Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

Fraud hotspots revealed by Which?

Norfolk is the dating fraud capital of England and Wales, Surrey is the hotspot for investment scams, and mid-Wales suffers cold calling computer cons. That’s according to new analysis by Which?. Using the Freedom of Information Act, Which? collated thousands of fraud reports from Action Fraud, the main reporting body for UK fraud. The data also reveals

Tom Goodenough

Grenfell Tower: Theresa May’s ‘Hurricane Katrina’ moment?

We don’t yet know what caused the Grenfell Tower blaze. Yet already one thing is clear: this devastating fire, in which at least 17 people – and possibly many more – lost their lives, should never have happened. Grenfell Tower is turning into Theresa May’s ‘Hurricane Katrina’ moment, says the Guardian, which contrasts Jeremy Corbyn’s

Nick Cohen

Grenfell Tower and the politics of needless death

As the body count rose from the Grenfell Tower fire, sensible people warned us not to rush to judgement. Activists, mainly from the left, denounced a complacent housing bureaucracy at the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, and a Conservative government, which had refused in its laissez-faire way to regulate rented housing. The warnings sounded

Steerpike

Tory MP takes a dig at Theresa May

Oh dear. Although Conservative MPs are supposed to be rallying around their beleaguered leader as Theresa May attempts to form a minority government, not everyone has received the memo. Step forward Tim Loughton. The Conservative MP – who ran Andrea Leadsom’s short-lived leadership campaign – has taken to social media to vent his frustration that the

Nick Hilton

The Spectator Podcast: Rebooting the Maybot

On this week’s episode, we examine the fallout from last week’s shock election result, and ask what’s next for both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn. And, to give you a brief respite from all the politics, we also speak to one of the world’s greatest living pianists. First up: In this week’s magazine, James Forsyth describes

Theresa May has much to learn from Enda Kenny

Enda Kenny stepped down as Ireland’s Taoiseach yesterday, and his farewell speech, at the National Gallery of Ireland, was an object lesson for British Conservative politicians. Amid the splendour of this palatial building, he delivered a speech which was warm and affable, enlivened with personal revelations and underpinned by heartfelt sincerity. If only our Prime

Why didn’t Theresa May meet Grenfell Tower survivors?

We can’t yet be sure what caused the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower. Early speculation, some of it expert, some of it not but based on eyewitness testimony, points to the cladding on the outside of the building, which was added during a recent £8.6m makeover. This, it seems, may have turned an ugly but

Alex Massie

How long can Nicola Sturgeon pretend that nothing has changed?

Is Nicola Sturgeon, not to put too fine a point on things, losing it? Just six weeks ago this question would have seemed preposterous. But that was before the SNP’s disastrous election result. Yes, disastrous. Sure, everyone expected the SNP to lose votes and seats but no-one really thought they could lose 21; no-one really

Now it’s cheaper to use your mobile phone abroad

Praise be, there’s some good news on the financial front this morning. Roaming charges for the use of mobile phones while overseas have been abolished as from today. Under the new European Union law (the Roam Like Home legislation), British mobile phone users can now make phone calls, send text messages and use data in other EU

Brendan O’Neill

The Grenfell Tower inferno shames London

It takes a lot to make me feel ashamed of London, my beloved home city. But yesterday’s tower-block inferno did it. The raging fire at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, the disturbing speed with which this home to hundreds was reduced to a smouldering shell of a building, heaps shame on this city. It is

Ed West

The future belongs to the Left

When I was in my early 20s and quite conservative I assumed I was just an anomaly, someone who develops these traits earlier than normal, and conservatism was like baldness or impotence or the other bad things that get you in middle age; most of my friends and contemporaries would catch up at some point,

Isabel Hardman

It’s not Tim Farron who is illiberal: it’s society

Was Tim Farron’s resignation as Liberal Democrat leader inevitable? He seems to suggest so, saying in his striking resignation statement that it felt ‘impossible’ to be a political leader and live as a committed Christian.  He spent much of the election campaign stuck in a strange political special of the Moral Maze, endlessly cross-examined about

Where we went wrong

Nobody inside CCHQ was prepared for election night’s 10 p.m. exit poll. Lynton Crosby’s last text to me predicted that we were going to ‘do well’, which according to our expectations would mean a Conservative majority of more than 60. A late projection, based on data from the ground and Jim Messina’s modelling, suggested we

How to navigate the information overload

As humans we are endlessly called upon to make decisions based on the information we have, and we are defined by those decisions – as individuals, in business and as a society. Living in the ‘Age of Information’, one would hope that people’s decisions would be more informed and less biased, more based in fact

James Forsyth

Tim Farron quits as Lib Dem leader

Tim Farron has resigned as Liberal Democrat leader. The Liberal Democrats did make a net gain of four seats but this was far lower than what they had been hoping for; early on in the campaign Farron talked about his desire to double the number of Lib Dem MPs. At the same time, their share

Katy Balls

The cost of Theresa May’s deal with the DUP

Theresa May’s deal with the DUP has been delayed as the government deals with the Grenfell Tower blaze. Even without the tragic events of last night, there’s reason to suggest that May’s deal with the DUP would not have been signed this week. Although the two parties are said to be finalising the ‘terms and conditions’

Isabel Hardman

What next for Labour moderates?

Normally after an election, the leader of the party that came second comes to the first meeting of their parliamentary party and promises an inquiry into what went wrong. As Katy reported from the Parliamentary Labour Party meeting last night, no such thing happened when Jeremy Corbyn spoke to MPs. He received a standing ovation

Grenfell Tower: It is far too soon for political finger-pointing

It is hard to overstate the scale and intensity of the fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower, a 24-storey west London block of flats, shortly before 1 a.m. this morning. Pictures and video from the scene look like something out of a disaster movie. ‘Inferno’ is the Evening Standard‘s headline. At this early stage, six people

Ross Clark

Philip Hammond’s Brexit plan is the worst of all worlds

Had last week’s expected landslide actually occurred Philip Hammond would by now be working on his memoirs. Instead, he is still in his job and demonstrating why, according to rumours, Theresa May might have liked to have removed him from the Treasury. He has reportedly demanded that May’s policy on Brexit be watered down so

The risks of being a modern landlord

The spate of terrorist attacks in London and Manchester has made many landlords and their insurers nervous about the risks of letting strangers rent houses, flats or even rooms without even closer checks. This is not about getting money upfront, though that can act as a deterrent. No, it is the still thankfully tiny but

Tom Goodenough

Theresa May would be wise to listen to David Cameron

Theresa May has few friends at the moment. But while her Christmas card list might be dwindling, her tally of critics is growing rapidly. Yesterday, John Major urged the Prime Minister to ditch a deal with the DUP or risk jeopardising the peace process in Northern Ireland. Now, David Cameron has waded in, calling for the PM

Tom Goodenough

Tory leader runners and riders: Who could replace Theresa May?

Theresa May has granted herself a brief reprieve by saying ‘sorry’ to Conservative MPs. But while the Prime Minister’s apology won her some breathing space, in the long term little has changed: the PM’s Downing Street days are numbered. Who could be next in line to take over as the new Tory leader? Boris Johnson Boris remains the

Katy Balls

Corbyn-mania hits the Parliamentary Labour Party

It tends to be the case that if you hear cheers from outside a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party, it’s safe to bet it’s not Jeremy Corbyn doing the talking. However, tonight that all changed. The Labour leader received a 45-second standing ovation from his colleagues in what was a positive and productive meeting. After