Society

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What is the Tory position on Trident?

Yesterday, The Times published an interview with William Hague. Here’s how it reported his views on the defence budget and Trident: ‘The MoD budget was “not immune”. But he again pledged his party to upgrading the Trident nuclear deterrent.’ But today at his press conference, David Cameron said: “having the best replacement there is for an independent nuclear deterrent – there are reasons for all of these things. But clearly, when you are reviewing spending, you have to review all spending” It is hard to see how one can square these two positions. It would be instructive to know which line—Hague or Cameron’s—is actually party policy. As I’ve said before, scrapping or delaying the next

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Now for the hard part

Ross Douthat, the new New York Times columnist, has a smart piece up at The Atlantic arguing that the beginning of the Obama presidency has been the easy bit precisely because his inheritance has been so bad. Here’s the nub of his argument: “Barack Obama hit the trifecta. He’s inherited two ongoing military conflicts; he’s responsible for managing a global financial crisis that began on his predecessor’s watch; and he spent last week trying to pick his way through the political-legal minefield created by the Bush Administration’s interrogation policies. As a result, across an eventful three months in office, the events of greatest consequence – the stimulus bill, the strategizing

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Swine Flu Fever

If they can panic in Washington DC, then, for heavens’ sake, we can have some hysteria here too: The first Britons confirmed to have caught swine flu have been discharged from hospital after recovering. This will obviously disappoint the BBC, who’ve been hoping that Swine flu will make up for the great disappointment that was bird flu’s failure to bump us all off. Still, this news, while obviously a setback, won’t be enough to stop them from telling us that we’re all going to die next week. UPDATE: Do you have Swine Flu? Find out here and here.

Toby Young Toby Young

Bicycle accident

I got knocked off my bike on Tuesday night. Ambulance, hospital, general anaesthetic … the whole nine yards. No nerve damage and brain seems to be functioning okay, but hopes of becoming a male supermodel have now been dashed. I was cycling down Holland Park Avenue in West London at around 12.30am, front and rear lights both on, when I saw a car about to pull out of a side street. I slowed down, trying to figure out if he’d seen me. He didn’t move so I assumed he had and was letting me go ahead. I duly cruised past and he pulled out, knocking me off. The first thing

Daniel Korski

Honouring the soldiers

This morning, while most of London rushed to work, a few hundred soldiers stood silently in the scorching sun of the Iraqi desert, as the names of their fallen comrades were read out. All 234 of them; 179 British and 46 allied soldiers. The Reverend Paschal Hanrahan led the prayers and said something which I found profoundly moving. I haven’t been able to find the exact quote, but (from memory) it went something like: “It is to the solder to whom we owe the right to free trial, not the lawyer; it is the soldier, not the journalist, who guarantees the freedom of speech; and it is the soldier, who

Peter Hoskin

Brown’s position looks more and more unstable

Over at Comment Central, the Times pair of Danny Finkelstein and Philip Collins – who, for my money, have written perhaps the two finest comment pieces for a UK newspaper so far this year (Finkelstein on Israel; Collins on Brown’s political positioning) – have published their exchange on whether Brown will go before the next election.  I’d recommend all CoffeeHousers read it. Finkelstein summarises the main reasons why it now makes sense for Labour to topple their leader: “Now I feel differently [from last autumn]. First it is hard to think that any [other potential candidate] would be inferior or do worse politically. Second, the scramble would be undignified but

Peter Hoskin

Viewing suggestions for government

Ben Brogan writes a very useful article in today’s Telegraph, outlining the preparations that the Tories are making for government.  He details some of the meetings between shadow ministers and top civil servants; the advice that Michael Heseltine has given the Cameroons (“don’t bother with special advisers”); and William Hague’s directives for the Foreign Office.  But it’s this passage that jumped out at me: “Alongside the formal talks, there have been seminars, breakfasts and long sessions with former mandarins and ministers who have all brought their expertise to bear. There are even reading and viewing lists, which include Gerald Kaufman’s How to be a Minister and Alastair Campbell’s diaries, as

Daniel Korski

Deputy Sheriff Brown Unveils AfPak strategy

Yesterday Gordon Brown told the House about the UK’s new “AfPak” strategy, laying out what can best be seen as a companion piece to the US strategy unveiled by Barack Obama a few weeks ago. (Notice how the US took six pages to say what the UK needs 32 pages for). Britain will boost troop numbers in the run-up to the presidential elections and spend more money on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistan border. A lot of money. Between 2009 and 2013, the British development agency will spend £665 million in Pakistan. Over the same period, £510 million will go towards Afghanistan’s development. Despite this, the reaction has been critical.

Peter Hoskin

How bad could this get?

There’s little more to add to this alarming snippet from the Daily Mail, except to say that the publication of MPs’ expense receipts looks set to become the most damaging scandal of Gordon Brown’s premiership: “Three Labour MPs are said to be terrified that the release of their expenses claims will expose them as adulterers and financial cheats. Four ministers are also understood to have warned party whips they might have to resign for abusing the system, when MPs’ receipts are published before the summer recess in July. The three unnamed backbenchers are said to have been placed on ‘suicide watch’ by Labour whips, who fear they might break down

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Why we need a proper debate about the 50p tax rate

As every Hitchhikers fan knows, the answer to life, the universe and everything is 42. The question about the new tax on the super-rich is framed in a similar way. Will it raise £2.4bn as the Treasury claims? Or will it lose about £800m as the IFS model suggests? All of this – the future of Britain’s status as a low tax economy – depends on the gradient of the Laffer curve. And if the debate is had properly, and had now, then we may be able to stop David Cameron making a dreadful mistake. CoffeeHousers will know the idea behind the Laffer curve, but perhaps not the story. In

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Obama and Cricket

It’s true you know, Barack Obama does want to un-make the United States of America. First he takes a quick cricket lesson from Brian Lara, now he’s reading Joseph O’Neill’s (splendid) Netherland – a novel that is, at least in part, about cricket in New York City. Could anything be more un-American? Of course not. Except, of course, cricket has a long and proud history in the United States and, for a while, it seemed as likely that cricket would become the national pastime as baseball. Indeed, the world’s first international cricket match was contested by teams representing the United States and Canada. Personally, I blame the decision to move

Virginia Matthews

University prospects are still a thorny issue

‘If you are sending your child to an independent school because you think this somehow guarantees a place at a top-quality university, then as things stand, you may be taking a bit of a gamble,’ says Vicky Tuck, head of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. ‘If you are sending your child to an independent school because you think this somehow guarantees a place at a top-quality university, then as things stand, you may be taking a bit of a gamble,’ says Vicky Tuck, head of Cheltenham Ladies’ College. ‘Although it is clear that traditionally independent schools have had the upper hand when it comes to getting into Oxbridge, very bright children from

Virginia Matthews

Chalking up the costs

‘Although enquiries about and acceptances of private school places appear to have increased slightly in recent months, we won’t really know if the recession has started to bite until September. ‘Although enquiries about and acceptances of private school places appear to have increased slightly in recent months, we won’t really know if the recession has started to bite until September. Even if parents have already paid perhaps £1,000 for a boarding school place, the downturn may mean that a few lose their jobs between now and then and pupils don’t actually turn up.’ That’s the view of Dick Davison, spokesman for the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (an association of heads

Virginia Matthews

The right special needs school is out there

Yet the first UK school to specialise in dyslexia, as well as dyspraxia and Asperger’s Syndrome, opened its doors in 1946, when spelling and reading problems were dismissed as ‘word blindness’. Now one of only 20 special dyslexia schools in the country and with just 90 places on offer, the independent, co-ed Frewen College in Rye, East Sussex — whose four houses are named after celebrated dyslexics Sir Richard Branson, Nigel Kennedy, Sir Steven Redgrave and Jamie Oliver — is both expensive and effective. ‘At an annual £15,500 for a junior day place or £28,000 for a senior boarder, our fees approach those of Eton,’ says business manager Jeremy Field,

Dorothy Lepkowska

Entrance tests repay close examination

It is usually not enough merely to be able to afford to send a child to an independent school. Many fee-paying senior schools operate a form of selection, and admit pupils only upon the successful completion of the Common Entrance Examination, or an equivalent. The exam is particularly popular among boarding schools, and is intended to test whether the child has the right level of ability to do well there. It can be taken for entry at ages 11, 12 and 13 years. Girls’ senior schools tend to admit pupils from 11, while boys will transfer to secondary schooling from 13. In most cases, a child will also be subject

Dorothy Lepkowska

What to look for in an independent school

Independent schooling is an expensive business with fees typically ranging from about £10,000 a year for a day school to more than £25,000 per annum for boarding. Multiply that over the 11 years of a pupil’s compulsory schooling, add the number of children in your family, and tot up all the extras — such as school uniforms, trips, music lessons and tennis coaching — and it may turn your hair grey. But how can parents make the right decision about where to send their child? To some degree, of course, that depends on what they are looking for. Parents who have a child with special needs may, for example, be

Wednesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Obama’s personal appeal

In the slew of polling data that has come out to mark Obama’s 100 days, two numbers stand out to me: 81 percent of Americans like Obama, that’s 30 percent more than support his policies. This is a result of several things: his personal manner, the fact that people appreciate the historical significance of having a black president and the respect afforded the presidency. But I think an often overlooked factor is that even though Obama is a committed liberal he has some conservative instincts on, most notably, family policy and education. Take this comment from him in a just released interview with the New York Times Magazine: “My grandmother

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Gurkha victory is a victory for the House

Parliament has handed away too many of its powers in recent years and the behaviour of too many of its members have brought it into disrepute, but today it did the right thing in standing up for the rights of Gurkhas. To my mind, any Gurkha who served should have the right to live here if they so choose. Watching PMQs today, you sensed that the House was girding itself to assert its authority. The tell-tale sign was the near silence from the Labour side as Gordon Brown attempted to defend the indefensible. His emphasis on how the country could not afford to allow the Gurkhas, people who had been

Peter Hoskin

Government defeated in Gurkha vote

Good news.  The Lib Dem motion to extend equal settlement rights to all Gurkhas has just been passed in the Commons, by 267 to 246 votes.  Nick Clegg, too often a figure of fun in Westminster, deserves a great deal of credit over this. By contrast, Gordon Brown positioned his government on the wrong side of the issue, and he’s been rewarded with a not insignificant rebellion by Labour MPs.  So, more bad headlines for the PM tomorrow and a futher erosion of his authority.  He really is just lurching from one calamity to another.

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Two points about swine flu

A well-informed friend of mine, in the medical world, has been dealing with this swine flu scare, and I thought I’d pass on what he has to say. The good news: this is not the end of the human race. Swine flu is contagious, far more so than the H5N1 bird flu, when you pretty much had to strangle an infected chicken to catch it. But when swine flu moves on from person to person, its severity falls dramatically. So while it is fatal for the few who have (for reasons yet unexplained) caught it from a primary source, it will not be so from people who catch it second