This is written from a small and dank room in the state of Arslikhan, as Private Eye calls it. My boss at the Sun, Tony Gallagher, has done an interview with the Press Gazette. His two chief points are that a) journalism is a trade not a profession and b) the BBC does not break
[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/donaldtrumpsangryamerica/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth, Fraser Nelson & Isabel Hardman discuss the opening skirmishes of the EU referendum campaign” startat=540] Listen [/audioplayer] Stuart Rose will have to be added to the long list of British businessmen who have struggled to make the transition to politics. Rose, the Chairman of Britain in Europe, didn’t get off to
Tory MPs believe they have sufficient numbers of would-be rebels to be able to amend the government’s Investigatory Powers Bill, which was published yesterday. Coffee House understands that there are already around 10 Tory MPs who would be happy to join forces with Labour to change key sections of the legislation on the authorisation of
Sadiq Khan, I’m sure you and your supporters think you’re being super right-on when you say that it would send a ‘phenomenal message’ to the world if Londoners were to elect their first-ever Muslim mayor in May. But actually you’re playing an incredibly dangerous game. You’re Islamifying what ought to be a straight political contest.
Here’s a new low for Oxfam, or rather a different, sneakier low. Three times in recent months I’ve been telephoned by well-spoken young men claiming to be from Oxfam who all begin by saying: ‘I’m just calling to thank you for your past donations, and tell you exactly how much money all the books and
[audioplayer src=”http://rss.acast.com/viewfrom22/donaldtrumpsangryamerica/media.mp3″ title=”James Forsyth, Fraser Nelson & Isabel Hardman discuss the opening skirmishes of the EU referendum campaign” startat=540] Listen [/audioplayer] The government, or at least David Cameron’s bit of it, seems to think that trade is something that takes place because of a trade agreement. The order is the other way round. People trade,
Jezza is one of the oldest Out campaigners in the Commons. He’s not quite the ‘Father of the Outs’ – Bill Cash claims that honour – but the Labour leader is next in line. Yet the referendum has led him to a shrewd, albeit unprincipled, decision. If your enemies are tearing each other apart, pull
Emily Thornberry’s decision to appoint disgraced spinner Damian McBride as her media adviser has upset a number of her constituents. However, the shadow Defence Secretary will be hoping that the expertise McBride can offer will outweigh any negative publicity. So, after Thornberry angered Labour MPs at a meeting of the PLP over Trident and then was left
It was, in the end, the best possible night for Donald Trump. On Super Tuesday, 12 American states voted for Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. Trump won seven. That was enough to ensure he remains easily the frontrunner, but not enough to persuade his opponents to coalesce around one of his rivals. Had he won
David Cameron coasted through another PMQs today. Jeremy Corbyn asked about childcare but his questions were too long and unfocused to trouble the Prime Minister. It does seem odd that Corbyn doesn’t even dare approach the Tory split over the EU. He could surely have made something of IDS calling the government’s paper on the
Can you think of anyone who isn’t actually better in work than out of it? My mother took early retirement – I mean, early for Ireland where the retirement age was 65 for both men and women (and given that women live longer than men, how did the iniquitous disparity, whereby women live longer than
Is there a genuinely independent go-to guide for anyone who cares about the future of the UK economy but isn’t sure how to cast their vote in the Brexit referendum? Two-thirds of voters are said by unreliable pollsters to have made up their minds already, which leaves at least a third undecided. As the strident
On Monday night I took part in a discussion on free speech in London for the think-tank Policy Exchange. The other speakers were ‘feminist comedienne’ Kate Smurthwaite, a student called Kitty Parker Brooks and the wonderful Munira Mirza. Jess Phillips MP failed to show up, which was a shame because I wanted to decide for
Ministers are today publishing a document that is already being rubbished as a ‘dodgy dossier’ about the options for Brexit. The report, which comes out later, concludes, funnily enough, that all of the alternatives to EU membership would leave Britain ‘weaker, less safe and worse off’ and that ‘no alternative model guarantees that British businesses
After Super Tuesday, Donald Trump is the clear favourite to be the Republican candidate in the US presidential election. As naysayers go into panic mode over the possibility of President Trump, an unlikely ally has come to Trump’s aid. Step forward Piers Morgan. The former Mirror editor waxed lyrical about the presidential hopeful on the
Today, I have joined 70 doctors and academics in writing to the government calling for a ban on tackling in rugby matches, saying that injuries from this ‘high-impact collision sport’ can have lifelong consequences for children. I speak from both professional and personal experience. I remember as if it were yesterday, that autumn afternoon 11 years ago when my
Under Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour party has been rather quiet when it comes to fighting for Britain to remain in the EU. Happily, Chris Bryant got the chance to put the pro-EU argument forward at last night’s Great Brexit debate, organised by the University of London Brexit Society. Sitting on a panel alongside SNP MP Stephen Gethins,
Donald Trump said in his Super Tuesday victory remarks that he had watched Hillary Clinton’s speech before coming on. He confessed that he didn’t quite get it. “Making America great again,” his campaign slogan, is going to be much better than ‘making America whole again,'” whatever that is, he said. He had some kind words
Welcome to the Spectator Super Tuesday live blog. Jeremy Lott, Mat Vaillancourt and the Spectator’s Freddy Gray will be providing updates through the evening. 05.03 FG: Trump squeaks it in Vermont. Seven out of 10, with Alaska still to come. 04.37 FG: Bernie Sanders’s night is getting better as it goes on. He’s won four
It is recognised that the era of television has made it well-nigh impossible in Britain and the United States for a balding leader to win an election if pitted against one with more hair — Callaghan/Foot/Kinnock v. Thatcher, George H.W. Bush v. Clinton, Hague/Howard v. Blair, McCain v. Obama. (The only exceptions I can think
