone-hacking saga, the long break beckons for Parliament. For the party leaders, though, there will be little rest. Against the advice of their entourages,… Read more
Politics: The people Cameron should be shmoozing
David Cameron has just passed through his first full-blown crisis as Prime Minister. He may have been a bit-part player in this Murdoch drama, but he has remarked to those… Read more
Bookends: Scourge of New Labour
Like all politicians, Bob Marshall-Andrews is fond of quoting himself, and Off Message (Profile Books, £16.99) includes a generous selection of his speeches and articles on such topics as Tony… Read more
Latest blogs
- Nick Clegg: I’m the grown-up in this Coalition Isabel Hardman
- Same Sex Marriage Bill: how MPs voted The Spectator
- Gay marriage easily passes third reading vote in the Commons James Forsyth
- Labour claims credit for gay marriage bill Isabel Hardman
- David Cameron has caused a crisis in conservatism Miles Windsor
- Cameron has reached the tipping point Martin Bright
- Sir David Nicholson to go: but will it change the culture at the top of the NHS? Isabel Hardman
