Society

Saturday

The Spectator

The leader we need

The latest news in the financial crisis is that, after weeks of blame-calling by all parties — generally misdirected, as Dennis Sewell argues in our cover story — a single culprit has at last been identified. It is human nature — that incorrigible force which makes us want too much of a good thing when it is within easy reach, and makes us dangerously complacent about risk when the going is good. It was human nature that made bankers behave irresponsibly when their judgment was warped by the temptation of giant bonuses; it made homebuyers and credit-card holders overreach themselves when they were offered too much cheap credit; it made

Aidan Hartley

Wild Life | 4 October 2008

Wars never get easier. Since Georgia, I have had flashbacks of an elderly woman crying her eyes out after being driven from her village by Russian bombs. When I was younger I used to bring real black dogs home with me, but not so much nowadays. My three-stage prescription for recovery from war journalism is as follows. First, get extremely drunk. Get very, very drunk and you can delete or corrupt entire files of short-term memory. Second, find your woman and make love. A close correspondent friend says he has to do this with his wife the second he arrives back home from an assignment, before he’s even sat down

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Palin on Cheney and Football

Will it never end? In fairness, the question “What do you think is the best and worst thing Dick Cheney has done as Vice-President?” isn’t altogether fair. That is to say, one can’t expect Palin, alas, to start talking about torture. But still, did she have to say this? PALIN: Worst thing I guess that would have been the duck hunting accident–where you know, that was an accident. And I think that was made into a caricature of him. And that was kind of unfortunate. So the best thing though, he’s shown support, along with George W. Bush, of our troops. And I’ve been there when George Bush has spoken

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Biden-Palin: Live! For Real! At Last!

Coffee? Check. Cigarettes? Check. Whisky? Check. Optimism? Not so much. But we’re live and uninterrupted here as we await the Brouhaha in Missourah, aka the biggest let down in Presidential sports. As always, have a pop in the comments or email me. Anyway, let’s get ready to rumble… 3.45: Oh, the CNN focus group is coming from The Ohio State University campus. Of course, now that it transpires that they think Biden won the debate I can assume they’re not actually students at tOSU… 3.42: Oh, you should read Will Wilkinson’s live-blog too. Back later. 3.33: Ifill won’t let us away without reminding us that “there are two more debates

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The temptation the Tories must resist

Just hours after Mandelson’s return had been reported, the Tories blasted out a document full of cutting remarks Mandelson had made about Brown. It was an impressively comprehensive list—there’s a lot of material to cover—but the Tories should cease and desist from this line of attack. In his press conference, Brown was spinning the past disagreements between the two men to his advantage. Tony Blair used to say that if World War Three broke out Peter Mandelson would be the first person he would call, Brown’s message was that economic war has broken out and the situation is too serious for him to let the past differences between Brown and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Some people are sharpening–not burying–their hatchets

Kevin Maguire’s post earlier today showed that some Brownites are not happy about the return of that arch-Blairite Mandelson. Benjamin Wegg-Proser’s demonstrates that some Blairities can’t resist the chance to goad the Brownites. This comment from Wegg-Prosser is not going to encourage détente between the camp followers of the two factions: “Gordon Brown’s acolytes have held no-one in greater contempt than Peter, their reaction to this news, as with most things that they say to the press, is probably unprintable. Whether he can turn things around for Gordon Brown is another matter. He certainly will not be able to do it single-handedly. But he will be able to bring a

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Quote of the day | 3 October 2008

Comment Central has asked various Times contributors if bringing back Peter Mandelson is a masterstroke or a mistake. Matthew Parris’s answer to the question is so good it deserves to be quoted in full: “The masterstroke may come from Mr Mandelson himself, but later. As for the PM’s possible mistake, is it a mistake for a man losing his footing to grab at a spikey cactus for support?”

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Mandelson backlash

Bringing back Peter Mandelson and sidelining Damian McBride has not gone down well with some of the more hard-core Brownites. Kevin Maguire savages the Mandelson appointment, arguing that it makes Brown look weak, weak, weak: If Gordon Brown hopes people have forgotten who Peter Mandelson was he will be badly mistaken. Both will hate the ridicule coming their way. To turn to a figure who personified a lack of trust in politicians is a grave error. Should we start placing bets on Lord Mandy’s third Cabinet resignation? What other surprises has Brown up his sleeve? John Prescott as Deputy PM? Denis Healey as Chancellor? Neil Kinnock’s still around. And what

Matthew Dancona

Justin Forsyth’s promotion is a smart move

If the reports about Justin Forsyth are true, this is a smart move. Forsyth, a man with a background in international development, is one of the cleverest people in Number Ten and also one of the most courteous. I travelled with him on the Brown trip to Camp David and the UN last year as he was busy with the Darfur resolution, and he was the very model of what a Downing Street official should be. It was striking, even then, that the PM trusted him go to the back of the plane to brief the hacks on the deal that was being brokered in New York and – by

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories need a top-quality politician to shadow Ed Miliband

Gordon Brown’s decision to create a new department of Energy and Climate Change and place one of his most talented protégés in charge of it is a sign that Labour plan to make a major push on the issue. This should worry the Tories. Tory energy policy is far too woolly at the moment; the party has still has not decided where it stands on nuclear power. Alan Duncan, for all his energy expertise, has not provided the intellectual leadership that the Tories desperately need on the issue. There will be a temptation for the Tories just to move up one of the shadow DEFRA or BERR team into this

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Does Gordon Brown remember the fable of the Scorpion and the Frog?

Just in case he doesn’t, here is a reminder for him: “Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?” “Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you wont try to kill me?” asked the frog hesitantly. “Because,” the scorpion replied, “If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!” Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. “What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The return of Mandelson shows that Brown knows just how deep a hole he is in

Well, who thought that Brown had it in him? The return of Peter Mandelson to the Cabinet is the kind of bold move that Brown has seemed incapable of making since becoming Prime Minister. It, along with the apparent departure of Damian McBride, sends out a message that Brown is going to try and rise above Labour factionalism. The appointment of Nick Brown as Chief Whip looks very different when seen through this prism.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Palin makes it through the night

The insta-polls are scoring the VP debate to Joe Biden but theMcCain campaign will be mighty relieved that Palin got through the evening without making any major gaffes. The question now is can Palin proceed to regain control of her public initiative and get back to being an asset for the Republican ticket.

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Couric vs Palin

The slow drip torture is, as you would expect it to be, agonising. But here’s the latest from Katie Couric’s destruction of poor Sarah Palin. You can see why CBS kept these juicy bits back, but, christ, it’s painful to read*, let alone watch. COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions [than Roe v. Wade] do you disagree with? PALIN: Well, let’s see. There’s –of course –in the great history of America rulings there have been rulings, that’s never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are–those issues, again, like Roe v Wade where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So you

Alex Massie Alex Massie

UN Report Makes Sense: Can it Actually Exist?

Well, this is common-sense. So, obviously, don’t expect it to have an impact. A report on cannabis prepared for next year’s UN drug policy review will suggest that a “regulated market” would cause less harm than the current international prohibition. The report, which is likely to reopen the debate about cannabis laws, suggests that controls such as taxation, minimum age requirements and labelling could be explored. The Global Cannabis Commission report, which will be launched today at a conference in the House of Lords, has reached conclusions which its authors suggest “challenge the received wisdom concerning cannabis”. It was carried out for the Beckley foundation, a UN-accredited NGO, for the

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Biden vs Palin: The Debate for Which the World is Not Yet Prepared…

You know what anticipation breeds, campers? That’s right, disappointment. Steel yourselves for a let-down. It’s almost inconceivable that tonight’s Brouhaha in Missourah can meet expectations. We’re not expecting a “debate” are we? We want a WWF show. Or, as the Politico boys put it: With all their potential for pitfalls and insta-classic moments, the pair has made the build up to the showdown, to take place here Thursday night at Washington University, feel more like a NASCAR race than a serious political forum: the audience may be tuning in as much in anticipation of cringe-inducing pile-ups as they are to watch the typical parry-and-thrust of debate. Expect Dullsville then. Which

James Forsyth James Forsyth

If Palin chokes tonight the presidential race could be over

There are signs that the presidential race is on the verge of tipping decisively Obama’s way. A string of polls in battleground states have shown Obama moving into strong leads and even those swing states like Missouri and Florida that were leaning McCain are now going Obama’s way. In a sign of the McCain’s campaign difficulty, McCain is reportedly pulling out of Michigan—long regarded as his best chance for flipping a large, normally Democratic state—which would seriously limit his options for getting to 270 Electoral College votes. One of the reasons that the McCain campaign is in such trouble is Sarah Palin. She has gone from being an asset to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Reshuffle rumours | 2 October 2008

The financial crisis has rather got Brown out of his reshuffle hole. The word in Westminster is that there will be a relatively minor reshuffle tomorrow. To my mind, the most interesting question is who will Brown make Chief Whip? That choice will give us a good idea of how secure Brown thinks his position is and how he intends to handle the rebels, who haven’t gone away but are just biding their time. Anyway, here’s a little list of the speculation that’s out there: John Hutton to move from BERR (Telegraph) Hillary Benn to go from DEFRA (Boulton and Co) Tony McNulty to Chief Whip (The Sun) There’s a