Politics

Alan Cochrane says that it’s not just Alex Salmond who is agitating for Scottish independence. There are forces on both sides of the border who hope for the break-up of the UK If it’s August, it must be Scotland. Upwards of half a million people will descend on Edinburgh over the next month for the six festivals — International, Fringe, Book, Jazz/Blues, Television and now Politics — not to mention the ever successful Tattoo. Some will be other Scots but many will be from the rest of the United Kingdom, predominately England. It’s amusing for anyone living north of the Cheviots to record the comments of visitors to our homeland,

Marbury is quite right. The Prime Minister’s advisers must wonder what they have to do to get this Gordon Brown appearing on your TV screen. Now, there are a few things one could say about the content of Brown’s Ted Talk in Oxford but that’s a post for another time. But in general, this is good stuff: fluent, passionate, witty (yes, really) and so on. Above all, freed from the tedium and trivia and trauma of life at Westminster you see a different and relaxed big-picture Gordon. It’s almost enough to make one wonder what might have happened if only Gordon weren’t quite so bad at politics… Anyway, this is

…here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. James Forsyth says that the Afghan conflict will improve our security in the long run, and says that the Tory leadership will use seat vacancies to expand its ministerial talent pool. Peter Hoskin argues that if Mandelson runs for the Commons it will speak volumes for his relationship with Gordon Brown, and says that Harriet Harman is having another go at positioning herself for the Labour leadership. And Daniel Korski believes the Iraq Inquiry should examine bureaucracy.

Possibly! Gordon Brown’s government has a 17% approval rating and fewer than one in five voters think Brown would make a better Prime Minister than either David Cameron or, titter ye not, Nick Clegg. His government is in much the same place John Major’s was in 1996 and we know how that ended for the Tories. The Brown ministry has lost its mast and been holed, repeatedly, below the water line. Yet amidst the wreckage and the blood and the howls of agony one man insists that all is not lost and that, actually, victory remains possible. That man, folks, is Mark Penn, the American pollster and strategist last seen

…Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: James Forsyth thinks we need a larger army, and believes that a televised electoral debate is a potential game-changer for Brown.   Peter Hoskin sees another bubble about to burst, and highlights one of Cameron’s weaknesses. David Blackburn says that the public do not trust the government on defence, and reflects on Debbie Purdy’s victory. Daniel Korski writes that army enlargement should not come at the expense of the Peace Corps in Afghanistan. Matthew Frampton and John Bew believe that we should only to talk to Taliban from a position of strength. Martin Bright wants to know what

James is quite correct. Gordon Brown should certainly leap at the chance to have a live televised debate against David Cameron next year. I assume that the Tories think that Brown will, as he has so often before, see this as too great a risk and, consequently, “bottle it”. Perhaps so. But that’s also why the Prime Minister should welcome the opportunity to make a final stand in an election campaign that he otherwise seems destined to lose. As Brother Forsyth argues, the expectations for Brown are now so low that it’s hard to see how he could actually fail to “win” the debate  – at least in the eyes

The news that our former editor, Boris Johnson, is to appear in EastEnders alongside Barbara Windsor may surprise some, but strikes us as entirely sensible. Modern politics, after all, is a soap opera or it is nothing; and although politicians complain bitterly about ‘tittle tattle’ and ‘personality stories’, it is they themselves who do most of the gossiping, feuding and falling in and out of love with one another. The first ten years of the New Labour government were really an extended soap about Blair Square in which Tony, Peter, Alastair, Anji, Robin and Gordon all had their ups and downs, fallings out, feuds and rivalries. Like Dirty Den, Peter

Here are some of the posts made on Spectator.co.uk over the past week: Matthew d’Ancona characterises the dark ties of loyalty between Gordon Brown and Damian McBride. James Forsyth says that the end is nigh for Labour after the Norwich North by-election, and discovers what the left thinks of the right. Peter Hoskin remembers one of Thatcher’s greatest speeches, and examines the Tories’ proposed bank regulations.  David Blackburn argues that Andy Coulson is safe unless new evidence emerges. Martin Bright wants the Enterprise Allowance Scheme revived. Clive Davis witnesses a strange night at the opera. And Melanie Phillips says that Britain is increasingly anti-Israeli.