Society

Saturday

Edie G-Lush

Members only: the sociable way to invest

Are you a serial investor, but with more money than time? You like the idea of being a business angel but you’re too busy to research companies yourself? Investment clubs or partnerships may be just what you’re looking for. The basic aim of an investment club is — for a fee — to allow members the opportunity to invest in deals that they might not otherwise see. They typically finance companies looking for new capital of between £250,000 and £5 million — too small for most venture-capital and private-equity funds. Unlike ‘business angel’ syndicates, where members do their own due diligence and deal-structuring, investment club management does the hard work

The Spectator

Just leave them alone, Darling

If there is a posture that will be indelibly associated with the Chancellorship of Alistair Darling — brief though it may turn out to be — it is that of a man forced into retreat under a hail of ridicule. Last month he backed away from ill-thought-out proposals to reform capital gains tax in the face of howls of rage from business owners. In the battle to recoup the massive exposures to Northern Rock to which, in panic, he committed the taxpayer, there has never been a moment when he has looked in full command, and retreat has taken the unusual form of digging himself into a deeper and deeper

Michael Rose

Triumph of the little ships

Michael Rose reviews Antony Hichens’ biography of Commander Robert Hichens In an era when the Royal Navy seems to be struggling hard to find heroes, it is a relief to discover that one only has to turn back a few pages of history to the second world war to read of sailors who still acted in the tradition of Nelson. Notable are those who fought in the small boats of the Royal Navy, their most successful commander being Lieutenant Commander Robert Hichens. He was a naval volunteer officer who had been a solicitor before the war. By the time of his death in action in April 1943, he was the most highly

Richard Briand

Grace under pressure | 16 February 2008

Can a straight-talking Republican Senator, a decorated war hero at odds with the GOP establishment, win his party’s nomination for president? Richard North Patterson insists that the similarities between the hero of his latest novel and John McCain ‘end with his military career and penchant for candor’. There are, nevertheless, numerous other parallels between McCain and Senator Corey Grace. Grace is, after all, a fiscal conservative who opposes abortion but favours stem-cell research, supports campaign finance reform, and favours an amnesty for illegal immigrants. Like McCain, he is also prone to impetuous behaviour, which his enemies exploit to spread rumours that his period in enemy captivity made him unstable. Grace

Steven Vines

Congratulations on your prosperity, but go cautiously in the Year of the Rat

Hong Kong’s underperforming Disneyland theme park has high hopes for the Chinese Year of the Rat, which arrived in boisterous style last week. As one of the few businesses heavily invested in rodent symbolism, the creators of Mickey Mouse are offering special discounts for the New Year period and have enlisted local pop stars to serenade the crowds. This may help Disney reach its targets, but in the wider economy caution seems to be the watchword for the Rat year. Feng shui masters come into their own as the new year gives way to the old. They issue massive almanacs of predictions and dispense advice from temple stalls for fees

Friday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

McGuinness’s less than surprising attitude to booze

James Forsyth says it is “deeply comic” for Martin McGuiness to complain: “I am not a fan of East-Enders or Coronation Street but my wife and my children, particularly the girls, watch the programme. I am appalled at the drunkenness that is quite clear for everybody to see and all of that before the 9 o’clock watershed when children as young as 8, 9, 10 and 11 are watching. Now I regard that as irresponsible broadcasting and I think something should be done about it.” Now of course, James is right to point out that Mr McGuiness’s role in murdering countless civilians scarcely gives him the clout to act, in

The Spectator

The Spectator to launch <em>The Spectator Business Magazine</em>

The Spectator announced its eleventh consecutive growth in sales this week and with its success in mind we will be launching a new title, The Spectator Business. These are exciting times ahead for us as we begin to expand our current coverage of news analysis and comment through our new monthly title, The Spectator Business, edited by Martin Vander Weyer. The new title will be produced in addition to our weekly magazine The Spectator. We’ll keep you posted with further developments.

Peter Hoskin

And now the police step in…

It’s emerged that Lee Jasper has been suspended from his role as Ken Livingstone’s race adviser, as police investigate a number of suspect spending decisions that he had a hand in. This is the last thing Livingstone needed.  He’s come under heavy fire recently, but he can expect much worse now there’s the whiff of a criminal investigation around his team.  Guido’s already got his teeth stuck in – pointing out that Livingstone gave his fullest backing to Jasper only 12 hours ago…

James Forsyth James Forsyth

One person we don’t need any moral lectures from

There are few people less qualified to act as any kind of moral arbiter than Martin McGuinness. So it is deeply comic to see him pronouncing on how television celebrates the demon drink. He told the British Irish Council, “I am not a fan of East-Enders or Coronation Street but my wife and my children, particularly the girls, watch the programme. I am appalled at the drunkenness that is quite clear for everybody to see and all of that before the 9 o’clock watershed when children as young as 8, 9, 10 and 11 are watching. Now I regard that as irresponsible broadcasting and I think something should be done

Peter Hoskin

Soft-touch Britain

The Royal United Services Institute delivers a stark warning in a report today – that the Government’s “misplaced deference” to multiculturalism has made Britain a “soft touch” for terrorists.  In the wake of the recent Sharia controversy, the Institute’s claim that “The UK presents itself as a target, as a fragmenting, post-Christian society” will have particular resonance. It’s a damning indictment of the Government, but – according to the report – others are culpable too.  Indeed, the “wider muddling of political responsibilities between Westminster and Brussels” plays its part.  As do the strategies of NATO and the UN. All this may just confirm what many know already, but it’s noteworthy

Thursday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Department of Government Gobbledygook

Bill Jamieson has been having some fun with the ghastly nonsense that is Government-Speak. Some favourites: BENCHMARKING – Clipboard activity suggesting that measuring a problem is the same as doing something about it. Gives illusion of purposeful action, as in David Milliband: “A diversity of approach allows us to spread risks, to test out different ways of working, and to benchmark best practice.” COMMUNITY GROUP – Special interest group with a grievance, or group of people a politician wants to flatter or appease. Participation in community not relevant. CUSTOMER – Someone who has no choice over the public service he or she is obliged to use. ECO – Three letters

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The Rushdie Fatwa

Today is the 18th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declaring a Fatwa on Salman Rushdie for writing the Satanic Verses. It was a wake up call to the coming challenge to the freedoms of a liberal society but one that we failed to heed. The Rushdie affair demonstrated the spinelessness of the British political class in the face of Islamic extremism. The Crown Prosecution Service refused to prosecute those who openly called for Rushdie’s death. The Islamist Kalim Siddiqui amazingly got away with telling a public meeting, “I would like every Muslim to raise his hand in agreement with the death sentence on Salman Rushdie. Let the world see that

Luke Honey

Your last-minute Valentine’s solution 

I’ve often thought it slightly odd that the Feast of St Valentine (that day of Love and Romance) commemorates a Roman martyr who was tortured and put to death in the most horrible fashion.  Having said that, for us simple creatures of the male persuasion, Valentine’s Day can be sheer torture if you get it wrong- and, Jiminy Cricket, can you get it seriously wrong. If you’re out to impress tonight, I would advise you to avoid restaurants at all costs.  You’ll discover dewy-eyed couples holding hands, while swarthy Lotharios flog over-priced roses, serenaded by squeaky violins.  It’s like appearing as out-of-work extras in an old episode of The Love

The Spectator

How cuddly is Musharraf?

Yesterday, we posted a letter by Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the former Pakistan High Commissioner to London, in which he took issue with a Coffee House post by Rani Singh.  Here, Rani responds to his points: Dear Wajid, Thank you for your comments of yesterday. I wrote in a recent blog post that Musharraf has been “doing cuddly”.  In response, you suggested that “things are far from cuddly” for those living under Musharraf’s regime. I agree with you.  Far from indicating that I was under the spell of Musharraf’s “well-oiled PR machine”, my words (“doing cuddly”) were intended to imply that it is all an act by Musharraf.  I even referred to his “televisual

Wednesday

Alex Massie Alex Massie

Tales of modern Britain

Like the redoubtable Mr Eugenides (from whom I pilfer this item), I find myself outraged by this. Alas, merely chucking out the cretins in charge is unlikely to be enough since the Tories will find ways of being just as appallingly intrusive and idiotic. A commuter was arrested at gunpoint and had his DNA and fingerprints taken simply for listening to his MP3 player while waiting for a bus. Darren Nixon was surrounded by armed police after his music player was mistaken for a gun. When a passer-by saw the 28-year-old get out his black Philips machine to change tracks, she panicked and dialled 999. Police tracked Mr Nixon using

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Ashdown’s plan for Afghanistan

Paddy Ashdown, who was going to be the much needed UN special envoy in Afghanistan, until Hamid Karzai vetoed him, has a piece in the FT today laying out how he thinks defeat can be avoided in Afghanistan. The whole piece is worth reading but one sentence stuck out to me: “ We are putting into Afghanistan one 25th the troops and one 50th of the aid per head of population that we put into Kosovo and Bosnia.” If Nato members, with some honourable exceptions, are not prepared to put men and money into Afghanistan then one wonders whether there is any operation outside of Europe’s borders that they would

Fraser Nelson Fraser Nelson

Government backs Blair for EU Presidency

I interview Jim Murphy in tomorrow’s Spectator, in which he gives his endorsement to Tony Blair as EU president. For the first time, we’re running a longer version of the piece online (click here). I’ve always rated Murphy, ever since I saw him shout down Trots in my student days at Glasgow. Coffee Housers are normally suspicious when we praise Brown’s younger ministers – what, it is asked, have they ever done? This isn’t a Cabinet, it’s a creche. Now, many of these criticisms are valid. But I consider Murphy a cut above for the following reasons: 1. He turned the safest Tory seat in Scotland into one of Labour’s

The Spectator

Musharraf’s Pakistan

Coffee House was recently sent the following letter from Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the former Pakistan High Commissioner to London: Sir, Your report by Rani Singh made quite a jolly read, referring to Musharraf’s ‘feminine side’, his liking for the arts’ and, as you put it, doing cuddly’.  Does one detect the influence of Musharraf’s well-oiled PR machine at work here? But for those of us who live with the reality of Musharraf’s regime, things are far from cuddly.  He is quite right to say Pakistan ‘needs a softer image, based around heritage, culture and sport rather than guns and violence’, but it’s a bit rich coming from him.  I wonder

Matthew Dancona

Sprinting leaves morality behind

As a sporadic but enthusiastic follower of British athletics, I find the Dwain Chambers story very dispiriting. There is something utterly compelling about the sprinters – from Jesse Owens, via Jim Hines’s 9.95 seconds in the 1968 Olympic 100m final, to the prodigious Carl Lewis, our own Linford Christie, and beyond. Britain has done well in these explosive events, and particularly so in 4×100 relay: black youngsters have performed with particular magnificence over the years, and acted as superb role models to children in deprived communities. So the selection of Chambers for next month’s World Indoor Championships sends all the wrong signals. The worst is the spectacle of an impotent

James Forsyth James Forsyth

O-mentum

Americano has reaction to last night’s Democratic and Republican primaries which saw Barack Obama and John McCain both notch up another three victories. With Obama having won the last eight contests, Hillary finds herself on the back foot and fighting for her political life.