All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
The weather chart does not usually echo social trends, but Monday might be an exception. We could be about to be blown about by the world’s first transgender storm. This week, the Met Office began the practice of naming storms to strike the UK, in the manner that tropical hurricanes have been named by the
Excellent news, if it is confirmed, that Mohammed Emwazi – aka ‘Jihadi John’ – has discovered the hard way that seventy-two virgins have not been waiting around for him on a cloud. It is more than a year since David Cameron announced that this country would chase the murderer of British, American and Japanese aid-workers
Mohammed Emwazi, the British Isis militant better known as Jihadi John, looks likely to have been killed in an airstrike by the U.S. air force. Although there has been no official confirmation, No.10 sources have told The Guardian there is a ‘high degree of certainty’ that Emwazi was killed in the strikes. The Pentagon has released the following
Last night’s episode of Question Time saw David Dimbleby joined in Stoke-on-Trent by Sajid Javid, Lucy Powell, Ukip’s Paul Nuttall, the Sun‘s managing editor Stig Abell and Paris Lees, the transgender rights activist. With Jeremy Corbyn the main topic on the agenda following the Sun‘s story this week claiming Corbyn failed to bow deeply enough at the Remembrance Sunday service
For three decades, Cui Yongyuan has been one of China’s national treasures. As a veteran television presenter for CCTV (China’s BBC), Cui’s career was made by this state-controlled broadcaster. So his recent talk in London – entitled ‘An Idealist’s commitment and compromise’ – caught my attention for its political undertone. Could he have been talking
The Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis is apparently the most trusted voice on the EU referendum, according to a new poll. James Morris from Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, who was also Ed Miliband’s former pollster, has examined the state of the referendum campaign and reports that it is very close. According to Morris’ research, 45 per cent believe
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.
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
I hope anyone who sees footage of the two shrieking women at Yale and Missouri will finally concede that political correctness is not ‘all about politeness’. It’s about power, and always has been. The Yale hoo-ha started because the authorities failed to take seriously a letter from the university’s ‘Intercultural Affairs Committee’ warning about Halloween fancy dress costumes
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
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
When Russell Brand laid out his vision for a revolution back in 2013, the comedian-turned-revolutonary said that profit was a filthy word. ‘David Cameron says profit isn’t a dirty word, well I say profit is a filthy word,’ he announced to a bemused Jeremy Paxman. So Mr S can’t help but feel for the poor soul after reading the
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
