Politics

It’s true there are signs of an economic recovery, says Martin Vander Weyer, but we should also beware a ‘third wave’ of destruction It’s springtime in North Yorkshire, which traditionally means lashing rain and temperatures like February. But however unseasonal the weather, nature knows when it’s time to wake up: in the first few days of May, my beech hedge always sheds its dead brown leaves and bursts into fresh green. And so it goes — with rather less certainty of timing — for the economic cycle. We may poison the ground with too much fertiliser, we may plant scarce saplings in the stoniest places, we may waste money on

Watching Newsnight tonight it felt like a dam had broken. Three MPs from the main parties having an open discussion about the future of politics post-Speaker Martin, Jeremy Paxman relaxed and cracking jokes about the growing groundswell of support for Chris Mullin to become speaker: it was all rather extraordinary. The three MPs, Chris Mullin, Douglas Carswell and Norman Baker were all unusually courteous and differences of opinion were argued about amicably. All very peculiar. One thing they all agreed on was the importance of strengthening the select committee system. Actually, I think some of these committees do a very good job. But they do not have enough power and

…here are some posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend: Fraser Nelson reveals how Norway won the Eurovision song contest Blair-style, and suggests how David Cameron could expose the long tail of waste. James Forsyth analyses the latest opinion poll findings, and reports on the growing movement against the Speaker. Peter Hoskin tracks Gordon Brown’s efforts to overtake Cameron on expenses, and fisks the PM’s article for the News of the World. Clive Davis reveals how they made the Great Depression even worse. Alex Massie reports on a billionaire’s secret life. And Americano highlights the breathtaking recklessness of Donald Rumsfeld.

Rod Liddle wants to know why the taxpayer has to pay for Douglas Hogg’s moat and Phil Woolas’s groceries, but nobody will subsidise his own extravagant needs — and is offended by MPs’ attempts to posture as the victims of an impersonal ‘system’ The thing that puzzles me is why did Phil Woolas, the immigration minister, need to buy a whole box of tampons? I can understand that he might wish to look at one, out of curiosity. But it seems profligate, if you’re the taxpayer, to shell out for a whole boxload. Couldn’t he have just borrowed one from his missus, if he was that interested? Apparently you are

David Cameron’s speech to the Scottish Tory conferene was, I thought, workmanlike rather than inspired.The troops enjoyed it even if they were not necessarily enraptured by it. Interestingly he spent more time attacking the SNP than Labour, portraying the Conservatives as the only party that can truly efend the Union. Of course Labour will argue that a vote for the Tories will encourage the SNP given the nationalists’ palpable desire for a Tory government in Westminster. It is not impossible that both parties are right. Still, Cameron’s speech also betraed the fact that, ten years on from devoution, the Tories remain, perhaps unavoidably, in a defensive crouch in Scotland. “I

I have been reading Marcia Williams’s 1972 memoir of her time with Harold Wilson, Inside Number 10 (no don’t ask why) and come to the chapter with the wonderful title The Inevitability of Gradualness. Here, Wilson’s former personal and private secretary weighs up the successes and failures of the 1960s Wilson governments. On the negative side, failure to reform the civil service, on the plus side the Open University: that sort of thing. At one point Williams quotes New Statesman and Observer contributor Francis Hope writing in the New York Times about the Wilson years: “The achievements of the Labour Government were mostly minor acts of decency.” I discover that

Like Bagehot I think this one of most entertaining – and revealing – reactions to the revelations of the Great Expenses Swindle of 2009: The latest batch of expenses details revealed by the Telegraph included the fact that Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson had made a claim of £304.10 for the upkeep of a swimming pool. In response he said: “The pool came with the house and I needed to know how to run it. Once I was shown that one time, there were no more claims. I take care of the pool myself. I believe this represents ‘value for money’ for the taxpayer.” Priceless, if you know what I mean.