All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Dear Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Re: Urging Action by Indian government to Safeguard Freedom of Expression in Great Britain As a writer committed to protecting and defending freedom of expression around the world, I am extremely concerned about the growing intolerance towards critical voices who challenge orthodoxy in Britain. As your three-day state visit to the
Usually when the Prime Minister offers a backbencher their first ministerial post, they trip over their shoelaces in the rush to accept. Not so Tracey Crouch. Even though she had been waiting for five years to be promoted – having previously been considered too rebellious – and even though she had always wanted to be
Faithful readers of this column will know that I do not have a television licence for my flat in London, because I do not have a television. As a result, I receive a couple of letters a month demanding that I prove my innocence, which I never answer because I do not see why I should.
Is Jeremy Hunt spoiling for a fight with the wrong people? On the latest View from 22 podcast, Dr Clare Gerada debates this week’s Spectator cover feature on junior doctors with Fraser Nelson. Does the government have the right intentions about reforming the NHS? Why is the fight over working hours and pay for junior doctors proving so toxic? Are
The government is getting its revenge on the Vote Leave campaign. After a stunt at Monday’s CBI conference — where two protesters interrupted David Cameron’s speech — Sir Eric Pickles has written to the Electoral Commission to suggest that the Vote Leave campaign should not be designated as the official Out campaign. The Guardian reports the former Communities Secretary as saying: ‘I believe
As Seumas Milne attempts to settle in to his new job as Jeremy Corbyn’s director of communications, the former Guardian columnist has got off to a rather shaky start. As well as making headlines himself over his controversial appointment, the negative press surrounding Corbyn has shown no sign of disappearing with a fresh storm recently emerging regarding Milne’s colleague
Jeremy Corbyn has had enough of his shadow cabinet publicly opposing him. According to today’s Guardian, the Labour leader has given his frontbench team a dressing down over speaking out against him — in light of comments by the shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle on Trident last weekend: ‘According to several party sources, Corbyn made it clear that disputes must
Last year Nadhim Zahawi told Parliament in a debate on UK-Kurdistan bilateral relations that it should come as ‘no surprise’ that he has ‘significant interest’ in the region. Indeed only this summer, Zahawi — who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan — led a cross-party group there which included a visit to an oil
The kindest way to treat your enemies is to hate them. Hate them and you don’t understand them or their appeal. Hate them and you cannot see their own doubts and divisions. The opponents of Conservatives see them as greed-driven monsters, concerned only with helping the rich and middle-class. They are so tawdry, so lacking
A few weeks ago, I suggested that many of the arguments that will be trotted out during the forthcoming – and lacklustre – EU referendum will be wholly familiar to anyone who paid attention to last year’s referendum on independence for Scotland. And so it is proving. Sensible people – of whom there are more
In the run-up to Remembrance Day, my local branch of the Quakers has been displaying a sign on the front door. It reads, with ever-so-slightly combative bold type: ‘Remembering all who have lost their lives in war’. They’re willing to mourn, as long as they don’t have to be patriotic about it. Temperamentally, I’m with
The farcically named ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ has featured here many times before. The last time was earlier this year when this Khomeinist group decided to award their ‘Islamophobe of the Year’ award to the murdered staff of Charlie Hebdo. At their ‘awards ceremony’ for this the IHRC even joked about what a shame it
Helmut Schmidt, who served as West German Chancellor from 1974 to 1982, has died aged 96. The following review by George Walden of a book about Schmidt by Jonathan Carr was published in The Spectator on 2 February 1985. On a visit to the German Chancellery in Bonn, I remember once admiring the collection of paintings
Last week brought into focus how Labour is in complete and utter disarray. After the Home Secretary’s statement on the draft Investigatory Powers Bill, Andy Burnham wholeheartedly agreed with the government on the need for extra powers for spy chiefs. Then, about five days later, a letter was released by Burnham’s office saying that after closer
David Cameron’s speech and letter on EU reform have gone down as you might expect with Eurosceptics: they hated them. MPs and campaigners think the Prime Minister should be pushing for bigger reforms and the renegotiation is looking like a sham. Some have concluded the Prime Minister has spent the past six months traveling around Europe, asking what others
After Benedict Cumberbatch indulged in a foul-mouthed rant about the government’s response to the refugee crisis, he was criticised by several figures — including Boris Johnson — for using the theatre as a platform for his political views. In fact, the incident even left Mr S asking: is Benedict Cumberbatch the new Russell Brand? Judging by comments he made
Today Simon Danczuk has come under fire for reportedly pulling out of a parliamentary trip to China at the last minute, after discovering he would have to travel in mere economy class. The Labour MP cancelled his attendance after his request to be upgraded to business class was turned down. According to Richard Graham, the Tory
Almost three years ago, I made a speech about Europe. I argued that the European Union needed to reform if it was to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century. I argued that Britain’s best future lay within a reformed European Union, if the necessary changes could be agreed. And I promised the British people that, if I was
Counter-insurgency operations, as any army officer could tell you, are a messy business in which the consequences of failure are always easier to measure and appreciate than the rewards of victory. Moreover, even limited success in one area – the destruction of the enemy’s ‘human resources’, for instance – can be offset by the manner in
Last Wednesday, following what National Grid casually referred to as ‘multiple plant breakdowns’ of a number of power stations – desperate attempts had to be made to find back-up power supplies to keep the lights on throughout the evening. It was a clear demonstration of the dangers of the UK’s outmoded power network and successive
Downing Street has released the long-awaited letter from the Prime Minister to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council — outlining the four areas in which he would like to negotiate a new settlement for Britain. Here are the key parts of the letter, outlining the areas David Cameron is keen to reform: 1. Economic
Although Jeremy Corbyn has faced criticism this week for failing to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Day service in Whitehall, the left-wing messiah can at least count on the continuing support of his Corbynistas. In fact, one 18-year-old fan by the name of Kierran Horsfield has decided to do his own permanent tribute to
I have no doubt that David Cameron will secure 100 per cent of his stated aims vis-à-vis the EU. The reason he is stating them in public is that the other members have already agreed to them in private. They have done so cheerfully, incredulous at how little is being asked. The other heads of
This podcast was sponsored by King & Wood Mallesons. Would a vote to leave the EU help or hinder British businesses? In this View from 22 special podcast, The Spectator’s Fraser Nelson discusses the upcoming EU referendum with Matthew Elliott, co-founder of the Vote Leave campaign, Richard Reed, the co-founder of Innocent Drinks and a patron
Many people claim to speak on behalf of the residents of the Heathrow area, suggesting how much better it would be if they did not have one of the world’s busiest international airports as a neighbour. But what of the residents themselves? For most, Heathrow is not just an airport but the lifeblood of their
After Mr S reported earlier this year that the Tory peer Lord McColl was reigniting the fight to bring haggis to an American audience by urging the government to ‘press the US government to change their position on the ban on haggis’, there is fresh hope for Scotland’s great repressed minority. Although haggis has been banned
In last week’s Spectator, Rod Liddle reported that his Tory-supporting wife is beginning to feel sorry for Jeremy Corbyn. ‘You lot want to watch it. I’m beginning to feel sorry for the bloke. The sympathy votes will be stacking up,’ Mrs Liddle informed her husband. At first, you might wonder what there is to feel sympathetic about.
Downing Street has waded into the dispute over Sir Nicholas Houghton’s comments regarding Jeremy Corbyn and his position on Trident. After Houghton, the Chief of the Defence Staff, told Andrew Marr yesterday that the prospect of Prime Minister Corbyn would ‘worry’ him, the Labour leader complained of constructional meddling and asked the Defence Secretary to investigate the
Oh dear. David Cameron’s speech to the Confederation of British Industry got off to a shaky start today after he was heckled by Brexit protesters. While the CBI had opted to leave members of the Vote Leave campaign off of the invite list, two protesters managed to sneak in and get their own anti-EU message
The EU referendum looks set to be held next year – it’s now a question of whether it’s in the summer or autumn. Today’s Times reports that Whitehall is preparing for a referendum next June, if EU leaders are on side with David Cameron’s proposed reforms at December’s European Council meeting. The Prime Minister is set to deliver a
The Chancellor announced this morning that he will sell off old Victorian jails, which are on prime land for housing development, and replace them with a series of new prisons. The decision to sell off old prisons is a relatively easy one to take. The old prison estate in London is worth a fortune, is expensive to
Shrieking girl. There it is. I’ve been trying to think of a less gendered, less belittling phrase for the subject of a video that went viral this weekend, a black female student at my alma mater, Yale University, letting rip her frustrations at a mobbed college master. But shrieking she is, and not like an
In this week’s issue of The Spectator, Peter Hitchens defends the once-famous, once-sainted Bishop Bell of Chichester from the Church of England’s claim that he was guilty of child abuse. I do not know the facts of this case, but if Hitchens is right, the Bell case is yet another example of people’s readiness to
The idea for the latest challenge was sent in by a reader who, inspired by the emergence of the ‘slanket’, the ‘cardigown’ and the ‘onesie’, suggested inviting competitors to invent new garments and provide definitions. It made for an excellent comp. It has been claimed that we have Sir Winston Churchill to thank for the