Society

Friday

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

Peter Hoskin

Is Darling set to axe the fuel duty rise?

Alistair Darling’s interviewed in today’s Standard and, in response to a question about vehicle excise duty, he says: “I think the bigger question for motorists, frankly, is the fuel duty … That’s something you pay every week, not once a year, and that is something that we in government are very focused upon.” Which is – I think rightly – being read as a strong sign he’ll axe the 2p rise in fuel duty planned for this October. I guess it would be U-turn No.1,347 for Darling, but it’s a good U-turn nonetheless.  At a time when huge swathes of the British public are struggling with the cost of living, there’s

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Failing the laugh test

The confusion that underlies the government’s attitude to testing is illustrated by the interview with Ed Balls in this week’s New Statesman. Martin Bright and Suzanne Moore press Balls on whether children are being stressed out by being tested too much, to which Balls replies: “No seven-year-old should ever know they are doing SATs.” Balls goes on to explain this slightly bizarre answer by saying: “The best headteachers will ensure that no six- or seven-year-old knows they are doing SATs. I promise you that is the case. If you are telling pupils in Year 2 that they are doing SATs next week then that’s the wrong thing to do. You

The Spectator

CoffeeHousers’ Wall | 3 July 2008

We’ve added a new linking button to Coffee House – one which takes you through to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall.  It’s about halfway down on the right of any Coffee House page.  Should make it easier to head over to the Wall, and have your say on the week’s events. Alternatively, you can find this week’s CoffeeHousers’ Wall here.

Maurice Gerard

Smoke and mirrors | 3 July 2008

Harare, Zimbabwe It’s smoke and mirrors for Zimbabweans. State-run TV has been blaring non-stop Mugabe’s statement that he is willing to sit down and negotiate with the opposition MDC – and would even accept a “unity” government, whatever that means. Tsvangirai is holding his ground; the capital’s more salubrious bars are a-buzz with speculation over an imminent deal brokered by the South Africans. The reality will be disappointing, I fear. “The violence in the run-up to the poll and Mugabe’s rushed inauguration was all about leverage,” one Harare political analyst told me, a former government advisor. “In the event of any negotiations, he wants to show the MDC that he’s still boss.”

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Better (and braver) Administrators Please

One of the sadder constants in international sport is that any major decision made by the International Cricket Council will, more probably than not, damage the long-term best interests of the game. That sorry streak continues today: The result of the controversial 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan is to be changed, the BBC understands. The match was awarded to England when the Pakistan team refused to come out onto the field after tea after being accused of ball-tampering. But the International Cricket Council is expected to change the result to a draw at its meeting in Dubai. BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew said the move would open up

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The laws of war in the war on terror

I’ve just got round to reading the Christopher Hitchens piece on being waterboarded which everyone is talking about. It is definitely worth a look, it deals fairly with both sides of the argument. Hitchens sums up the case that the proponents of waterboarding make thus: As they have just tried to demonstrate to me, a man who has been waterboarded may well emerge from the experience a bit shaky, but he is in a mood to surrender the relevant information and is unmarked and undamaged and indeed ready for another bout in quite a short time. When contrasted to actual torture, waterboarding is more like foreplay. No thumbscrew, no pincers, no

Peter Hoskin

The Gurkha ruling is shameful

Over the past few weeks, three Gurkha veterans have been challenging the Government’s imbalanced pension plan for Gurkhas – by which those who signed up for the army before July 1997, and retired after that date, are valued at between only 24 and 36 percent of British rates.  Today, the High Court turned their challenge down.  It’s a shameful ruling.  After all, these three veterans – and the group they represent – were just as prepared to sacrifice their lives for our country as any other soldier.  By that alone, they have done more for the UK than most people ever will.  And that’s before we get onto the Gurkha’s proud 200-year history, or the 13 Victoria crosses they’ve accrued in

James Forsyth James Forsyth

There should be a cost to doing business with the Mugabe regime

A fortnight ago Peter Oborne wrote in his cover story on Zimbabwe about how “The Munich-based company Giesecke & Devrient continues to supply, unhindered, truckloads of large denomination banknotes. This enables Mugabe to bribe his army, police force and irregular militias but only accelerates the total collapse of the economy.” Giesecke & Devrient also manufactures the Oyster card. Today’s Evening Standard reports that Boris Johnson has promised that Transport for London will not renew the contract at the end of the month. This is welcome news, companies that work with the Mugabe regime should pay a heavy price for their actions.

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Saudi moves in Syria

David Ignatius’s column this morning in The Washington Post on covert efforts to pin back Iranian attempt to establish hegemony in the Middle East, contains this fascinating detail: Saudi Arabia has taken a tougher stand to oppose what it sees as Iranian meddling in the region. There are reports out of Syria, for example, that the Saudi military attaché in Damascus was expelled a few months ago after the Syrians uncovered what they believed was a plot to pay $50 million in subsidies to members of a prominent Syrian tribe. One source said the money was simply intended to support the kingdom’s longtime tribal friends rather than organize political opposition

Richard Orange

Fading memories of the Raj in the tea gardens of Assam

Richard Orange says the Indian tea industry is enjoying a revival — but that the traditional tea-planters’ way of life, established by the British, is passing into history There is not much to distinguish Dhanesheva Kurmi from the rest of the crowd at the Hautely Tea Estate, a remote garden an hour and a half’s bumpy drive from the Assamese town of Jorhat. Richard Orange says the Indian tea industry is enjoying a revival — but that the traditional tea-planters’ way of life, established by the British, is passing into history There is not much to distinguish Dhanesheva Kurmi from the rest of the crowd at the Hautely Tea Estate,

Christopher Fildes

The market’s favourite scapegoat

Oh, dear, what a setback. The usual suspects have slipped through the net. They will have to be locked up in the Financial Services Authority’s waterside fortress for 42 days, while the investigators try again to find some evidence. These suspects are the short sellers: everyone’s favourite scapegoat. They are accused of rocking the banks’ leaky boats, of destabilising the stock market, of profiting from other people’s misfortunes, of driving share prices downwards to suit their own book. If it wasn’t for them, we should all be rich, or richer, at any rate, than we are now — or so we are led to believe. The textbook way to become