Society

Sunday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another calamity for Clegg | 30 November 2008

The Sunday Mirror has an amusing account of Nick Clegg discussing rather too loudly the strengths and weaknesses of his frontbench team on a plane flight to Scotland. He is apparently flirting with idea of demoting his old leadership rival Chris Huhne. He’s also no fan of Steve Webb, he apparently said of the Lib Dems’ energy and climate change spokesman: “He’s a problem. I can’t stand the man. We need a new spokesman. We have to move him. We need someone with good ideas. At the moment, they just don’t add up.” Clegg reportedly concluded that David Laws—“ probably the best brain we have”—should be moved to energy and

Peter Hoskin

Just how much do we have to pay, Mr Darling?

After the events of the past week, the Pre-Budget Report seems more than only six days old.  But six days old it is, and already Alistair Darling is suggesting that the much-vaunted “fiscal stimulus” may need to be supplemented in the near-future.  In his interview in today’s Observer, the Chancellor admits that “we’re almost certainly going to be doing additional things”.  Of course, you could say that this isn’t a surprise; that the Government has to respond continuously to the changing circumstances of the downturn.  But, to my mind, this just raises more questions about how effective the Government’s spendthrift approach is, and whether it’s worth the increased borrowing and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A higher standard

The heavy-handed arrest of Damian Green has highlighted one set of threats to freedom of speech, thought and inquiry in Britain. But there are others, notably our draconian libel laws. As Nick Cohen writes in The Observer today: “Listen as hard you like, but you will never hear a Law Lord tell Eady that he cannot censor writers at the behest of plutocrats, or New Scotland Yard and the Home Office tell Quick that he cannot arrest opposition MPs, or the CPS tell Thames Valley detectives that they cannot harass an innocent reporter. No one in authority ever seems to say to the bewigged authoritarian or uniformed goon: ‘This isn’t

Peter Hoskin

Political shrapnel rips through the Government

The theme of Jacqui Smith’s interview with Andrew Marr this morning?  Responsibility-dodging.  Not once did the Home Secretary apologise for the disgraceful arrest of Damian Green, but she took every opportunity to stress the “operational independence” of those investigating the Tory MP.  In other words: not my fault, guv. Thing is, Dominic Grieve has since suggested that Smith knew more about the arrest of Green that she’s letting on.  He told Sky News that: “I think she knew there was an MP involved in this investigation and she decided to simply sit back on her hands…” And that’s only one entry in this morning’s catalogue of charges aimed at the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another poll indicates that the PBR failed politically

This time last week there were anxious conversations in Tory world about how the parliamentary party would react if Labour moved level or ahead in the polls after the PBR. But the PBR has not had the political effect Labour hoped it would. The main story coming out of it has been how bad the public finances are, not the dividing lines that Brown was so desperate to draw. This morning, Mori—like ICM on Saturday—shows the Tories increasing their poll lead after the PBR. Mori has them 11 points ahead on 43 percent, an eight point increase in their lead. When you consider that the Tories will probably get a

Saturday

The Spectator

Letters | 29 November 2008

Diplomatic bag Sir: Michael Nicholson’s story of a boat-owner finding contraband aboard from the previous owner (Letters, 22 November) reminded me of being compromised in Paris. As leader of a teenage school party, I suspected one or more of them of being in possession. As staff we searched suitcases and bedrooms with fingertip detail and found nothing for most of the trawl. I had warned the party in advance of the impending swoop and fully expected this outcome. But you can never guarantee no surprises, and we did find a stash of the substance tied in a waterproof bag, deep inside one toilet cistern. We dispatched the culprit home on

Alex James

Slow life | 29 November 2008

So cold: I tried lighting a fire, but smoke just kept blowing back down the chimney, setting off the fire alarms. It’s a design fault with that fireplace. It happens whenever the wind blows in a certain direction. The architect really messed up there and I cursed him, the idiot, as I rubbed the heat on my hands into my trousers, having run outside several times, a sparking, smoking log in each hand. The wind was really howling and it was raining sideways. The fat logs continued to be on fire, lying on the grass, drinking the breeze, sending sparking, glowing embers flying around the back garden. Well, I suppose

Jeremy Clarke

Low life | 29 November 2008

One day last week I woke up slightly bonkers: a stranger to myself. I couldn’t think consecutive thoughts. Even my vision was blurred. I get days like that now and again. Perhaps I’m allergic to something. Downstairs on the kitchen table I found a note I’d written the night before, reminding me to take the car to the local main dealer by 9.30. The car had been referred there by the manufacturer in order for them to replace (free of charge) a potentially faulty motor in one of the adjustable side mirrors. I looked at the clock. It was 10.00. I was mortified. I picked up the phone, rang the

Robin Oakley

The turf | 29 November 2008

Eat your heart out, Stubbs. Wrong century, Sir Alfred Munnings. After Nicky Henderson’s Jack the Giant had won the Carey Group Handicap Steeplechase at Ascot last Saturday and stood in the winner’s enclosure quietly steaming with that unmistakeable gleam of achievement in his eye, his proud trainer revelled in his commanding physicality. ‘Isn’t he just what you would take if you had to have a model to paint a racehorse?’ he exclaimed. Chasers don’t come much better-looking than the tall six-year-old. Jack the Giant is a perfect example of well-honed strength and athleticism, his big frame coupled with just the sort of boldness in the eye you would expect from

Tamzin Lightwater

Diary of a Notting Hill Nobody | 29 November 2008

Monday Tremendous excitement after the PBR. Dave called us into The Cauldron, our inner sanctum, for a top-secret briefing. Felt v privileged to be there, just me and 150 other core members of CCHQ. Dave was wonderful. He completely cleared up any nagging doubts we might have had as to why we are not opposing the rise in the top rate. It’s deeply strategic stuff, but suffice to say he and Mr Letwin, and Gids obviously, have worked out that standing up for the middle classes is precisely what Labour thinks we will do, and therefore precisely what we will NOT do — genius! We are drawing on our hugely successful

Charles Moore Charles Moore

The Spectator’s Notes | 29 November 2008

In his speech announcing his Pre-Budget Report, Alistair Darling said that he was going to put up the top rate of income tax to 45 per cent from 2011, because he wanted the burden to be borne by ‘those who have done best out of the growth of the past decade’. In his speech announcing his Pre-Budget Report, Alistair Darling said that he was going to put up the top rate of income tax to 45 per cent from 2011, because he wanted the burden to be borne by ‘those who have done best out of the growth of the past decade’. This was not only, as many have said,

Toby Young Toby Young

Status Anxiety | 29 November 2008

Classlessness means your five-year-old chanting ‘sheepshaggers’ on the terraces According to Ferdinand Mount, a revolution has taken place in upper-class manners in recent years. Where it was once socially acceptable to be openly snobbish, drawing attention to telltale signs that a person was ‘not quite our class, dear’ or ‘HMG’ (homemade gent), it is now strictly taboo. ‘To remark on someone, for example, saying “pardon” where U-speak would use “sorry” is now unkulturny, crass, out of it,’ he writes in Mind the Gap. ‘And when you hear someone — usually an elderly person living in the country — indulging in such old caste talk, you wince and try to change

Mary Killen

Dear Mary | 29 November 2008

Q. The art and engineering expertise of the modern corsetière has brought great happiness to men of a more traditional, and red-blooded, disposition. To what extent should one be permitted to address admiring glances at a well-presented embonpoint: in other words, at what stage does healthily lustful and artistic appreciation become a leer? And does the rule change according to the age of the owner of the chest concerned? R.A.P., St Saviour, Guernsey A. It is incorrect to leer directly at an embonpoint of any vintage — even when blatantly display-mounted on the chest of its owner. You should admire it silently from a distance or in a mirror. If

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The blame game | 29 November 2008

Few people write more engagingly about finance than Michael Lewis; Liar’s Poker is one of the best books about Wall Street ever written. In an essay over at The Daily Beast introducing a collection of essays on the financial crisis that he has edited, Lewis writes: “The 1987 stock market crash was blamed on program trading; the Asian currency crisis was blamed on some combination of hedge funds and IMF-induced policies; the Internet bubble was blamed on Wall Street analysts. The subprime-mortgage panic has yet to find its one big culprit, and I’m not sure it ever will.” The question of who emerges as the principle villain will determine what

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Star of the East will always shine brighter than this ideology of hate

Suketu Mehta’s book about Bombay, Maximum City, has been much quoted in recent days. It is, as Matt says, the best book about this astonishingly complex city.Today, Mehta has an important piece about how best to defeat the fanatics who attacked it in today’s New York Times. “The terrorists’ message was clear: Stay away from Mumbai or you will get killed. Cricket matches with visiting English and Australian teams have been shelved. Japanese and Western companies have closed their Mumbai offices and prohibited their employees from visiting the city. Tour groups are canceling long-planned trips. But the best answer to the terrorists is to dream bigger, make even more money, and visit Mumbai more

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The PBR didn’t work politically for Brown, what’s next?

The ICM poll in today’s Guardian has the Tories ahead by 15 points, their largest lead in it since August. This combined with the Populus poll showing that Brown’s lead on the question of who is best leader to deal with the recession has shrunk dramatically seems to confirm what most commentators thought: the PBR was, to use Iain Martin’s phrase, a political dud. The financial crisis has allowed Brown to present himself as the leader Britain needed and to improve his international standing; even if Mandelson is laying it on a bit thick when he says that “People really do look to him like some Moses figure who is

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Leaks are the least of the Home Office’s problems

John Reid famously called the Home Office ‘not fit for purpose’ and it is still regarded, with some justification, as one of the most dysfunctional government departments. So, it is rather ironic to hear the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office defend calling in the police on the grounds that the leaks “risked undermining the effective operation of my department”. One hopes that he realises that the real problem is not is the leaks but then incompetence and mistakes that they expose. PS Matthew Parris makes the crucial point that the offence that was used to arrest Damian Green is simply too broad. Seeing as the police have clearly developed

Rory Sutherland Rory Sutherland

The Wiki Man | 29 November 2008

I am a great fan of Richard Dawkins — the brilliant geneticist Richard Dawkins, that is, not the amateur theologian of the same name. The Selfish Gene and Climbing Mount Improbable are among the most mind-changing books I have read. I can’t say the same of the atheist stuff. Dawkins seems a much better evangelist than polemicist; more persuasive when exalting Darwin than attacking God. If you want to be a polemicist, it helps to be funny, which Dawkins isn’t (for convincing and witty attacks on non-science nobody beats the late John Diamond). But I also find it annoying that Dawkins picks on such clunking, unoriginal targets. If you want

Lucy Vickery

Competition | 29 November 2008

Lucy Vickery presents the latest competition In Competition No. 2572 you were invited to provide a rugby- or football-style song for another sport. After I’d set the assignment, it occurred to me that it runs counter to the spirit of football chants and rugby songs, which seem to arise spontaneously on the terraces and in the pub rather than being laboriously composed at home by dedicated chant-writers. The best are almost always lewd and often downright offensive — as W.J. Webster commented, they make Jonathan Ross sound prim — and while they are undoubtedly funny when heard in context, they look crass on the page. So congratulations to those of

Dot Wordsworth

Mind your Language

‘What?’ said my husband, coherently, thrashing with his stick at a blackboard on the pavement. It said: ‘Quarter chicken with two regular sides, £5.90.’ This was no geometrical chicken. ‘What?’ said my husband, coherently, thrashing with his stick at a blackboard on the pavement. It said: ‘Quarter chicken with two regular sides, £5.90.’ This was no geometrical chicken. Here sides simply meant ‘vegetables’, a usage grabbed from America by restaurateurs, because it often enables them to charge separately for meat and two veg.   Side is a word that leads a double life, at once fashionable and subterranean. When I was a girl I pondered what could be meant by: