Society

Saturday

James Young

Competition | 5 July 2008

In Competition No. 2551 you were invited to complete in verse or prose a letter by Noël Coward, ‘Dear 338171 (may I call you 338?)’, to Aircraftman Ross (aka T.E. Lawrence) and Lawrence’s reply. First an apology. Bill Greenwell points out that Lawrence, though originally Aircraftman Ross, was serving as Aircraftman Shaw in a second RAF stint when Coward wrote this letter in 1930 (Shaw was also the name Lawrence used when he served in the Royal Tank Corps between the two RAF stints). All very complicated, as befits a very complex man. So for the purposes of this comp, both the Ross and the Shaw aliases are allowed. Many

Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The Spectator/IQ2 debate

Motion: Prince Charles was right: modern architecture is still all glass stumps and carbuncles. New rules at Intelligence Squared. For the debate on architecture the speakers were offered the use of a slide projector. Opening for the motion Roger Scruton described modern architecture as ‘a grammarless chaos’ in which buildings ‘aren’t made for the city but against it’. Like a softly spoken Moses he laid down his three architectural commandments. 1. A town is a home where strangers can enjoy a shared sense of belonging. 2. Buildings should fit together organically and be capable of accepting additions and developments. 3. Genius is as rare among architects as it is among

The Spectator

The NHS needs its Reformation

The government has promised that from next year everyone aged between 40 and 75 will be offered an ‘MOT’ of their health. The patient most in need of a health check, however, was 60 this week: the NHS itself. To a limited extent the government has recognised the inadequacies of what for its first three or so decades tended to be called ‘the envy of the world’ by using the anniversary to publish the NHS Next Stage Review, written by Lord Darzi, a junior health minister and eminent surgeon. The document is less celebratory than defensive, effectively admitting that the patient has often become lost in an organisation which is

Simon Hoggart

Criminally good

Criminal Justice (BBC1); Celebrity Masterchef (BBC1); Marco’s Great British Feast (Channel 4)  Years ago I was ‘political consultant’ on State of Play, the successful BBC drama serial that got very substantial ratings. It launched several acting careers, being one of the few TV series that was also watched by the people who make films. About half my advice was ignored, to the delight of colleagues at Westminster who would ask how I managed to get something so spectacularly wrong. But the producers were right; dramatic effect is more important than nit-picking detail. And to be truly, nerve-shreddingly realistic, you have to ignore reality. Real life is usually rather dull; to be

Paul Johnson

And Another Thing | 5 July 2008

Somebody asked: ‘How do you express your love of country in this leaden age? How do you sweep aside the multicultural poison and simply assert — “I am an English patriot?”’ I answer: ‘Create a garden, or help those who do so.’ There is no more English activity than gardening, and it has been so for over a thousand years. Indeed, there were Anglo-Saxon gardens before: traces remain. Gardens grew under castle walls, and were tended by the wives of men who wore chain mail. They took the place of water lilies when the moats were peaceably drained. The first great English essay, written by Francis Bacon early in the

Matthew Parris Matthew Parris

Another Voice | 5 July 2008

‘How the Guardianistas changed their tune,’ was the heading to a Sunday Times factbox published in the paper last weekend. The intention was to mock those Fleet Street columnists, erstwhile fans of Gordon Brown, who have turned against their former hero. ‘Only five more dreaming days until Gordon Brown’s coronation,’ the famously independent-minded and fiercely left-of-centre Brown loyalist, Polly Toynbee, was quoted as having written a year ago. ‘Brown’s first month looks like a striking success,’ Jonathan Freedland, always a thoughtful and progressive voice, had written a month later. Hopeful, trusting voices, both. No longer. ‘On current evidence he is simply not up to the job,’ thought Mr Freedland on

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle

How to get stabbed: you, too, can be knifed in a public place

Been stabbed yet? Give it time. The latest weapon of choice for our go-getting and imaginative young people, apparently, is the ‘cat skinner’, a thin and very sharp device properly used for removing the plastic jackets from electrical cables. But also for skinning cats, I assume. And — increasingly — stabbing, or more likely slashing, people. From the pictures I’ve seen, if you’ve bought a cat skinner with which to stab somebody, you’ve bought the wrong tool for the job. No use complaining later. In the last year for which figures are available there were 64,000 knife crimes committed in Britain — the figures have been rising with great vigour

Lord Lloyd-Of-Berwick

The Law Lords are right to resist the government

Lord Lloyd of Berwick says that the government’s emergency legislation to overturn their lordships’ ruling on witness anonymity is part of a ‘gradual usurpation’ of our liberties On 18 June 2008 the Law Lords gave judgment in the case of R. v. Davis. The defendant was charged with murder. The prosecution case was that he had shot and killed two men after an all-night party. There were three witnesses — and three only — who identified the defendant as the gunman. All three gave their evidence behind screens under pseudonyms. Their voices were artificially distorted so that they could not be recognised by the defendant. The defendant’s counsel was not

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Happy Birthday America!

To all my American friends, and readers, have a wonderful 4th! Here’s a classic American movie trailer, matched to Gene Pitney’s song of the same name: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Could you become an American?

Via Clive, here are some of the “more difficult” questions from the new US naturalisation test given to all would-be Yanks. Foolishly, I forgot the first words of the US constitution but, happily and much to my relief, got the other 19 correct. I suspect y’all would pass too…

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Bob Geldof: My Sort of Wanker!

Heaven knows, Bob Geldof is a bore these days. But one of the splendid, indeed agreeable, elements of David Davis’s civil liberties campaign is that it forces one to question some of one’s own prejudices. It compels us to think again and remember that allies can be found in unlikely places. Thus it was that Geldof went to Haltemprice and Howden today to campaign for Davis and deliver a speech in which he said: So what great existential threat does this country now face that did not face our forefathers of the past 1000 years. What is so grave the emergency now that neither civil war nor world war nor

The Spectator

The week that was | 4 July 2008

Some highlights of the week on Spectator.co.uk: George Osborne wants your questions. Maurice Gerard reports on the aftermath of the presidential election in Zimbabwe. Fraser Nelson says that Ken Clarke has watered down the West Lothian Answer , and congratulates Kylie on her OBE. James Forsyth thinks Ed Balls has failed the laugh test, and gives his take on the waterboarding debate. Peter Hoskin observes how Gordon Brown is turning to the Blairites, and wonders whether Alistair Darling is set to axe the 2p rise in fuel duty. Stephen Pollard describes his encounter with a TV producer. Melanie Phillips gives her thoughts on the BNP. Clive Davis tracks the Ray Lewis business. Trading

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Walking the freedom trail

Something that I would recommend all Coffee Housers do if they get the chance is to walk the Freedom Trail in Boston. It is brilliantly laid out and gives you a real feel for the spirit of the 1776. It also makes you realise how very British their reasons for rebelling were; as the old Cambridge exam question put it, “The truth that the Colonists were truly British is that they rebelled.” Indeed, no country party man could disagree with the Declaration’s assertion that:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A careless talk

The Lord Chief Justice’s speech last night at the East London Muslim Centre was, to put it mildly, unhelpful. His point that English law allows people to arbitrate disputes under a pre-agreed set of rules is legally correct. But if the Lord Chief Justice is to step into such a sensitive area he should have had more thought for how the phrase “It was not very radical to advocate embracing Sharia Law in the context of family disputes” would be interpreted. This message is not helpful to community cohesion. First, it is going to undermine the position of moderate Muslims. Second, it might be misinterpreted to deny Muslim women their

James Forsyth James Forsyth

And the winner is… | 4 July 2008

Last week we asked you what small proposal you would like to see in David Cameron’s first Queen Speech, after Fraser outlined what the big ticket items would be in the magazine. We received lots of good ideas and I’d very much like to see, as TGF UKIP suggested, a new set of military hospitals built. But the prize goes to Mark Heenan for this suggestion: “One small measure that would be welcome and would fit in seamlessly with Cameron’s drive to invigorate the third sector would be to make CRB checks free for all voluntary and not-for-profit organisations such as junior football clubs, scout branches and the like.” The cost

Peter Hoskin

Issue 3 of Spectator Business

We’ve just uploaded the content from the latest issue of the Spectator Business – you can access it here. In particular, I’d recommend you read Michael Millar’s piece on the resurgance in trade union militancy – “Are we heading for an autumn of discontent?”  It’d be great to hear your views on this, or on any other articles in the magazine.  Just register them in the relevant comment sections.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

How much does a butler’s uniform cost at John Lewis?

Labour MPs trying to defend the indefensible John Lewis list resorted to pathetic class war attacks last night. Ian Austin, the PM’s bag carrier, reportedly told George Osborne to “F** off you toff”—Austin claims that he actually said “It’s all right for you millionaires.” All of which makes it rather ironic that one of the 33 Labour  ministers who helped block reform of the system was Shaun Woodward who is not short of the odd bob or two to put it mildly. To be sure, there were Tory MPs who voted for the continuation of the John Lewis list last night but the Tory leadership is on the right side

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The centre has, it seems, fallen. Again.

Henry Farrell has a new paper on blogs, blog readers and political polarisation (Pdf here). Finding: First – blog readers seem to exhibit strong homophily. That is to say, they overwhelmingly choose blogs that are written by people who are roughly in accordance with their political views. Left wingers read left wing blogs, right wingers read right wing blogs, and very few people read both left wing and right wing blogs. Those few people who read both left wing and right wing blogs are considerably more likely to be left wing themselves; interpret this as you like. Furthermore, blog readers are politically very polarized. They tend to clump around either

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Department of Second Thoughts

Like Norm, I liked this and suspect many bloggers (self included) might be wise to bear in mind the wisdom demonstrated by: the late, great Colonel Alfred Wintle, an eccentric and irascible figure who was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1939 for trying to steal an aircraft with which he intended to invade France, single-handedly. In 1946, Colonel Wintle wrote to The Times from the Cavalry Club: “Sir, I have just written you a long letter. On reading it over, I have thrown it in the wastepaper basket. Hoping this will meet with your approval, I am Sir ….”

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The spirit of the game

Now that Andy Murray is out of Wimbledon, we can turn our sporting attention to the coming Test series between England and South Africa. It should be a cracking series, as the South Africans probably have the slightly better side, but England have home advantage. After two rather unsatisfactory series against New Zealand, it will hopefully demonstrate why Test cricket is both the most skilful and most entertaining form of the game. The two teams will be playing for the Basil D’Oliveira trophy; it was South Africa’s refusal to accept D’Oliveira’s inclusion in an England touring party that led to the breaking of sporting links with the apartheid regime forty