Society

Thursday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Daily Mail lauds Cameron as a real leader

At the beginning of his premiership, The Daily Mail used to heap praise on Gordon Brown at David Cameron’s expense. But today, The Mail devotes its leader column to congratulating Cameron on his recent performance. Here’s how it starts and finishes:  “From the very beginning, this paper has supported David Cameron. We are the first to concede, however, that we’ve had more than the occasional doubt about his substance and conviction. That is why we feel an obligation to record what a remarkably good few weeks he has had. With a steady 20-point lead in the opinion polls, the Tory leader might have been tempted to sit back and allow

Wednesday

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Seven Tory MPs make an expensive mistake

The vast majority of Tory MPs have, at David Cameron’s request, published further details of their expenses. The right to know forms they have had to produce are not hugely revelatory but do bring more information into the public domain which is to be welcomed. On my very quick flick through the most interesting things I noticed were that David Davis employs his wife as his executive secretary—the only top Tory to do so—and that David Cameron’s mobile bill is less than a 100 pounds a month. Not every Tory MP, though, was prepared to open themselves up to even this fairly modest level of scrutiny. Miranda Richardson points out that seven

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

A bumper pack of Brownies

Just as Mr Brown’s jokes are no laughing matter, you imagine his facts are not supposed to be taken seriously anymore either. His statistics go over the heads of the public and one almost tires of correcting them here. But as Simon Mayo mentioned CoffeeHouse on air on Five Live and our fondness for “Brownies” (a word, alas, he didn’t mention) here is a list of today’s top PMQs Brownies. 1. “We now have the second biggest defence budget in the world”. This dodgy figure is cooked up by looking at military spending in nominal terms – rather than adjusting for purchasing power parity (PPP). If you spend £1 million it

James Forsyth James Forsyth

A state funeral for Thatcher wouldn’t be as divisive as the left think 

It feels rather unseemly to be discussing Margaret Thatcher’s funeral arrangements while she is still very much alive but I doubt that giving her a state funeral will divide the country in the way that Kevin Maguire and Sunny Hundal are predicting. Take the example of Ronald Reagan, who in many ways was as controversial a figure as Thatcher. I was working in Washington when he died and no one was quite sure how this very liberal city would react to his funeral. But everyone actually behaved respectfully and with affection for him, the streets were lined as his funeral cortege passed.  Talking to people at the time, it wasn’t so much

James Forsyth James Forsyth

If you fight fire with fire, you’ll get burned

Nick Cohen has a fantastic post at Harry’s Place, questioning why Demos was happy to participate in an event at Islam Expo organised by the British Muslim Initiatives. Here’s the key section of his argument: “Demos says it is slyly using one brand of Islamism to fight another. Will Demos employ the same cunning plan against the white far right? Given that the BNP, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat, does not specifically advocate communal violence, but merely, like the Muslim Brotherhood and Jamaat, is at the beginning of a continuum whose terminus is psychopathic hatred, surely Demos should attend BNP rallies and host BNP debates. After all, like the

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Another Budget u-turn

Alistair Darling’s Budgets really should come with the words “subject to change” stamped across them. Darling has just done another u-turn, postponing the 2p rise in fuel duty. (In the Budget he announced that he was delaying its imposition until October, he has now delayed again.) Darling’s quote explaining why he has done this is classic: “Today’s decision will help motorists and businesses get through what is a difficult time for everyone.” Indeed, Chancellor. The Labour party clearly feared how the public would react to a further hike in the price of petrol. Given the money being funnelled to the victims of the abolition of the 10p tax band and

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Position perfect

David Cameron’s interview in The Guardian this morning once again demonstrates his skill at political positioning. By citing Barack Obama as the inspiration for his call for people to take responsibility for their own actions, Cameron is moving to ensure that his message is not seen as old-fashioned Tory moralism but rather associated with the hippest brand in politics today. Indeed, both Brown and Cameron have been keen to agree with Obama’s rhetoric on this. Labour is still underestimating Cameron, though. As this dismissive quote suggests: “What does he want to do, tell fat people they are not entitled to treatment on the NHS?” one senior minister said. “Cameron has

Paul Johnson

And Another Thing | 16 July 2008

The other evening I went to a ‘pig roast’ in our Somerset village. It was a tremendous turnout from far and wide. There is something about the idea which stirs up deep guzzling instincts, and certainly this pig on his spit looked, and smelt, gastronomically alluring, despite the fact that six of his live colleagues waited in a nearby pen for their ‘pig race’, another local custom. People sat on bales of hay, eating slices of the pork wedged in buns. There is no elegant way of doing this, I reflected, an observation subsequently confirmed by study of the photographs taken. So what? I don’t suppose the original feast when

Judi Bevan

Can London be turned around like a troubled company?

Tim Parker, the bubble-haired venture capitalist hired to cut costs at City Hall and make Mayor Boris’s vision a reality, strolls down the curved walkway to greet me smiling widely, just like his photographs. Tall and rangy, this socialist-turned-capitalist, who is to be paid just £1 a year, is all charm and apologies for failing to turn up for our appointment the day before. He takes responsibility like a good leader should, although I suspect the serried ranks of apparatchiks from the not-so-ancien régime of attempted sabotage. They should watch out: while turning round the AA, Parker earned the sobriquet ‘Prince of Darkness’ for his skill at excising surplus staff.

Mark Leonard

Big Brother versus YouTube: let the Beijing Games commence

Mark Leonard, Britain’s pre-eminent analyst of modern China, says the Olympic genie is out of the bottle. The prospect of global scrutiny has actually increased repression as the authorities try to stamp out dissent. But digital technology is impossible to police ‘For years we couldn’t wait for the Olympics to start. Now we can’t wait for them to be over.’ That is how a Chinese friend described the horrible limbo in Beijing as a control-freak state tries to anticipate and eliminate any possible challenges to its glorious coming-out party on the 8th of the 8th, 2008. It is clear to any visitor to the Chinese capital that while China hopes

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Nudge, nudge: meet the Cameroons’ new guru

The economist Richard Thaler — a favourite of the Cameron and Obama camps — talks to James Forsyth about the power of ‘nudging’: small transformative acts of persuasion No one likes to be pushed, prodded or shoved. But no one objects to a nudge in the right direction. The idea that people can be nudged into making better choices is the brainchild of Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, two whip-smart University of Chicago academics. The two professors see nudging as the ‘real third way’, an alternative to both government regulation and laissez-faire liberalism. The idea is the new big thing; the two politicians of the moment — Barack Obama and

James Fergusson

The house that Jock built

When John Murray was sold in 2002 it was billed by the Daily Telegraph as ‘the oldest independent book publisher in the world’. The firm had been in the same family since the first John Murray began selling books in Fleet Street in 1768. It was also, reported the Telegraph, ‘the last of London’s “gentlemen publishing houses” ’. But when were publishers ever gentlemen? The poet Byron wrote of his publisher in 1816, ‘I believe Murray to be a good man with a personal regard for me. But a bargain is in its very essence a hostile transaction . . . Do not all men try to abate the price

Tuesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

What’s the matter with France?

Since yesterday was Bastille Day, this seems as sensible a moment as any to ask: whatever happened to France? How did a once-great nation fall so low? And, are there any grounds for hoping that France may recover from this shameful, pitiful, nadir? I speak, of course, of cycling. No Frenchman has won the Tour de France since Bernard Hinault took his fifth yellow jersey way back in 1986. Worse still, apart from Laurent Fignon (winner in 84 and 85 himself), no Frenchman has since come even close to hauling on the Maillot Jaune in Paris. It gets worse: Fignon won the Giro d’Italia in 1989 and Laurent Jalabert took

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Dumping Darling

Gordon Brown has no chance of improving Labour’s poll ratings let alone winning the next election unless Labour can close the gap on the economy. The Tories currently have a 13 point lead on this subject according to Populus while back in September 2007 Labour were 23 points ahead on this issue. A lot of people in Westminster will tell you that Labour can’t turn this around with Darling at Number 11. They say that he doesn’t have the authority a Chancellor needs or ‘connect’ with the public. Indeed, the post-Budget polls found that 47 percent of voters thought Darling wasn’t up to the job and it is hard to

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Mail calls for Smith’s head

The Daily Mail sets about Jacqui Smith in its editorial today. It declares that: “This sorry little cameo only confirms that this Home Secretary is so hopelessly out of her depth that she makes a predecessor such as Charles Clarke seem like a Colossus. Surely, amid rising violence and mayhem in the streets, the public deserves better.” Now, The Daily Mail falling out with a Labour Home Secretary is not that surprising. But considering the influence that The Mail has on Brown, this editorial will give Jacqui Smith a nervous moment or two. I still think, though, that Brown will be loathe to move the most senior female member of

James Forsyth James Forsyth

It is not Shahid Malik’s willingness to meet the Moonies that should worry us most

Paul Waugh’s scoop about Shahid Malik agreeing to chair a meeting held at the Commons by the Moonies suggests that Malik—or his staff—should do a bit of research before agreeing to things. But far more worrying is what Dean Godson reveals in The Times this morning about Malik’s desire to attend Islam Expo even after Hazel Blears had ruled that it was inappropriate for any Minister to attend because of the platform being offered to those with extreme views: “Shahid Malik, MP for Dewsbury, had other ideas and sought to attend in a personal capacity. He was persuaded not to attend Islam Expo only with the greatest difficulty – after

James Forsyth James Forsyth

McCain’s Commander in Chief advantage

Barack Obama holds most of the aces in this presidential campaign. His supporters are more enthusiastic than McCain’s, he is out fund raising his opponent and he can control the news agenda almost at will. But McCain still has one significant advantage that is keeping him in with a chance: Americans are far more comfortable with him as Commander in Chief than Obama. The numbers from the latest ABC / Washington Post poll illustrate just how sizable McCain’s advantage is on this front: Would McCain be a good Commander in Chief? Yes: 72% Would Obama? Yes: 48% To be sure, Obama has a chance to close this gap during the campaign.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Brown needs to serve up some policy beef to the electorate

One of the big puzzles of the Brown premiership is the complete absence of policy innovation. There was a belief among both Brown’s critics and supporters that he would wheel out a whole set of big ideas in his fist year in office. But now I doubt that most people could name off the top of their heads a genuinely innovative policy that he has championed as PM. Rachel Sylvester, essential reading as always, turns her attention to this subject in her column today.  Having gone through the leadership’s policy submission to the Labour National Policy Forum, Sylvester writes that: “The only new policy that I could spot in more than

Monday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Outrage Up to 11!

Jesus, people, would you get a grip? Apparently there is bipartisan outrage over this week’s very amusing New Yorker cover: Obviously the New Yorker, that bastion of shoddy journalism and fist-bumping reactionaries, is hell-bent on destroying America. And apple pie. Hell, they probably want to restrict the franchise… Oh, hang on… Ben Smith reports that according to: Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton: “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama’s right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” Most readers will, of