Society

Saturday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Report: Labour to re-brand in the autumn, thinking about dumping New Labour label

A friend of Coffee House flags up an interesting post on Labour Matters which reports that as part of its autumn re-launch Labour might drop its “new Labour for Britain” slogan and replace it with “Your Labour, Your Britain”. The thinking is that this would emphasise the ‘on your side’ fairness agenda that will underpin Brown’s attempt at an autumn fight-back. It also suggests that Labour is planning a more populist strategy in an attempt to try and stoke up its base which as recent elections have shown is thoroughly disillusioned with the party. Dropping the ‘new Labour’ tag that Blair introduced would attract considerable comment. But Labour must be

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The ever-shrinking Prime Minister

Gordon Brown’s team decided that they would take the Prime Minister off the airwaves over the summer. The thinking was that when Brown did return in September to roll out his economic plan the public would pay renewed attention. So, apart from an appearance at the Edinburgh books festival, Brown has kept pretty quiet. What the Brown team did not factor in or adjust for was an international crisis that would require the Prime Minister to play the part expected of a British Prime Minister on the world stage. So, Brown has ended up following not leading on the Georgia crisis both at home and abroad. Internationally, this has undercut

Roger Alton Roger Alton

Spectator Sport | 16 August 2008

You can’t help feeling for Sergio Garcia. At Carnoustie last year, he lipped out on the last hole to throw away an Open title which had seemed his on the last day. And who was waiting for him at the play-off? Why Padraig Harrington of course. And when Sergio lined up his second shot on the fiercely hazardous 16th at Oakland Hills, the US PGA title was again his for the taking. He needed to par the last three and the gutsy Spaniard’s first Major was in the bag. He opted for an insanely ambitious drive to the right of the flag and the ball bounced back into the water.

James Young

Competition | 16 August 2008

In Competition No. 2557 you were invited to write a poem or a piece of prose with each line or sentence beginning with the letters A S D F G H J K L Z X C V B N M in that order. I discovered while setting this comp that the longest word you can type using just the QWERTY row of letters on a typewriter is … ‘typewriter’. No doubt one or two of you will prove me wrong; indeed, there is an even longer word if you allow ‘tripewriter’….  Anyway, where was I? The less tripe I write, the more space there is to showcase your wit and

Martin Vander Weyer Martin Vander Weyer

Any Other Business | 16 August 2008

Does Medvedev really believe in the rule of law? The fate of TNK-BP is the test Is President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia — who looks and sounds like a liberal-leaning modern technocrat — really his own man, or is he merely the stooge of his predecessor, the sinister, warmongering Vladimir Putin? The mad situation engulfing BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, is surely the test of this question. Its BP-appointed chief executive, Robert Dudley, has met such hostility from the gang of oligarchs who are BP’s partners in the company that he is now trying to run it by email from a secret address somewhere in eastern Europe. The oligarchs, led

The Spectator

Clear and present danger

Russia’s actions in the past week should not have taken anyone by surprise. The fact that they did illustrates just how gravely in denial the free world now is about the threats that it faces. Before 9/11, all too few people could imagine a terrorist attack on a Western city killing thousands — even though Osama bin Laden had declared war on the United States in 1996. In much the same way, too few contemplated the bloody reality of Russian tanks rolling across an internationally recognised border, despite the clear signals sent by Vladimir Putin’s increasingly bellicose actions in recent years. The Russian propaganda machine and its useful idiots have

Matthew Dancona

Simon Carter

Matthew d’Ancona on the late Spectator quiz compiler, Simon Carter I still get letters about the Impossible Quiz which Simon Carter set for our Christmas special issue. An infernally complex blend of merciless logic, M.C. Escher’s art, and very tough questions, the Thirty-Nine Steps quiz that Simon compiled and adjudicated was, in its way, a work of art. It completely foxed me, that’s for sure. Quiz-sharp readers were intrigued and, eight months on, continue to correspond with me about its devilish intricacies. Simon’s sudden death at the age of 48 has been a terrible shock — not least because he was such a welcome new member of the extended Spectator

Liam Byrne

Give us back our Big Idea, Mr Cameron

Liam Byrne — tipped for Cabinet promotion in the reshuffle — says that when Cameroons advocate ‘fraternity’ they are repackaging the Conservative case for the shrinking of the state The idea that we might have a fight about ‘fraternity’ at the next election shows just how far the centre ground of politics has moved. Not so long ago, people would have laughed if you suggested the Tories might have a stab at a row about feelings of solidarity. Indeed among Conservatives the very concept may still be a specialist taste. But a casual glance at David Cameron’s recent speeches reveals a pretty clear direction of travel. Having put his cards

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

England Our England

So, after a nip and tuck South African affair, Norm and I finish the week by selecting our teams to represent a post-1945 England. As always, players need only have played for England after 1945 to be eligible for inclusion and the merits of their inclusion are to be judged on the totality of their career, not just the part of it that took place after Hitler’s War. As alaways, you can follow the action here or at Norm’s Place

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Arise, Sir Nils!

Really, can Friday stories get much better than this? A penguin who was previously made a Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army has been knighted at Edinburgh Zoo. Penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King’s Guard since the 1972. Over the years, he has been promoted through the ranks after being adopted by Royal Guard who visited the zoo. During the ceremony, Nils had a sword dubbed on each side of his head, where his shoulders should be, to confirm his regimental knighthood. A crowd of several hundred people joined the 130 guardsmen at the zoo. A citation from King Harald the Fifth of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Indian independence day

Today is the 61st anniversary of Indian independence and it comes at a time when the prospects for the country have never looked better. The country has reformed its economy and has grown, in real terms, at a rate of more than seven percent a year for the last decade. Indeed, there is a strong argument that in the medium to long term, India has better economic prospects than China. One of the issues that will shape this century is how strong the Indian-American relationship is. A strategic alliance between the world’s strongest and the world’s largest democracies would create in Asia—a continent that will grow even further in its

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Tories’ best chance for a substantive legacy

A truly significant government is one that makes changes that the other parties have to accept are part of a new settlement. That is why the Attlee and Thatcher governments are, rightly regarded as the most important governments since the war. At the moment—and it is still early days in policy terms, the only area where the Tories look like they would create a permanent shift is education where there planned supply-side reforms are truly and admirably radical. (If you haven’t, do read Fraser’s explanation of the thinking behind it). The test of the Tory’s schools policy will be whether it creates more social mobility in Britain. Michael Gove pointed

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Cameron to Georgia this weekend, Miliband to visit next week

David Cameron has stolen a further march on the government by heading out to Georgia before either the Foreign Secretary, who is going next week, or the Prime Minister. With Russian troops only 15 miles from Tbilisi, the Georgian government is keen for any signs of international solidarity and so Cameron can be assured of a warm reception. He will be there at the same time as a host of key players on the world stage—Condi Rice is in Tbilisi at the moment and several European leaders are expected there over the weekend—and his presence will highlight just how MIA Britain has been during the crisis to date. Amazingly, Miliband

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Omagh rememberance marred by McGuinness’s presence

Omagh Highlights of the 10th Anniversary commemoration of victims of the Omagh bomb: lashing rain; Martin McGuinness laying a wreath in honour of victims of republican terrorism; Terry Waite telling us about good Jews who work for peace and bad Jews who persecute Palestinians; the Omagh Waterford Peace Choir (‘not a Prod amongst them’, said my Presbyterian friend, observing them all blessing themselves) singing a hymn with the lines ‘Lord, there are times when I have to ask, “What?” -/Times when your love is not easy to spot’; ‘a Dialogue, in music, of lament and hope’ (don’t ask, but petals were involved); and an audience of around 800 rather than

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Weekend reading

If Coffee Housers haven’t already read Bob Kagan’s The Return of History and the End of Dreams,  I would thoroughly recommend that you do so. In only a hundred pages or so, Kagan explains why ideological competition is now a factor once again in great power politics and examines the probable consequences of Russia’s desire to reassert itself in its near abroad. Following Russia’s actions in Georgia this past week, the book seems particularly relevant. Yet another reason to read it is that Kagan is probably the most important intellectual influence on John McCain’s foreign policy thinking. 

Brian Cullen

Our low expectations

Today’s Times tells the heart-warming story of Alex Griffiths who was kidnapped as an infant and has now achieved an A and two Bs at A-level to win her place at university.  The story certainly has the feel-good factor, but one part struck me as depressing: “Her mother, Dawn Griffiths, a nanny from Middlesbrough, was paid £110,000 for the story, but rather than spend it, she put all the money into a fund to give her daughter the education that she never had. The sacrifice – which allowed Alex to attend a private boarding school with fees of more than £6,000 a term – paid off.” Sacrifice? Alex’s mother’s decision

The Spectator

Sales and online readership of the Spectator power ahead once more

The Spectator magazine has recorded its highest-ever sales. The audited ABC average circulation for the first half of this year was almost 77,000 — a weekly average of 76,952 to be exact — the highest ever sale in the magazine’s 180-year history and the 12th consecutive half-year increase.  Circulation is now 5% up on the first half of 2007. Of particular importance to advertisers, both ‘paid-for’ elements sales were up over the same period last year, with newsstand sales up 4% and subscriptions up almost 6%. The total ‘actively purchased’ copies in the UK increased by 7.4%. Spectator magazine sales have continued to grow despite a huge increase in traffic to its

Sean Martin

Boston must go

The QCA has at long last pulled the plug on ETS over the SATS marking debacle with the company being forced to pay back the remaining four years of its contract payment. It is good news that the taxpayers won’t have to pay ETS £19.5 million over the next four years but it can’t hide the fact that someone at the government end should be held responsible for this cock-up. After all, they signed a £156 million contract with a firm whose record should have set alarm bells ringing. Ed Balls should take the blame but he won’t, arguing that his department had passed responsibility for the contract to the

Ruth Dudley Edwards

Omagh 10 years on

So here I am in Omagh to attend the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the bomb that killed 29 people (and unborn twins) in the name of a united Ireland.  I’m writing a book about the civil case being taken by some of the families in an effort to nail some of the bastards – sorry, alleged bastards – responsible for this obscenity. The ceremony this afternoon is supposed to be about peace and love and the coming together of different traditions, but – in the Irish way – there is a split and a scandal.  The split is between the district council (21 members: 10 Sinn Fein) who

James Forsyth James Forsyth

<strong>Brown’s byelection dilemma</strong>

One of the trickiest decisions that Gordon Brown has to make is when to call the Glenrothes byelection. As Martin Kettle points out in The Guardian this morning, Labour can have the poll on any Thursday between September 11 and December 4—so either before conference or once the Autumn re-launch is under way. A byelection loss in Fife (and as Matt noted on Wednesday a Labour defeat is, at the moment, the most likely result) will be hugely embarrassing for Brown and will weaken his position still further, if Labour under Brown can’t win in Fife where can it win? A defeat before conference could persuade the party that however much