World

Lloyd Evans

PMQs Sketch: Cameron denies any Chilcot responsibility

Warning to publishers. Don’t commission a first-time author without giving him a deadline. The Chilcot Inquiry, a long-pondered probe into the origins of the Iraq war, is maturing gracefully and expensively like a lovely old port. Seven years and counting. Let’s hope it tastes good when it comes out. At PMQs, David Cameron replied to questions about Chilcot with his ‘not-me-guv’ routine. Here are the things he isn’t responsible for. Ordering the Inquiry. Fixing the Inquiry timetable. Accelerating its publication. Receiving the Inquiry. Deciding what do with the Inquiry once it’s completed. Inquiring into delays surrounding the Inquiry. When, or if, the report appears it will damage the reputations of

Steerpike

Will the US Embassy’s haggis virgin be tempted to lift the offal ban?

It was the culmination of an elaborate lobbying operation. The scene was set, the piper poised and the whisky flowing. As the Haggis was piped in to Boisdale on Bishopgate last night for the launch of the ‘Campaign to Overturn the US Haggis Ban’, all eyes were on Mr Stan Phillips, the Councillor for Agricultural Affairs from the US Embassy; a haggis virgin. The suave, bespectacled gentleman let his cool demeanour slip ever so slightly as he was told ‘you’re about to put an illegal substance in your mouth’. As his fork cut through the offaly oats a hush fell upon the room, the wind draining from the pipes. ‘Yeah…’ came an intrepid

Isabel Hardman

PM and Education Secretary at odds over Page 3

The ministers covering women and equalities do have a view on the disappearance of topless Page 3 models, but the Prime Minister apparently doesn’t. Today Nicky Morgan called the decision of The Sun to put something over at least a portion of the breasts of the women in its paper ‘a long overdue decision and marks a small but significant step towards improving media portrayal of women and girls. I very much hope it remains permanent’. Her Lib Dem colleague Jo Swinson said she was delighted that the old fashioned sexism of Page 3 could soon be a thing of the past’ and called on the newspaper’s editors ‘to consider whether

Steerpike

Exclusive: Russell Brand pays an unwelcome visit to Lord Rothermere’s home

Russell Brand’s stints filming for his new documentary on the financial crisis have so far seen him storm RBS and upset a bank employee by causing his lunch to go cold. Now Mr S learns that the 39-year-old comedian’s forays haven’t stopped with capitalist banks. Brand recently made an unwelcome visit to the home of Lord Rothermere, the proprietor of the Daily Mail newspaper group. The comedian turned up unannounced at the London residence of the executive chairman of the Daily Mail and General Trust, traipsing through his front garden with a camera crew in tow. Unfortunately for Brand, both Lord Rothermere and his wife Claudia weren’t at the property

By depicting Shin Dong-hyuk as a fantasist, the media strengthens North Korea’s regime

Shin Dong-hyuk really shouldn’t need defending.  The thirty-two year old was born in, and grew up in, the North Korean gulag system.  And as he has related in his book Escape from Camp 14, and in public appearances, what he saw on an average day in his childhood constituted more horror than most people will see in their collected nightmares. At one point he overheard his mother and brother talking about an escape attempt from the highest-security category camp they were in.  He informed on them, as he had been educated to do.  Subsequently, along with his father, he was forced to watch their execution by prison camp guards.  He

Steerpike

Will South Thanet care that Al Murray has a gig in Dartford on election night?

On election night, Al Murray will not be in South Thanet as is the usual custom among candidate hopefuls. Instead, the 46-year-old comedian will be performing a gig in Dartford. Despite launching his campaign last week to run as a Free United Kingdom Party candidate in the same constituency Nigel Farage is vying for, Murray’s comedy tour means he will be nowhere to be seen for the bulk of the night, though it’s thought he will head there after his show. The Orchard Theatre’s marketing manager Michelle May has confirmed that Murray is to go ahead with the gig. ‘Al is 100 per cent committed to his spring One Man, One Guvnor

Alex Massie

The ineffable sadness of Mitt Romney 2016

The suggestion Mitt Romney might make another run for the Presidency of the United States made me think of a line from one of my father’s novels: ‘There’s nothing so sad as the memory of lost fucks.’  There’s a measure of wistful sadness but also some wry resignation. The obvious reaction is that, hey Mittens, third time ain’t no charm. Because that’s the way it’s supposed to work these days. You’re supposed to accept being beaten, supposed to retire gracefully from the fray, supposed to recognise it’s someone else’s turn. This ain’t Richard Nixon’s America and it’s not Ronald Reagan’s either. And yet, in one sense, why should Romney accept it is

James Forsyth

How the Greek election will affect our election

In ten days time, Greece goes to the polls in what is, arguably, the most important election that will take place this year. For if — as looks likely — Syriza wins, then the Eurozone crisis will move into an acute and particularly dangerous phase. Syriza are committed to a loosening of the terms of the Greek bailout deal. But, as I write in the magazine this week, Berlin, Frankfurt and Brussels are all adamant that there will be no easing of the fiscal straitjacket. Indeed, Berlin is making it clear that it would rather Greece leave the Euro than allow it to restructure its debts. As always with Greece

Nick Cohen

Charlie Hebdo: Murdoch’s Sky News bows to the demands of murderers

Caroline Fourest is a French journalist and feminist. Unlike so many of her Anglo-Saxon sisters she does not think freedom is only for white women, and is ready to condemn the oppression of women wherever it occurs. For instance, she exposed Tariq Ramadan, who on the one hand appeared the ideal moderate Muslim, while at the same time refusing to take a stand against clerics ordering the death of women by stoning. ‘Double speak’ she called it. He says he is a ‘Muslim feminist’ to Western intellectuals, who admire him and offer him posts at Oxford colleges. Only when you ask what he means by that – and hardly anyone does

Nick Cohen

How long will it be before the climate forces us to change?

This time last year, homeowners in Oxfordshire and Berkshire were recovering after storms had brought down power lines and blocked roads. Soon, power cuts were the least of their problems. The Thames flooded. In the south-west, the emergency services evacuated the Somerset Levels, and the sea wall at Dawlish in Devon collapsed — cutting the rail line to Cornwall. Political Britain burst its banks. Ed Miliband demanded action. David Cameron convened emergency committees. TV reporters brought us urgent reports as water lapped their boots, while newspaper correspondents named the guilty men. As in twenty20 cricket, you enjoy a quick intense hit with 24/7 news, then move on to the next

Steerpike

Bond villain Andrew Scott gets into the spirit of 007

The last 007 film saw James Bond substitute his trademark vodka martini for a Heineken, after producers found a £30 million advertising deal with the Dutch brand too good to refuse. Thankfully, the next film Spectre will see Bond reunited with his martini as a result of a sponsorship agreement with Belvedere vodka. So Mr S was reassured to hear that Andrew Scott, who has been cast as the villain in the film, has been getting into the spirit of Bond ahead of filming. ‘I had a friend come to my house recently, and we drank martinis,’ Scott told Mr S at GQ’s London Collections dinner at Hakkasan. ‘By the end she was drunk and you

Steerpike

Why Mo Ansar won’t jog on

Mr S’s favourite ‘rent-a-quote’ Mo Ansar appears to have missed the message in a Twitter spat with our own Alex Massie. Ansar, who was a planning manager at Lloyds-TSB in Winchester until 2006, has reinvented himself as the ‘voice of Islam’ in recent years. He may, however, want to try thinking before sharing opinions in the future… #Newsnight awkwardly and gratuitously shows a print out of the #CharlieHebdo cover. Adults know the difference between could, and should. — Mohammed Ansar (@MoAnsar) January 12, 2015 @alexmassie I should jog more, generally. Not entirely sure what your point is here, other than one about jogging. — Mohammed Ansar (@MoAnsar) January 12, 2015

The real danger of #CyberJihad is that anybody can get involved

There was a certain irony to the news that @CENTCOM had been hacked yesterday afternoon. While President Obama was giving a speech on cybersecurity, the U.S. Central Command Twitter account was spouting pro-Isis propaganda. Nothing new here, though. Since day one, Isis have used the internet to threaten the West and in particular American soldiers. During a few days in August last year, my research group tracked eighty thousand tweets sent using the hashtag #AMessageFromISIStoUS from Isis sympathisers. Many of them contained grisly threats: images of US casualties and coffins with warnings not to interfere in the affairs of the Caliphate. Cyber-jihad is a natural evolution of terrorism. Islamic State seem to have

Lara Prendergast

Boko Haram is using girls as bombs

Could there be anything more offensive to feminists than the use of young girls as suicide bombers? I doubt it. And I imagine that’s exactly why the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has adopted it as the latest technique in its campaign to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state. In April last year, when Boko Haram militants captured a group of 276 schoolgirls, a number of high-profile women joined an online campaign to #BringBackOurGirls. Have they been brought back? No. Around 200 still remain in captivity. Horrific stories have since emerged from the few who managed to escape that the captured girls have been subjected to rape, abuse, physical torture

Lara Prendergast

Charlie Hebdo attack: French march in defiance alongside world leaders

Up to 0ne million people are expected to march through the streets of Paris today, in defiance of the terrorist attacks on the city during the past week. David Cameron will join the march, alongside approximately 40 other world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande. Security has been increased around the city, with more than 5,500 police officers expected to be on guard.  

Charlie Hebdo shooting suspects killed and four hostages dead after supermarket raid

Reports are coming in from AFP that the two hostage situations in France are over. The Kouachi brothers, who are suspects in the Charlie Hebdo shooting, were killed in a raid on a printing works in Dammartin-en-Goele this afternoon. They had been holding one person hostage, who has now been freed. Police launch assault where #CharlieHebdo suspects holed up. Photo Joel Saget #AFP pic.twitter.com/KTPZIFhUiA — AFP Photo Department (@AFPphoto) January 9, 2015 In a separate incident in the Paris suburb of Montrouge, the French special forces stormed a Jewish supermarket at around 4:30pm, where another gunman was holding at least five people hostage. The same gunman is also suspected of killing a policewoman yesterday. Five dead, including

The siege in a kosher shop in Paris proves why Israel needs to exist

As I write a siege is ongoing in a Kosher shop in Paris.  In France, Belgium and across Europe in recent years, Jews have repeatedly been the targets of Islamist attack.  They always are.  Last year saw the largest upsurge of anti-Semitic hate crime on record even in the UK. But it is the continent that has seen the worst and growing litany of attacks.  In 2012 Mohamed Merah killed three Jewish children and a teacher at a Jewish school in Toulouse.  In May last year three people were shot dead by an Islamist gunman at the Jewish museum in Brussels. During the twentieth century Judaism on the continent of Europe

Steerpike

BBC to revise its restrictions on depicting Mohammed

Last night’s Question Time saw David Dimbleby chair a debate on freedom of expression following the Charlie Hebdo shootings. During the programme, Dimbleby stated that the BBC’s policy with regards to representations of Mohammed was to not depict the Prophet in any shape or form. This policy was met with criticism from panel and audience members alike. @bbcquestiontime that is utterly disgraceful bbc. #shamefulbbc — IAN REA (@ianrea7) January 8, 2015 Here is the part of the BBC Editorial Guidelines that Dimbleby read out on #bbcqt http://t.co/qFOxuMVws2 pic.twitter.com/nRc6Y43zKk — BBC Free Speech (@BBCFreeSpeech) January 8, 2015 So, Mr S was curious to learn that the website page detailing its guidelines is now down. When you click on

The attack on Charlie Hebdo is an attack on freedom

The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo lambasts, attacks and lampoons absolutely everybody. Its targets include all religions, all identity groups, minorities and majorities. In recent years it has been most prominent for its refusal to apply different treatment to Islam. It knew that carrying on with satire, in the name of free expression, carried a real danger — its office in Paris was firebombed three years ago on account of this, and it still carried on with its irreverence. On Wednesday morning, two gunmen went into the magazine’s office wielding Kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades. Within minutes, 12 people were reported killed. The gunmen’s identity was unknown when The Spectator went

Why does Isis slay hostages? To cover up the fact that it’s losing

At this point in the war between the jihadist group known as the Islamic State and a US-led international coalition, many observers are wondering how Isis keeps winning. Isis is up against western air power and powerful regional opponents, and yet has apparently seized a territory larger than the United Kingdom, and is expanding into Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Yemen, and elsewhere. It seems incredible. But the truth is that it’s difficult to say Isis is winning by any objective measure. In Iraq, the group has been put on the defensive in the provinces of Nineveh, Salahaddin, and Diyala, and may soon face a major offensive on its stronghold of Mosul.