Society

Saturday

Paul Wood

Can they take Tripoli?

Into battle with Libya’s middle-class rebel army Nafusa mountains, Libya ‘My people, did you forget what you got from this tyrant Gaddafi? Only pain, death and humiliation!’ The commander of the Tripoli Brigade was rallying his men at a rebel base not far from the frontline in the western mountains. ‘Stand up, in his face, and say in one voice: No more!’ The Tripoli Brigade is a ‘special unit’ being prepared to storm the capital. Most of its members still have family in Tripoli, so had covered their faces with masks. If I hadn’t known that they were an army of teachers, engineers and accountants, many holding a gun for

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

A pie in the face for the police from the dark side of public opinion

At time of writing I do not know the name of the lumpen oaf who tried to rub an ersatz custard pie in Rupert Murdoch’s face during his testimony to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee. At time of writing I do not know the name of the lumpen oaf who tried to rub an ersatz custard pie in Rupert Murdoch’s face during his testimony to the Culture, Media and Sport select committee. It is possible that it was not a person at all, but a phantasm, a creature from the dark side spontaneously brought into being by the national outpouring of hysteria and hyperbole, much as the chupacabras,

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

At last: precisely the wrong prescription for the future of Conservatism

It isn’t often that political commentary presents us with a perfect portrait — a neat and simple miniature in oils — of where a faction is going wrong. It isn’t often that political commentary presents us with a perfect portrait — a neat and simple miniature in oils — of where a faction is going wrong. Just such a picture, however, was painted unwittingly for us by Tim Montgomerie in the Telegraph last Sunday. Tim Montgomerie is an admirable and capable figure, and co-editor of ConservativeHome. Without him the world of political commentary would lose one of its most interesting and significant voices on the right. Never unheeding, never unthinking

Angela Huth

Duvets or blankets?

Some issues are ‘life-dividers’ – no compromise will ever work Sheets and blankets: I have loved them always. The now ubiquitous duvet, current winner in the affections of sleepers, is to me the enemy. There is so much against it: its habit of preferring the other sleeper, and twisting over to his side. The draughts that sneak in from all directions. The inability to be either hot enough or cool enough, thus ensuring broken, bad-tempered nights. Sixty years ago a duvet was only found in a chalet hotel in Austria. The novelty was possibly enjoyed for a week. For us bedding traditionalists there is no enjoyment in duvets. They can

Peter Paterson

Freedom in Wales

Peter Paterson, who died last week, was a political columnist for this magazine in 1970, and later a frequent contributor. This extract, from a piece published in The Spectator in 1983, describes his evacuation, in 1944, from Spurgeon’s Orphan Home, south London, to Cwmllynfell, South Wales: Our trainload of orphans had arrived in 1944 in Port Talbot, fugitives from the German V-2 rockets, our minders having been promised that we should all be kept together in some Welsh version of the institution from which we had been evacuated. But no one had told the local worthies who met the train of any such arrangement, and we were scattered by a

James Delingpole James Delingpole

Are music festivals better with children?

‘Dad, later, shall we go and see the Vaccines?’ says Boy. ‘Dad, later, shall we go and see the Vaccines?’ says Boy. ‘Yeah, er, sure,’ I say, trying not to sound as enthusiastic I feel. It’s not the Vaccines I’m interested in; all their songs sound the same, a louder variant on the three chords which open Blondie’s ‘Denis’ (Denee). Rather it’s the joy of realising that, at 12, Boy is still young enough — just — not to feel totally embarrassed at being seen to enjoy rock music in the company of his lame old dad. We’ve come to the Latitude Festival at Henham Park in Suffolk, me, the

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Any other business | 23 July 2011

Another Murdoch lesson: when the iceberg looms, it’s too late to change course The sixth most famous Murdoch in history, after Rupert, James, Wendi and Rupert’s parents Sir Keith and Dame Elisabeth (the latter still with us at 102, and presumably wondering what the boy will get up to next) was of course William McMaster Murdoch, First Officer of the Titanic. If space permitted, I’d expatiate on how cruelly this heroic Scotsman was misrepresented in the 1997 cinema epic in which he is seen taking a bribe and shooting two passengers before turning his gun on himself. The film was of course backed by 20th Century Fox, which is controlled

Roger Alton Roger Alton

Spectator Sport: Following the captain

Strange to be writing about sport when outside it feels like Salem, where vengeful witchfinders prowl the highways and byways of the media and political landscape looking for someone or something, anything, to burn; where screeching harpies of press and internet call for the closure of papers they don’t like; and where sanctimonious preachers declaim from their leader columns that the intolerant consensus of the left must rule. Strange to be writing about sport when outside it feels like Salem, where vengeful witchfinders prowl the highways and byways of the media and political landscape looking for someone or something, anything, to burn; where screeching harpies of press and internet call

Friday

Peter Robins

Local interest | 22 July 2011

Billingham: A judge has given a couple a £500 reward after they locked a professional burglar in their porch. The burglar, who had been attempting to break in at 4am, was given seven years in jail. Portland: A 53-year-old woman has abseiled 60ft, for charity, down a cliff from which she fell at the age of 13. The fall was 240ft, and left her with a fractured skull. Oldham: A market trader has been cleared of deceit after telling a court that “only an idiot” would believe his £10 Dolce & Gabbana watches were genuine. Brighton: A man who planted a wildlife garden at Manor Hall Road allotments, Southwick, has

James Plunkett

Eating into household savings

Next Tuesday, the ONS will release initial estimates of second quarter UK GDP growth. It may be a slight exaggeration to call it a ‘make or break’ moment for the Chancellor but ‘make or brake’ might not be a bad description. After six months of no growth, another three months of flat GDP would strengthen calls to slow his current strategy. Plenty of forecasters are predicting gloom. The graph below, which readers may have seen in some form before, compares this recession with its predecessors. This was the sharpest, deepest downturn in living memory; a similarly strong recovery is needed. So, what will the chancellor hope to see next Tuesday?

Daniel Korski

Busting myths about Coulson’s security vetting

A recent turn in “Hackgate” has focused on the level of security clearance given to Andy Coulson. The insinuation is that Number 10 knew that Coulson would not be able to pass the so-called Developed Vetting level (DV) and therefore gave him a lower level. I have no idea what happened in No 10, or whether the allegations made against Coulson automatically disqualified him from obtaining DV level. But having been vetted several times, I can’t help but disagree with the way the story has been covered by some organisations. First, Coulson was, as far as I can gather, vetted to the Security Check (SC) level. That is not ‘the

Thursday

David Blackburn

Is Merkel getting her way?

Below, courtesy of the Telegraph, is a leaked copy of the draft proposals on managing the Greek debt crisis.There are no measures to reduce Greece’s debts to sustainable levels; subsidy is the preferred route. This will presumably hit German taxpayers the hardest, but Merkel has managed to obtain private sector involvement, a clear German objective in these discussions.  However, this course is likely to lead to Greece’s selective default as creditors buy back bonds. The European Central Bank has declared that it is happy to allow this and will continue to accept government bonds in the event of sovereign default. This is a major retreat from its earlier position and commentators are clear that the Eurozone is now flirting

Alex Massie Alex Massie

1999 not 2000

I was going to write something about the 2000th test match but was distracted by Murdochpalooza. Happily this is not actually the 200th test. Or it should not be. The ICC, reliably mistaken as ever, have given test status to the (disappointing) 2005 match between Australia and the Rest of the World. The Bearded Wonder and his successors do not approve of this and there has, consequently, been much chuntering about the matter in scoreboxes across the land as this trivial-yet-oddly-significant landmark approaches. It is not the fact that the 2005 match was a marketing ploy that rankles, it is the inconsistency. If the 2005 match is given test status

David Blackburn

Common Franco-German position on Greek debt

As I wrote earlier this morning, rumours of a ‘common Franco-German position’ on Greek debt were circulating in the early hours. Details are now emerging. Nicolas Sarkozy has dropped plans to impose a 0.0025 per cent levy on Eurozone bank assets, which was opposed by Angela Merkel for being much too cumbersome. In return, it seems that Merkel is prepared to consider the French-led plan of bond rollover. Merkel is also keen that private sector holders of Greek bonds pay their share of this second bailout. According to the FT, she favours a bond-swap deal, whereby bonds that will mature in the next eight years are swapped for new 30 year bonds paying a

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Bloggingheads and Rupert

So I was on Bloggingheads yesterday talking about – what else? – Murdoch and his nefarious ways. Felix Salmon was excellent and lovely and more patient than he should probably have been. Anyway, there’s a whole hour of this stuff! If I look demented or spout nonsense I blame Rupert…

Wednesday

David Blackburn

“Why I hit Murdoch”

The Guardian’s Comment is Free has given a platform to the self-styled comedian Jonnie Marbles, who attacked Rupert Murdoch with a plateful of shaving foam. He says he did it ‘for the people who couldn’t’, which is ironic given that he couldn’t either after, owing to Wendi Deng’s bejewelled fist. This has sparked a debate about whether it is fit and proper to have allowed Marbles the space. CoffeeHousers’, over to you… PS: In a tweet that exceeds the limits of parody, Alec Baldwin appears to have called for David Cameron to resign as Prime Minister of England. The actor also adds that we’re a very talented nation. Joking aside, it’s an indication that this overblown story is

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Westminster’s Festina Affair

Cycling fans will recall the Festina Affair that crippled the 1998 version of the Tour de France. The discovery that the peloton could be considered a travelling pharmacy did not surprise veteran cycling aficionados, even if the extent and sophistication of the doping was enough to shock some. Entire teams withdrew from a race that, with grim inevitability, quickly became known as the Tour de Farce. Well, this phone-hacking scandal is, for the press and parliament, a comparable scandal. Just as it was no secret that doping was a staple part of the professional cyclist’s diet, so it was hardly hidden that the newspapers, especially but not exclusively, the tabloids

David Blackburn

A real crisis?

David Cameron is under pressure now that the phone hacking scandal has slithered its way closer to his door. The news that Neil Wallis informally advised Andy Coulson in the run up to last year’s election will spark questions about Cameron’s judgement and the competence of his leadership, as will the revelations about his chief of staff, Ed Llewellyn. Criticism is likely to come from both sides of the House: Tories I’ve spoken to are none too pleased about yesterday’s events. Cameron rebuffed his critics at last week’s PMQs by rising above politics to strike a calm and prime ministerial tone, for the most part. He will have to do so again.

Tuesday

David Blackburn

The Murdochs before parliament

The major story of this session was the claim, made by Rupert Murdoch, that Colin Myler, former editor of the News of the World, appointed James Chapman to investigate phone hacking and the two were in possession of an explosive document on the subject for years, which has since come to light. It was these people that Rupert Murdoch described as having betrayed his trust throughout proceedings, but particularly in his closing statement. Myler has been furiously denying this ever since. Other than that, it was pretty much quiet on the western front.