Society

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Auld Selkirk: She’s Ancient But She’s Braw

How do you measure a place? A community? A spirit? It is a media-driven cliche that all communities, especially when struck by disaster, must be deemed “close-knit”. Politicians, meanwhile, give speeches suggesting that chaos is running amok and destroying these supposedly confident communities, leaving us with nothing better than an atomised society in which the ties that bind have been loosed with depressing consequences. This seems something Ed Miliband believes. He should be in Selkirk today. This is the first Friday after the second Monday in June and that means it is Selkirk Common Riding day. This is the most important, grandest day in the town’s calendar and one reason

Thursday

Freddy Gray Freddy Gray

The takeover of English summer time 

Wimbledon starts next week: as usual, England will provide the setting while the world’s most talented foreigners come to play each other and — Andy Murray notwithstanding — walk off with the trophies. It’s a bit like the British economy, as Harry Mount suggests in his brilliant cover essay for this week’s magazine. We know that London has become the Rome of the globalised world, but what we’re now seeing is the foreign takeover of English summer cultural events. The newcomers are enthusiastically adopting it all: Wimbledon, Ascot, even test matches at Lord’s. Last week, at the ARK fundraiser, Wills and Kate made appeared at an event where global zillionaires

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Balls’ bloodlust gets the better of him

Ed Balls’ problem is his killer instinct. If he were a Twilight vampire, he’d be a Tracker: someone whose uncontrollable bloodlust takes him to places he should avoid. His position on the deficit is so extreme — more debt, more spending — that he’s pretty much isolated now. People are mocking him. John Lipsky, the acting IMF chief came two weeks ago and rubbished Balls’ alternative (as Tony Blair did) — so Balls, ever the fighter, has today given a long speech where he sinks his fangs into Lipsky and says (in effect) “I’ll take on the lot of you!” But Balls is brilliant. Often George Osborne seems not to

Peter Hoskin

Will Pakistan’s politics help al-Qaeda’s new leader?

Just as any major employer would, al-Qaeda released a statement earlier to confirm the identity of its new boss. “Sheikh Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, may God guide him,” it read, “assumed responsibility as the group’s amir.” And just in case you were wondering whether the organisation’s attitude would change with its leadership, it added: “We ask God for this to be a new era for al-Qaeda under the leadership of Ayman Al-Zawahiri, an era that will purify Muslim land of every tyrant and infidel.” Which is to say: new leader, same danger. The appointment of Zawahiri comes as little surprise, even if there has been talk of divide and dissent within

Daniel Korski

General outspokenness 

Recent wars have given rise to an unusual phenomenon in British civil-military relations: frequent, and often high-profile interventions, by serving or recently retired senior military officers in public debates. The latest has been the intervention of Britain’s chief naval officer, Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, who questioned the Navy’s ability to sustain the Libya campaign. Different prime ministers have dealt with this kind of outspokenness in different ways. Tony Blair was too weak to rein in Army chief Sir General Richard Dannatt, while Gordon Brown did not have the credibility, vis-à-vis the military, to do so either. David Cameron is different. He is at the height of his powers and determined

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gove goes forwards, while other reforms stall

The good, the bad and the ugly of the coalition’s reform agenda are all on display this morning. The good is the quickening of the pace in education. As Michael Gove tells this week’s Spectator, the 200 worst primary schools will now be taken over by new management, 88 failing secondary schools are to be converted into academies and any school where half the pupils are not reaching the basic standard of five good GCSEs including English and Maths will be earmarked for a takeover. Gove’s aim is remarkably simple: he wants good schools to take over bad ones.   The bad is yet another delay to the public service

Peter Hoskin

Milburn withdraws the Blairite seal of approval

Alan Milburn’s article for the Telegraph this morning is a rhetorical blitzkreig against the coalition and their NHS reforms. From its opening shot that “The Government health reforms are the biggest car crash in NHS history,” to its closing call for Labour to “restake its claim to be the party of progressive, radical reform,” it is searing stuff. And no-one is spared, least of all Andrew Lansley and his “foolish bout of policy-wonking”. Such fierce language is unusual, even by the standards of cross-party rough ‘n’ tumble. What makes it extraordinary is that Milburn is employed by the government to work on their social mobility agenda. The coalition’s last report

Alex Massie Alex Massie

A Bloomsday Puzzle

As yer man said “a good puzzle would be to cross Dublin without passing a pub”. A better puzzle would be why anyone would think this a good idea or profitable use of their time. That said, avoiding Davy Byrne’s is generally sound advice and never more so than today when it will be filled with jackanapes squawking about gorgonzola sandwiches. Nevertheless, there’s a fellow on the internet who claims it can be done. Depending, mind you, on your definition of “across Dublin” and, indeed, “pub“. I suspect, alas, that the open source maps he’s using are incomplete and that his route runs into trouble in the Harcourt Street area.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Abraham Lincoln: Tyrant! Unionist!

Hendrik Hertzberg has some fun with Rick Perry’s occasional suggestions* that Texas could secede from the United States of America. Doing so he quotes extensively from a message Abraham Lincoln sent to Congress on July 4th, 1861. It is, as you would imagine, good stuff. But that doesn’t mean it solves everything and nor is it the case that Lincoln is an anti-Godwin whom you need only quote to prevail in any argument. In any case, you might also think that there’s a difference between what was true in the Civil War and what must be true – legally or politically – now. Meanwhile, some of what Lincoln has to

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Is It April 1st?

There is a stramash over government bin policy! James writes: The government is, rightly, receiving a monstering from the papers for its u-turns on weekly bin collections. But what is at stake here is more than just the issue of bins. The government’s failure to honour its promise on this matter casts doubt on whether ministers are strong enough and tough enough to impose their will on their departments. The two ministries dealing with the rubbish question are the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Communities and Local Government. Both are run by Conservative Secretaries of State. If this was not enough, both the Secretaries

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Why the battle of the bins matters

The government is, rightly, receiving a monstering from the papers for its u-turns on weekly bin collections. But what is at stake here is more than just the issue of bins. The government’s failure to honour its promise on this matter casts doubt on whether ministers are strong enough and tough enough to impose their will on their departments. The two ministries dealing with the rubbish question are the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department of Communities and Local Government. Both are run by Conservative Secretaries of State. If this was not enough, both the Secretaries of State involved — Caroline Spelman and Eric Pickles —

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Rick Perry: GOP Favourite?

The odds on Texas governor Rick Perry entering the 2012 GOP Presidential Stakes appear to be shortening. The address he gave in New York yesterday sounds like the first run through a possible stump speech. As Rich Lowry (who was there) points out Perry seems to have at least three of the things you need if you’re serious about running for the White House: presence, a story and a theme. Perry might have all three. The story is simple: Texas is working. Despite some difficulties (don’t expect Perry to elaborate on these) the Lone Star State has enjoyed boom times in recent years, in stark contrast to much of the

Kate Maltby Kate Maltby

A Treat for Everyone

Theatre, like all the best addictions, is a habit for life. Theatre, like all the best addictions, is a habit for life. 
 
The sad facts of class and social immobility mean that that you’re far more likely to become a regular theatregoer as an adult if you were taken to the theatre often as a child, but it’s not because theatre is merely a social pursuit favoured by the upper-middle class, or even that theatre need be economically exclusive compared to other entertainments. (I challenge any reader to find a theatre in London where every seat is more expensive than a Premier League football ticket.) Thanks to the National Theatre’s partnership with

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

D***er

This post is primarily for the nigger-obsessed idiot Mike99, who kindly contributed to a previous thread and bandied the offensive word around like George Wallace on amphetamines. But hopefully others will join in the debate too. Dambusters, then, and Stephen Fry’s remake of the famous film in which Guy Gibson’s dog will be renamed “Digger”, so as not to cause offence. This means that the film is not historically accurate in a fairly trivial manner – ie, the name of a dog. But then films are very rarely historically accurate. I suspect that most people depicted in the film will have spoken differently and espoused different views to those which

Martin Bright

Of Left and Right

Those looking for further evidence of my drift to the right might wish to look at my latest post on authoritarian Islam for the new website Conservative Voices. As the great man said: ‘The Left is always looking for traitors and the Right is always looking for converts’.

Daniel Korski

Bring on the strikes

An old boss of mine once said to me: when you start a new assignment, seek out a fight — and win it. The same advice should be given to incoming Prime Ministers. U-turns, as Mrs Thatcher knew, just create demand for more U-turns. If the government is willing to revise its NHS plans, then why not reopen the Defence Review, or alter the pledge to spend 0.7 of our national income on overseas aid (or at least abandon the questionable idea of legislating for it)? But seeking out and winning battles, while avoiding too many retreats, is not enough. To be great, a Prime Minister needs good enemies. Mrs

Tuesday

David Blackburn

Pressure at the pumps

Away from the clamour in the chamber over the bowdlerisation of the NHS reforms, a group of MPs led by Robert Halfon convened in Westminster Hall earlier this afternoon to debate how rising fuel costs might be abated. Treasury minister Justine Greening attended for the government. With the average price of unleaded at 136.9p/litre and diesel at 141.5p/litre last month, fuel costs are now a major concern for ordinary families. According to the campaign group Fair Fuel UK, who are working with the MPs, the average motorist who has to drive to work spent £33/week on petrol last year, taken from median pre-tax earnings of £499/week in 2010. With inflation

Jonathan Jones

Republicans pull their punches against each other, but not Obama

So it turns out the candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination don’t like Barack Obama, his health care reforms, government bailouts, unions or abortion rights. Who knew? But it seems they do like tax cuts, states’ rights and… each other. The beleaguered Newt Gingrich didn’t even wait for the first question in last night’s debate to commence the Obama-bashing. “We need a new President to end the Obama depression”, he opened. And the others soon piled on. Mitt Romney said that “This President has failed” on jobs and the economy. They attacked “Obamacare”, his “oppressive regulations”, his fiscal stimulus, his repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, his intervention in

Peter Robins

Local interest

For decades, The Spectator’s Portrait of the Week has provided a concise record of national and international news. But there are interesting or at least intriguing stories in our local and regional press, too. Here are a dozen: A 21-year-old cannabis grower from Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, has been sentenced to 80 hours’ community service after he summoned the police during a break-in. According to prosecutors, most of his plants had blight. A coach driver on a school trip to Ashton Pools, Manchester, has been fined £35 for parking in a lay-by while he ran to give a boy his forgotten swimming kit. Thirty people were evacuated from a pub in Ockbrook,