As well as it being rather amusing that a party officially committed to the abolition of the House of Lords has stuffed a few more of its grandees into the Upper Chamber, it’s worth looking will be wearing the ermine. There seems to have been a bit of a desperate hunt to find people. The
One of the striking things about the contest in Labour for the mayoral candidacy is how many of the candidates are keen to admonish private taxi firm Uber. Sadiq Khan has described it as a ‘problem’ and said he is ‘on the side of the back cab driver’, Tessa Jowell is ‘enormously concerned’ and doesn’t
It’s official, Jeremy Corbyn has made it. Following in the lines of all the greats, the left wing messiah has inspired such fan devotion that people are genuinely bidding on items just because he may have touched them. The item in question is a a coffee cup that his lips allegedly once met: The seller
The 2015 Dissolution Peerages have been announced today, following much rumour about who might receive one. While Mr S’s colleague Sebastian Payne has the full list over on Coffee House, it’s safe to say the appointments haven’t done much to improve public opinion of the honours system; former spads and out-of-work politicians make up a large chunk of the list. But
The 2015 Dissolution Peerages have been announced, with many of the names floated in the press over the last few weeks duly being elevated to the House of Lords. The appointment of long-serving politicians such as William Hague, Alistair Darling, Ming Campbell and David Blunkett is not a surprise, but there are a few unexpected names. The most
Given that the general election proved disastrous for the Liberal Democrats, it’s surprising how many party members seem keen to revisit the experience. With Vince Cable and Norman Baker both bringing out books just in time for this year’s Lib Dem conference, reports have surfaced claiming that Nick Clegg has finally agreed to write a book. Although this
It’s fair to say the Tories won’t be recycling their ‘immigration down’ posters for this year’s autumn conference. Net migration in the the year to March 2015 was 330,000, which is an all-time high and a 28 per cent increase on the previous year. John examines these stats here. The funny thing is that the
Although Buzzfeed managed to successfully register a cat to vote in the Labour leadership election, the party remains insistent that they are successfully weeding out ‘supporters’ who are not genuine. However, in a sign that they may not have quite as good a grasp on these checks as claimed, it turns out that they are asking school
There must be an element of masochism in Theresa May that leads her to promise the electorate something she cannot give them: net migration in the tens of thousands. Figures released today show that the balance of people coming into the county rose to 330,000 in the year to March 2015, putting the Home Secretary further than
The Assisted Dying Bill will return to the Commons and Lords in the near future – are we prepared for the consequences? On the latest View from 22 podcast, Douglas Murray debates this week’s cover feature with Lord Falconer, the former Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor who has been a key proponent of the bill. Are
OxfordDictionaries.com has today announced that is adding words like “awesomesauce” and “manspreading” to the dictionary. But what about banning fatuous words and phrases? Here are some of Rod Liddle’s suggestions… 1. Battling my demons It was demons who held down that actress/pop singer/reality TV star and rammed four kilos of charlie up her left nostril leaving
It’s becoming pretty clear, as the year rolls on, that some of our brightest youngsters have gone round the bend. It’s as if they’ve caught a virus, a mental one, a set of thoughts and ideas that might loosely be called political correctness, but seem to me weirder and more damaging than that. Back in
Lant Street would be easy to miss, if you weren’t looking for it. Charles Dickens lodged on Lant Street as a child, during his father’s stay in Marshalsea debtors’ prison nearby. The Gladstone Arms is about halfway down, doors open to the narrow street on a warm afternoon in August. Inside, an old man nurses
The matador scowled at the back of the bar, and sipped his beer. He wanted to stab the people who stared at him. His black tie, his black suit didn’t shield him from their eyes. He ordered testicles, his unique entitlement, and a carafe of deep red wine. He flung his right arm around, as
[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/thereturnofassisteddying/media.mp3″ title=”Lord Falconer and Douglas Murray debate ‘assisted dying'” startat=42] Listen [/audioplayer]A couple of years ago I contacted Holland’s top pro-euthanasia organisation. Our House of Lords looks likely to approve a bill legalising euthanasia here, I told them. ‘Very exciting!’ came the reply. Next month Parliament will again be discussing ‘assisted dying’, and although
[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/thereturnofassisteddying/media.mp3″ title=”Isabel Hardman and James Cleverly MP discuss the 2015 Tory intake” startat=1121] Listen [/audioplayer]Time was when the Conservatives believed that a small majority — which puts a government at the mercy of backbench rebels — would be worse than no majority at all. They dreaded the prospect. But now, well into their third
Laikipia An elephant can break through an electric fence by pulling out the posts, pushing younger, more stupid animals into the wire — or by simply sitting on the fence. I do hope they will play such tricks on us, now that high-voltage wires enclose most of the ranch, leaving only a few corridors for
Do-orzaat. Dorset is part of L’Angleterre profonde. It is possible to find evidence of modernity, but only in limited areas. Around 120 miles from London, west Dorset and the Somerset marches are around the same distance from the 21st century, let alone the 20th. It helps that no motorway runs through the county and mobile
Every year without fail, as the trees start thinking about losing their leaves, the papers are full of the same photographs and the same stories. The pictures are of groups of teenagers grinning triumphantly — hugging one another or throwing their exam results in the air in joy. What we have just experienced is exam
I had a water meter installed in my flat a few months ago. I looked at it just now and it said ‘13’. I didn’t know what ‘13’ meant, so I went online to check. Apparently, in a few months, four of us have used 13 cubic metres of water, or 13,000 litres. The £40
