Society

Saturday

Douglas Davis

Syria’s family business

In the absence of free speech, a free media and other political mod-cons in Syria, Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar cultivated the convenient habit of transacting business in the shadows, advancing and protecting — brutally, when necessary — the interests of the family and their fellow Alawites. But Damascus has always remained alive with intrigue and speculation. To process and disseminate that mix of conjecture and fact, a highly developed rumour mill sprang up. And for those interested in Middle East affairs — particularly Syrian affairs — London became the hub of the Syrian information exchange. Take the unlikely succession of Bashar following the death of his father

Mary Wakefield Mary Wakefield

‘Anti-semitism is on the rise’

Exactly halfway through my conversation with the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, I had an attack of conscience, a small one, but there it was. Sacks had explained the thesis of his book, The Great Partnership — that religion and science don’t have to fight but can co-exist, as separate strands of inquiry. We’d discussed our respective religions (I’m Christian) and agreed that man will always wonder: what am I doing here? And that science has no answer to this. Then Sacks began to speak about the need for the three great Abrahamic, monotheistic faiths to stand together. ‘The problem,’ he said, in his slow, reasonable voice (which even the lady

Aidan Hartley

Wild life | 2 July 2011

‘So much sorting to do,’ said my Aunt Beryl. We stood in the middle of her home in Sussex. I hadn’t visited for many years, not since Granny and Grandpa lived here. The memories of those dear people came in such a rush of images I had to sit down. That’s when I noticed the canvas leaning against a wall. The painted side was away from me, so I went over and picked it up. It was a portrait of my mother, Doreen Sanders, as she was in 1945, in Burma. I had never seen this portrait before in my life. ‘Your mother didn’t like it,’ said Aunt Beryl. I

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

The Wiki Man: Stuff and nonsense

I would have more sympathy for criticism of consumer culture were it not for the people who voice it — usually the type who owns a second home in Tuscany but is horrified that their cleaner has two televisions. I would have more sympathy for criticism of consumer culture were it not for the people who voice it — usually the type who owns a second home in Tuscany but is horrified that their cleaner has two televisions. As for the anti-materialist stance of Lord Layard, who believes your iPad creates unhappiness in those who cannot afford one, this may be true. But then the same logic must also apply

Bruce Anderson

Drink: Life after Lafite

I had an old friend — now, sadly, dead — who spent his final years in terror of his wife. I had an old friend — now, sadly, dead — who spent his final years in terror of his wife. By the time he reached man’s estate, he had developed a taste for good claret. As he became a good lawyer, he was able to indulge it. Jolly expeditions to Bordeaux, long sessions with old-fashioned wine-merchants, his own estimable palate: the outcome was an enviable cellar. And an increasingly valuable one. My late friend refused to let counting-house considerations deter him from drinking his treasures; that attitude of mind was

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Any other business | 2 July 2011

Why release emergency oil stocks? Because Opec never does the right thing Observers of oil politics have been wondering why the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which represents 28 member states including Britain, has suddenly decided to start releasing oil from its emergency reserves. What do they know that we don’t? This is a rare move for the IEA — the last time was after Hurricane Katrina. The amount of the release, 60 million barrels, is enough to fuel the world for about 19 hours, which sounds insignificant, but is also equivalent to 42 days of pre-war production from Libya, which is more relevant. Current oil stocks are apparently ample on

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Poverty porn

British poverty is normally a subject for comedy, rather than documentary. Scotland gave the world Rab C. Nesbitt with his string vest and indecipherable accent. Channel 4 had Shameless, the capers of a family ruled by drink and drugs. The BBC has now brought us the real thing: The Scheme (BBC1, Tuesday), a fly-on-the-wall portrayal of the lives of six families in a welfare ghetto in East Ayrshire. It was a smash hit in Scotland, where it was aired last year, and the BBC is now trying it on the rest of the country (with subtitles, naturally). The characters look as if they were chosen for a Trainspotting sequel. We

Friday

Martin Bright

The Johann Hari affair

I have been surprised by some of the reaction to the news that the Independent’s star columnist and interviewer Johann Hari had played fast and loose with the conventions of journalism. It’s very difficult to defend what he did. I always think it’s a little unseemly for journalists to pass judgement on their fellow hacks. But this really is an extraordinary case. As the Telegraph reports, The Orwell Prize is now investigating Hari and whether to withdraw his award from 2008. It is worth reading the statement in full: “The Orwell Prize became aware of allegations concerning Johann Hari, the winner of the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2008, on Monday 27th

Peter Hoskin

From the archives: how The Spectator beat the strikes

A change from the usual for this week’s excavation into The Spectator archives — which is to say, we won’t be digging out an article from the magazine’s 183-year back-catalogue for CoffeeHousers’ delectation. Instead, the images above, and a quick, little story. Given how nostalgic some people have recently been for the General Strike of 1926, my thinking was to present The Spectator’s coverage from the time. (It is critical of both government and unions, as it happens). But it was the appearance of the issue dated 8th May 1926 that caught my eye, rather than its content. Its pages are thicker and rougher than the typical Spectators of that

The Spectator

The week that was | 1 July 2011

Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the last week. Spectator.co.uk introduces its new Business and Investments section. Fraser Nelson recalls when he crossed a picket line. James Forsyth says the government must look beyond Europe, and says that Christine Lagarde’s appointment is a win for Osborne. Peter Hoskin says that this week’s strikes are a prelude to something larger, and asks what will emerge from the ashes in Afghanistan. David Blackburn says that the Greek vote leaves the vital questions unanswered, and explains how Whitehall’s last monolithic department is to be reformed. Nick Cohen considers the crisis of left, right and centre. Rod Liddle detests the

Peter Robins

Local interest | 1 July 2011

Leeds: A giant woollen bobble hat has been stolen from a traffic-light junction box, where it was placed as part of a public art project. A man was later captured on CCTV wearing the hat: Jarrow: A 70-year-old man has been fined £250 after he continued to claim council-tax benefit, housing benefit and pension credit following a £225,742 win on the national lottery. Magistrates were told that he had already repaid the £6,126 he owed. Edinburgh: The girls’ football team of St Luke’s Primary School, Mayfield, has won 50 successive matches without conceding a goal. Newquay: Police have promised to take action against visitors who wear T-shirts bearing swear-words or

Peter Hoskin

Why IDS is right raise the link between immigration and worklessness

Before everyone gets too excited, Iain Duncan Smith is not saying in his speech today that immigration is a bad thing in itself. But he is saying that it has consequences, some of which impinge on native Brits. Many of these consequences are, as it happens, writ in the official statistics. As IDS highlights – and as Coffee House has detailed before – a good number of the jobs that sprang up during the New Labour years were accounted for by immigration; and there are signs that the process is continuing still. This is one of the reasons why the number of jobs in the economy can increase, while the

Thursday

Grace Palmer

It’s not just pensions, say teachers

As any CoffeeHouser knows, the Spectator enthusiastically supports Michael Gove’s education reforms. But it’s always important to listen to opposing views – so we stepped outside our offices in Westminster to talk to some of the striking teachers. Some of their points, it must be said, were a little peculiar. “It was wonderful under Balls, a golden age,” said one “we’d like to get back to that.” But others were more realistic in their concerns. For example, they criticised Michael Gove’s inconsistency: the official government policy is that modular exams will remain, but he appeared on television this weekend saying that he intended to remove modular exams by 2012. This

Kate Maltby Kate Maltby

A fierce debate on a religious matter

The Spectator hosted a debate at the Royal Geographic Society yesterday evening with a rather meaty motion: “Secularism is a greater threat to Christianity than Islam”. We have two reviews of the occasion. The first, by Kate Maltby, is below. Lloyd Evans’ can be found here. Last night’s Spectator debate on the motion “Secularism is a greater threat to Christianity than Islam” was marked by a highly personal level of investment from the speakers, a sudden swing in the vote, and the uncharacteristic sight of Chair Rod Liddle acting as the most conciliatory person in the room. Although the debate ranged far and wide, at its heart was an old-fashioned

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Breaking strikes

Shortly before Michael Gove organised a strike for journalists in Dundee, I crossed a school picket line with my mum, a teacher at my local school (Nairn Academy). She was a member of a teaching union, the PAT, that didn’t believe in strikes, so when the school closed the two of us went in. It was a perfectly friendly affair: my teachers (and her colleagues) were at the gate, with no one else around. One of her colleagues handed her a leaflet and we went on inside. We never discussed politics at home, and I still have no idea what my mum thought about Thatcher (it was 1985). But then,

Peter Hoskin

The unions dip their toe into the water

It’s strange to think of the biggest, national walkout for years as a prelude to something even larger — but that’s how some of the union bosses would have it today. Schools are shutting, civil servants are downing their keyboards, UK Border Agency staff are pausing their vigilant watch over our shores, and all the while the talk is of more to come. Christine Blower, the head of the NUT, tells the Times (£) that today is the “first phase” of a “coordinated campaign”. Mark Serwotka — who appeared opposite Francis Maude on the Today Progamme earlier — warned yesterday that these are just the “opening skirmishes,” and that, “If

Wednesday

David Blackburn

Greek vote leaves questions unanswered

The Greek parliament has passed a vital bill to approve Prime Minister Papandreou’s austerity package, which was imposed by the European Union. The bill passed by 158 votes to 138, which suggests that some of those on the opposition benches abstained.   The markets rose this morning in anticipation of the bill’s safe passage; the FTSE, for example, climbed by nearly 100 points before lunch. The markets fell back after the vote, but have since recovered. The FTSE closed at 5855.95, a rise of 89.07 points on the day.   That’s not to be scoffed at, but the situation remains grave and the markets’ apparent caution reflects that. As Martin

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Lady Nicotine and the Fat Wars

Well, whaddyaknow, turns out that a rise in obesity is one of the costs of government-sponsored attempts to make smoking tobacco less appealing. Swings and roundabouts. Acording to Chris Snowdon, a study* published in this week’s British Medical Journal reports that non-smoking women are twice as likely to be obese as smokers and three times as likely to be seriously lardy. True, obesity is not quite as dangerous as smoking but that’s a matter of perspective. If you look at the matter from the Treasury then obesity may well be the greater problem. Since the pressure on health costs can only increase in years to come (that’s one consequence of

Tuesday

Piotr Brzezinski

The Brady solution to the Euro-crisis

It was a busy weekend for euro-crisis observers. Mario Draghi, an Italian member of the European Central Bank, was finally appointed as its new President; Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, acknowledged that the European sovereign debt crisis is a ‘material threat’ to British banks; David Cameron announced that Sir Jon Cunliffe, a Treasury civil servant, will be the UK’s next ambassador to the EU; and, according to reports, French banks have laid plans for a ‘Brady bonds’-style solution to Greece’s troubles.   In the short run, the last of these will be the most important. Named after US Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady, the innovative Brady Bonds programme