Politics

David Selbourne is a political philosopher and theorist. This article appeared in the magazine last week; it is an edited version of his speech for a Spectator debate on the motion, ‘Too late to save Britain. It’s time to leave.’‘ Part of me feels that those who have helped to bring the country down — venal politicians, false educators, degraders of the media, thieving privatisers of the public domain — need to be fought to a standstill, here on this battlefield, by those with the energy, strength and clarity of mind to do so. For no one wants to believe that the country of his birth, language, upbringing and way

A Lord Ashcroft poll of marginal seats suggests, intriguingly, that the Tories could do as well—if not better—under AV than first past the post. Now, this is, obviously, just one poll. But it is the first one that looks the effect AV would have in all the various types of marginals. My first reaction to this poll was that it was striking that Ashcroft had chosen to publicise it, most of his polling remains private. His decision to public it suggest that, at the very least, he is not vehemently opposed to AV. This poll will lead to more Tories taking a closer look at AV. The traditional Tory view

There are some British politicians who are obsessed with American politics, who could at this moment tell you who is most likely to pick up the open Senate seat in Colorado or pride themselves on their ability to name every Republican and Democratic vice presidential nominee since the war. But David Cameron isn’t one of them. Rather, Cameron takes a rather more hard-headed approach. At times this lack of emotional attachment has translated into a lack of empathy; giving a speech on the fifth anniversary of 9/11 which was designed to distance himself from the policy of the then US government was not particularly sensitive. But Cameron’s relationship with Obama