Society

Monday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Clegg needs to look more distinctive

Reading today’s Independent report on Nick Clegg’s town hall meetings, I thought they sounded like a copy of Cameron Direct, the Tory leader’s QandA sessions across the country. But it turns out Clegg held his first town hall on the 10th January, 2008 and Cameron didn’t launch Cameron Direct until the third of June. So if anyone is copying anybody else, it is Cameron. But in a way, this highlights the problem facing Clegg: even when he pioneers something, he doesn’t get the credit. The Lib Dems are at their best when they are distinctive from the two main parties. But Clegg, in manner and style, is just too similar

Peter Hoskin

Osborne banks on “debt responsibility”

Competent performance from George Osborne just now, setting out the Tories’ “new banking settlement” by which – among other things – the Bank of England would have greater powers to “call time on excessive debt”.  It sounds promising enough.  But, as usual with regulatory systems, the proof of this particular pudding will come with the eating.  Only a Tory government will let us know how it works in practice. Aside from that, Osborne dwelt on the familiar touchstones – welfare reform, schools reform, an Office for Budget Responsibility etc.  Although it seems to me that the Tories are now taking greater pains to set out just how difficult things will

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 2 February –  8 February

Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which – provided your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency – you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no topic, so there’s no need to stay ‘on topic’ – which means you’ll be able to debate with each other more freely and extensively. There’s also no constraint on the length of what you write – so, in effect, you can become Coffee House bloggers. Anything’s fair game – from political stories in your local

James Forsyth James Forsyth

When to talk to the Taliban

Paddy Ashdown has an open letter to Barack Obama’s Pakistan and Afghanistan envoy, Richard Holbrooke, in The Times today. In it, Ashdown makes a crucial point about talking to the Taliban: “In the end it will probably be necessary, provided they will put aside the gun in favour of the ballot box. But they are in no mood for talking now, because they think they are winning. The first step is get them on the back foot, militarily – which is where the surge is so important. They must be convinced we have the force, the will and the staying power to beat them, before they will come to the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Just in case you missed them… | 2 February 2009

Matthew d’Ancona calls the next election for David Cameron. Fraser Nelson says that Brown’s language about ‘British jobs for British workers’ has laid the ground for recession rage and Clive Davis is unimpressed by Peter Mandelson’s response to the strikers. James Forsyth argues that it is time to stand up to those who wants to stop minorities joining the Met and celebrates Iraq’s provincial elections. Melanie Phillips points out that the Iranians have reacted with contempt to Obama’s peace gambit. Pete Hoskin wonders if Ed Balls might have Mandelson’s support. Alex Massie denounces Jonathan Porritt’s call for people to have no more than two children. Americano applauds the election of

Peter Hoskin

Clarke on competitiveness

So here I am at a conference put on today by my former colleagues at Reform.  It’s all about ‘A new economic agenda’, and the speakers include George Osborne, Vince Cable, John McFall, Tony McNulty and Will Hutton.  First, though, Ken Clarke, who’s just delivered a 15-minute address on competitiveness.  It demonstrated, perfectly, why Cameron’s brought the Big Beast back.  He seems to have an easy understanding of the issues; gets his points across in simple, lingo-free English; and – rare for a politician – he raises a few laughs too. Two passages worth pulling out from Clarke’s address. The first on Sterling: “Rapid movements in exchange rates are always

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Brown’s own words mean that the government can’t win the argument with the strikers

If you doubt the trouble the government is in over the wildcat strikes, just listen to Peter Mandelson’s testy interview on the Today Programme. Mandelson was making the case for economic openness, for the benefits that accrue from the free movement of people (a case I, like Alex and Fraser, broadly agree with). John Humphrys kept interrupting him, asking Mandelson to empathise with the skilled worker on Tyneside who has a wife and two children and can’t just up sticks and leave for a job somewhere else in the EU at a moment’s notice. When Humphrys referred to Poles stealing jobs from British workers, Mandelson snapped and accused him of

Sunday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Righting the stimulus

David Broder, the dean of the Washington press corps, notes in his column today that Barack Obama needs the stimulus package to get Republican votes in the Senate if he is to maintain his momentum. Certainly, passing such a huge piece of legislation on a party line vote in both houses of Congress would undercut Obama’s reputation as someone who can bring both sides together and make it hard to see how he could get health-care or other controversial legislation through until after the 2010 mid-terms, when the Democrats are expected to pick up additional seats. In these circumstances, it is tempting for the Republicans to sit back and simply

James Forsyth James Forsyth

It is time to stand up to those who want to stop minorities joining the Met

The appointment of Sir Paul Stephenson as the new commissioner of the Metropolitan Police has been broadly welcomed. As this magazine puts in its editorial this week, “Unlike his predecessor, Sir Ian Blair, and his chief rival for the job, Sir Hugh Orde — head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland — Stephenson is not a politician in uniform” but a policeman. But the welcome for Stephenson has not been universal. The Observer reports that the National Black Police Officers Association will “step up its campaign to dissuade black and Asian people from joining the force under the new commissioner.” It is disgusting that senior Met officers are, via

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Jonathon Porritt: Stupid and Wicked.

Tim Worstall rightly says this is stupid. I’d go further and also call it wicked. Couples who have more than two children are being “irresponsible” by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government’s green adviser has warned. Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government’s Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. I think this must be a new low in pro-abortion arguments. How long before Porritt or some other eco-lunatic advocates compulsory sterilisation? Not sure you want to be pregnant? Well think of the trees… [PS: Chances of Godwin’s Law being invoked in the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The Roger and Rafa Show

There isn’t anything in any sport better right now than the rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. This morning they produced another five set epic that was a fitting conclusion to the best Australian Open in years. And, for the fifth match in a row it was the Spaniard who emerged victorious. Not for the first, nor one suspects the last, time Nadal defeated Federer physically and mentally. This was a match Federer will feel he should have won: he had a legion of chances to break and win the third set but each time either his own timidity or, more often, Nadal’s seemingly inexhaustible supply of fortitude prevented

Peter Hoskin

Does Balls have Mandelson’s backing?

With Brown on the ropes, the battle to become Labour’s next (post-election) leader is in full swing.  And, according to Patrick Hennessy’s article in the Sunday Telegraph, it could be throwing up some odd alliances.  Here’s how Hennessy describes the recent tussle over Heathrow: “Objecting to the third runway is a handy way of appealing to Labour’s left, who will be important in any contest. Mr Miliband came up against his former brother-in-arms Mr Balls. The Schools Secretary, who had no departmental interest in Heathrow, used the same meeting for a brutal assault on Mr Miliband’s stance. It was a telling moment. Mr Balls, 41, did so knowing he had

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Without an educated workforce Britain is doomed

One question we don’t spend nearly enough time discussing is where, once this crisis has passed, will the growth come from in the British economy. Gordon Brown serves up platitudes when asked about this, as he did on the Politics Show today, and the Tories are doing their most interesting thinking on this question in private. The growth will have to come at the top of the value chain as, realistically, further down the chain British workers can’t compete with East European ones let alone the Chinese. But high value growth requires a highly-skilled workforce which is something we don’t have as Alasdair Palmer points out: “The Government has said

Saturday

Melissa Kite

Real Life | 31 January 2009

As a useful rule of thumb, I tend to think that if Joan Bakewell can’t handle something then I oughtn’t to try. So I’ve given those pay-by-phone parking meters a wide berth since the BBC presenter ended up in court for failing to operate one properly. Last week, however, I found myself in need of parking in Harley Street, the very place where Ms Bakewell came to grief. With nowhere in sight to dock the Peugeot other than the dreaded pay-by-phone spaces and with time running out for me to present myself for a blood test, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that the hour had come for me to

Jeremy Clarke

Low Life | 31 January 2009

Three years ago, when I couldn’t put off going to a dentist any longer, and had to make an urgent appointment, I discovered that the closest NHS dentist was in north Devon. I live in south Devon. Devon is a big county. It has more miles of road surface than Belgium. So I was forced to enrol for a course of treatment with a private dentist in the nearest town. Every time I visit this private dentist’s surgery I am reminded of the old saying that only the rich know the difference between being rich and being poor. In the waiting room, soothing, digitally recorded Mozart wafts you into a

Taki

High Life | 31 January 2009

Gstaad A single plug by Sir Roger Moore late last year has turned me into a Papa Hemingway-like literary hero. In his Proust questionnaire in Vanity Fair, Sir Roger was asked to list his favourite writers. Poor little me was mentioned among some good ones and, presto, you’d think I’d written The Catcher in the Rye, Tender Is the Night, A Moveable Feast, The Sun Also Rises, as well as The Red and the Black. People I have never heard of have written asking about my style, writing habits, sources of inspiration, even my daily routine. (Do you write standing up like Papa, or in a soundproof room like Proust?)

Robin Oakley

The Turf | 31 January 2009

Racing isn’t just about speed and style. Sometimes it is all about sheer guts. On trials day at Cheltenham, with the tacky ground sucking the life out of every leg, with every extra pound on a horse’s back feeling double on the lung-busting uphill drive to the post, courage mattered. It was one of those heartening occasions too, so much more likely in jump racing, when smaller yards shared the spoils with the big boys. Not many in the Cheltenham crowd, I suspect, would vote left of centre. But racing crowds thrill nonetheless to a bit of redistribution of income and the victories of Joe Lively in the big race,

Tamzin Lightwater

Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody | 31 January 2009

Monday Tricky times. I’ve got two statements to work on and they’re virtually interchangeable. Am worried Dave will end up urging the FSA to investigate the despicable conduct of Labour peers while calling for City fat cats to be suspended from the House of Lords. Possibly there is some overlap so it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Nevertheless would rather get it right so am off to the Austerity Room for a bit of Fiscal Meditation before I start drafting… Oh dear. Ken was in there, smoking a big fat cigar, his feet up on the BrightHouse coffee table. He was in v jolly mood, pointing to the

The Spectator

Letters | 31 January 2009

Israel fuels anti-Semitism Sir: I am a member of Jews for Justice for Palestinians and have participated in every one of the national demonstrations against Israel’s brutal onslaught against Gaza. I have never heard the slogans ‘Hamas, Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas’ and ‘Death to the Jews’ that Douglas Davis (‘The terrible warning of a Holocaust survivor’, 24 January) claims are being chanted on these marches. I know that the stewards have strict orders to clamp down on any expression of anti-Semitism. Like the majority of the demonstrators, I am not a supporter of Hamas. But though the Hamas Charter is indeed appallingly anti-Semitic, it played no part in