Society

Saturday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

It is time for the West to get on the right side of history in Egypt

The fall of the Mubarak regime marks the end of an inglorious chapter in the history of the West. The decision to back a dictator in Egypt in exchange for stability has proved to be as flawed strategically as it was morally. The challenge for the West now is to get itself on the right side of history in this part of the world. Something that not been helped by the Obama administration’s short-sighted slashing of the US’s democracy promotion budget for Egypt.  There are understandable concerns about whether or not the Egyptian military will ever hand over power. The New York Times reports that neither the field marshal nor

David Blackburn

The world reacts to the Egyptian Revolution

Mubarak’s exit has had a predictably seismic effect on Arab Street. Protests are spreading in Algeria; Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are braced for dissent. Follow it all on al-Jazeera. In the meantime, here’s what the world’s papers make of it. The New York Times‘ Anthony Shadid considers the way ahead. Haaretz’s Benny Neuberger considers the balance between democracy and peace and rejects the idea that Arab democracies would be any less hostile to Israel. The Jerusalem Post’s David Horowitz reports that Natan Sharansky, the hero of Soviet Jewry, believes the Middle East protest movement is a purer form of democratic change than that which emerged from the Soviet Union.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Which way will Egypt turn?

The world is full of jubilation this morning, and I wish I could join in. Perhaps we are indeed witnessing Egypt on its way to democracy, thereby inspiring a similar wave of uprisings in the Arab world. It’s not hard to be mesmerised by the prospect of the Arabs rejecting the dictators foisted on them by the West in the name of security, and choosing their own democratic future. The ‘Wind of Change’ narrative is one we in the West are familiar with, as memories of the 1989 revolutions are still fresh.   You can see the Egyptian events in two ways. Many – including, it seems, Barack Obama – view the revolution as

Jonathan Davis

INVESTMENT SPECIAL: Brazilian adventure

An intrepid investor’s response to the global food shortage Entrepreneurs are prone to imaginative recruitment, so when the invitation to pack my bags for Buenos Aires came through, it should not perhaps have taken me by surprise. I have known Jim Slater, the veteran investor-entrepreneur, for several years. We meet periodically to discuss the stock market or play bridge. But the idea that I might join forces with him to go scouting for farmland in South America was not something that had crossed my mind. It turned out, however, that Jim and his business partner Ian Watson were in the process of liquidating one of their ventures, a listed mining

Lucy Vickery

Competition | 12 February 2011

Lucy Vickery presents this week’s competition In Competition No. 2683 you were invited to submit a sequel to ‘The Owl and the Pussy-Cat’. Lear himself left fragments of one, the delightful if tear-jerking ‘The Children of the Owl and the Pussy-Cat’, a tale of premature death and penury. Yours, too, were mostly stories of unhappily-ever-after, though their wit and charm made me smile through the tears. J.C.H. Mounsey, Frank Osen and Sylvia Fairley narrowly missed the cut. The winners get £25 each, and £30 goes to Alan Millard. The Owl and the Pussy-Cat sailed away From the land where the Bong-tree grows, And gave not a fig for the poor

Ross Clark Ross Clark

Councils of despair

Local authorities are slashing vital services, but keeping extravagant offices and salaries – and handing blame back to David Cameron We are, of course, all in this together. It is just that an awful lot of people feel that they are rather further in it than anyone else, and believe that while they are drowning in the deep end they can see David Cameron happily splashing about in his Gucci shorts in the shallows. I certainly felt that way when I read through Cambridgeshire County Council’s new budget and realised that my daughter’s transport to school has been selected for the chop. Like many disabled children, she has a long

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Any other business | 12 February 2011

Which would you rather save – your local library or a County Hall paper-pusher? What a curious double life I lead. Half the week I’m your disembodied commentator from the world of high finance — my anonymity protected, as I truffle for City gossip, by a portrait drawing that (I’m told) doesn’t look like me at all. For the other half, I’m one of the north of England’s most hyperactive citizens, blundering like Flashman from one battlefield of the cuts debate to the next. Last week, for example, I was discussing library closures on Monday, police manpower reductions on Tuesday, the crunch in higher education on Wednesday, and doomsday scenarios

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

The Wiki Man IT’s not all that

One argument levelled against command economies by people such as Hayek is that, without the information contained in market prices, it is almost impossible to allocate resources efficiently. In other words, there can be no ‘from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs’ without some price mechanism to reveal what those abilities and needs might be. One argument levelled against command economies by people such as Hayek is that, without the information contained in market prices, it is almost impossible to allocate resources efficiently. In other words, there can be no ‘from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs’ without some price

Aidan Hartley

Wild life | 12 February 2011

Democratic Republic of Congo It is impossible to predict how a person will behave in a tight spot. I have been in Congo’s rain forest with my TV producer Ed Braman. He’s a television veteran, a brilliant mind. But he lives in Crouch End and has spent years in offices. I wondered what he’d be like under the African sun. It is hard being with one other person for three weeks incessantly in Congo. It’s hot, you’re tired, dehydrated and the food’s bad. You have to deliver. You must get the pictures. That’s particularly stressful when it’s dangerous — and our story involved making contact with the Mayi Mayi —

Merryn Somerset-Webb

INVESTMENT SPECIAL: Sell the East, buy the West

The end is nigh for the Asian boom – but parts of Europe look perky At the beginning of 2010 I was asked to announce my ‘trade of the decade’. Forecasting ten years ahead should be easier than forecasting short-term. But at the time the global economic outlook was more than usually uncertain. That made it tricky. So after a little thought I did what I normally do when stumped. I looked at what everyone else was predicting and went for the diametric opposite. Fund managers and financial advisers were nuts for emerging markets in 2009 and 2010. I could barely see over my desk for research papers extrapolating 10

Hugo Rifkind Hugo Rifkind

Why on earth aren’t we more shocked by the scandal of Al Megrahi?

My favourite document in the cache released by the Cabinet Office this week is the one that starts ‘Dear Muammar’ and ends ‘yours sincerely, Gordon Brown’. My favourite document in the cache released by the Cabinet Office this week is the one that starts ‘Dear Muammar’ and ends ‘yours sincerely, Gordon Brown’. Have you seen it? In the first sentence, our former prime minister reminds the Libyan despot that they recently met at a G8 summit. Pretty bleak, that. It is as though Brown felt close enough to the freakout dayglo bampot of the Middle East to address him by his first name, but not so close that he was

Theodore Dalrymple

The Disneyfication of death

Why are children’s graves now littered with toys? Is a graveyard a public amenity or an arena of self-expression? An Essex council recently ordered grieving families to remove ‘decorations’ from the tombs of their dead children. ‘One councillor claimed that it looked like Poundland,’ said Anne Lee, who was asked to remove the wind chimes from her daughter’s grave. ‘But we think they’re beautiful.’ Is a council a better judge of what is right and fitting in funerary monuments than at least some of the citizenry? Municipal cemeteries are among the many achievements of our Victorian forefathers. They are usually still well maintained. In many towns they are by far

Victoria Lane

In the beginning was the crossword

On Thursday evening, a stream of distinguished visitors poured through the doors of 22 Old Queen Street. These were the readers who had applied and been picked to attend a party to celebrate the publication of the 2,000th Spectator crossword. Tom Johnson, aka Doc, crossword editor, presided over a roomful of dons, doctors, vicars and at least one astrophysicist — ‘the country’s finest crossword minds’, as Spectator editor Fraser Nelson put it. The atmosphere was heady with wine fumes, wit and only the occasional whiff of pedantry. News had got around, and there were guests from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, France… and the Congo: Julie Walker had pleaded to be

Naomi Oleary

Mother of the revolution

The Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi, 80, has joined the struggle that she has dreamed of since she was a child Cairo The atmosphere in Tahrir Square is festive. The protestors, in their bid to force President Hosni Mubarak to resign, have set up a tent city, sleeping out in the square so that it cannot be taken. Doctors are running makeshift hospitals with donated medical supplies and blankets. Casual traders hawk everything from Egyptian flags to socks. Amid a crowd of youngsters, an 80-year-old woman with a shock of brilliant white hair stands out. Dr Nawal El Saadawi, the Egyptian writer and activist, has been camping in this square for

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

The liberal consensus only prevails because if you challenge it you lose your job

Which do you prefer as a leisure pursuit — taking ecstasy or riding on a horse? I have done both and am slightly inclined towards the former, although not by much. Which do you prefer as a leisure pursuit — taking ecstasy or riding on a horse? I have done both and am slightly inclined towards the former, although not by much. Ecstasy rendered me an immobilised sap with a rictus grin and a vocabulary of about 19 words — like a slightly sinister CBeebies presenter who had not been adequately CRB checked. Riding a horse simply transposed my testicles from their more usual berth and left them instead hanging

Friday

The Spectator

The week that was | 11 February 2011

Here is a selection of posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson witnesses the first bout of Osborne versus Balls, and worries that Mervyn King’s credibility is faltering. James Forsyth unpicks Lord Oakeshott’s exit, and praises Project Merlin. Peter Hoskin reveals the doubts that remain over al-Megrahi, and explains why the government is right to look beyond ASBOs. David Blackburn watches grassroots Liberal Democrats turn on the government, and says that, despite its practical difficulties, the Big Society has been a tactical success. Nick Cohen examines Labour’s working class problem. Rod Liddle introduces DJ Naughtie and MC Filth. Alex Massie considers 17 days that shook the world.

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Egypt: Now the Hard Work Begins

Well, well, well, how the worm turns. I refer the Honourable Gentleman to the post I wrote some hours ago. Again, it’s worth noting that this is just the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. The Pessimists may yet be proved right but this, at last, is a day for the Optimists. There’s no guarantee that Egypt can build the kind of future that will satisfy the economic and political aspirations of its people but nor is it inevitable that it will swap secular authoritarianism for religious authoritarianism. At the moment, and today at least, one of the losers from this process is Osama bin Laden.

David Blackburn

Cameron’s Eric Morecambe problem calls for the wisdom of Corporal Jones

It looks like the most almighty mess. The government’s communications are tongued-tied, the Big Society is flightless and the reform agenda is being neutered by inertia. The political will has been met by the administrative won’t. But, despite the gloom, the government should pay heed to Corporal Jones: don’t panic. The slow progress of public service reform is a positive. Haunted by the memory of Blair’s paralysis, the government embarked on its programme in fevered delirium. Its ambitions were much too great. It is now time to halt and concentrate on delivering cuts. Rome was not built in a day and it certainly cost more than Britain can currently spare.

Thursday

David Blackburn

Mubarak vows to fight on

Despite today’s ruptures, Hosni Mubarak has vowed to stay on until there can be an ordered transfer of power.   His defiance will sound familiar to western ears: a lame duck politician determined to cling to the final vestiges of office. But, of course, in Egypt, Mubarak’s intransigence poses far more serious questions. It is hard to see how the optimistic tension that has built over the past three weeks will not now spoil into violence. The army has sustained the Egyptian regime for close to sixty years; but its responsibilities have now become much more complicated.   

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Mubarak to Egypt: Drop Dead

Seventeen Days that Shook the World? Not so fast, my friend! Hosni Mubarak’s speech this evening was many things but it wasn’t much of a resignation statement. Mostly, it was a nationalist plea for Middle Egypt’s sympathy vote. Presenting himself as father of the nation – including his “children” gathered in Tahrir Square and in cities across the country – Mubarak’s pitch seemed more likely to appeal to that generation’s parents. How many Egyptian youths are really preoccupied with the moment the Egyptian flag was hoisted over the Sinai? How many, surveying their gloomy economic prospects and the lack of political opportunity, care about the past? Precious few. Nor, for