Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

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

What to expect in today’s Queen’s Speech

The new parliament officially begins with the grand State Opening of Parliament ceremony today. The Queen will deliver the first Conservative Queen’s Speech in 19 years this morning, outlining the topics her government intends to legislate on over the next year. Plenty of details have appeared in the press already, with numerous reports suggesting that it will be ‘one-nation’

The Spectator at war: Italy’s contribution

From ‘What Italy Brings To The Allies‘, 29 May 1915: THE more the entrance of Italy into the war is contemplated the more romantic and gratifying it seems. Italy has joined the forces of Freedom with whom her heart has long been beating. It is her right and natural place. Why, then, it may be asked,

James Forsyth

Cameron tries to bring the campaign into government

Tomorrow’s Queen’s Speech will be almost cut and pasted from the Tory manifesto. Partly, this is because Number 10 believes that the Salisbury convention dictates that the House of Lords will not block policies that have a manifesto mandate. But it is also because the Tories wish to carry on in office where they left

Steerpike

Ian Austin sees red over black cab protest

Ian Austin has come under fire this afternoon for tweeting his rage about today’s black cab strike, which saw cabbies obstruct roads as they called for tougher rules on minicabs: Many users on Twitter were quick to ridicule Austin for using a cab for the journey, especially given that in his bio on the site he references his

Why David Cameron should take his time with the EU referendum

Exhilarating, isn’t it? A referendum on Britain’s continued membership of the European Union is at hand. For the first time in a generation, there’s a real possibility that Britain might leave. With that prospect so tantalisingly close, it’s tempting to want to rush ahead. ‘Bring it on!’ many regular readers will say. Hold on. Let’s

Isabel Hardman

The real Yvette Cooper is standing up

In many ways, Yvette Cooper has a perfect CV for Labour leader: a wealth of experience in government, not factional, respected by colleagues (except those who had a habit of moaning that she was, er, working on her leadership bid when in Ed Miliband’s shadow cabinet), well-known in the party membership, capable of delivering a

Ross Clark

The right-to-buy scheme is already causing problems for the government

New communities secretary Greg Clark has the least enviable job in the cabinet: justifying the policy of extending the right-to-buy to housing association tenants. The policy, hastily put together in the early stages of the election campaign, was roundly condemned from across the political spectrum. Dominic Lawson, not a noted socialist, for example pointed out

Steerpike

Alan Yentob admits he inspired W1A bicycle plotline

With the BBC’s self satire W1A proving to be one of the corporation’s most popular shows, much has been made of whether the comedy is too close for comfort given that they are up for charter renewal next year. Indeed Alan Yentob was mocked in March after he was photographed with a bike which bore a striking resemblance

Isabel Hardman

Cameron’s EU charm offensive must seem genuine

There is so little detail on David Cameron’s talks with Jean-Claude Juncker that it is almost outweighed by the briefing on what the pair ate while at Chequers (a spring salad, followed by pork belly and vegetables and a dessert of lime bavarois). What we were told was that ‘Mr Juncker reiterated that he wanted

Steerpike

Sandi Toksvig makes Hitler jibe about Nigel Farage

Sandi Toksvig disclosed last month that she has given up her role on Radio 4’s The News Quiz in order to focus on launching the Women’s Equality Party. Appearing at the Hay Festival, Toksvig spoke about her reasons for wanting to start the new political party, which aims to ensure women are treated equally to men.

The Spectator at war: A room of one’s own

From ‘Flat-hunting’, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: ECONOMY is just now a fashion set by necessity. The professional class are eagerly reducing their outlay, and the most obvious thing to save on is the rent. The immediate result of this determination to live at less cost is that all the cheap flats and small houses

The Spectator at war: Rational optimism

From ‘News of the Week‘, The Spectator, 29 May 1915: The past fortnight, partly perhaps owing to the uncertainty of the political situation, has been marked by a great deal of anxiety and pessimism of a very unworthy kind. Yet there is no real cause for grumblings and lamentings, but strong cause for the reverse.

Damian Thompson

The white-knuckle terror of being driven by a dopehead

‘Hidden menace of the drivers high on drugs,’ says the headline in today’s Daily Mail, revealing that – according to police – six out of 10 motorists are failing a new roadside test that can detect use of cannabis or cocaine. If so, that’s worrying. But not as worrying as actually being driven by someone

Steerpike

Peter Hitchens lets his election thoughts be known

Given that Peter Hitchens’ weekly column was absent from the Mail on Sunday the week before the general election, Mr S was glad to have the opportunity to hear his thoughts on the election at the Hay festival. Taking to the Telegraph stage this morning, Hitchens joined Johann Hari, David Aaronovitch and Bronwen Maddox for a panel discussion titled ‘Election 2015:

Steerpike

George Osborne kissed Lynton Crosby after election promise backfired

It isn’t the type of kiss-and-tell story Mr S is used to reading in the Sunday papers, but Lynton Crosby has today spoken about an election smooch he shared with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Sunday Times reports that George Osborne was so convinced that the Conservatives would not win a majority in the election that he

Steerpike

Revealed: Stephen Fry’s brush with the law over James Rhodes injunction

Last week James Rhodes won a legal battle to publish his memoir Instrumental: A Memoir of Madness, Medication and Music. This judgement came after his ex-wife took out an injunction through a court appeal to prevent the book from being published over concerns that the pianist’s account of the sexual abuse he experienced as a child could harm their

Fraser Nelson

Revealed: Lithuania, not Sweden, was Britain’s real Eurovision choice

So when Nigella Lawson popped up on television to give Britain’s results, what had Britain decided? The UK vote is a 50/50 split between jury and televoting – and the Eurovision authorities have just given the breakdown. They show that British televoters went for the cute, joyful Lithuanian duet. Our second choice was Poland, whose rather lovely Monika Kuszyńska did pretty

Fraser Nelson

How to break Britain’s Eurovision curse

“Over the past five years, Britain has produced some of the biggest chart-topping acts on the planet from Adele to One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith. But in nearly two decades, it has failed to produce a single winner of Eurovision.” – BBC 1 News, 24 May 2015. That’s one way of putting it. Another way is

The Spectator at war: Strikes and scraps of paper

From ‘Scraps of Paper‘, The Spectator, 22 May 1915: Fifty years ago Parliament was far more conscious collectively of the sanctity of contract than it is at the present time, and the change of attitude can only be attributed to the change of constituency. The House of Commons of previous generations was elected by a

Damian Thompson

Gay marriage will split the Catholic Church

Ireland, for so long the most overtly Catholic state in Western Europe, has voted for gay marriage by a stupendous margin – 62 per cent. Never before has a country legalised the practice by popular vote. It would be naive to ask: how could this happen? Hatred of the Church is one of the central features of modern

Steerpike

Is Matthew Richardson set to ‘unresign’ from Ukip?

After Nigel Farage resigned as the leader of Ukip following his defeat in South Thanet, he hastily ‘unresigned’ days later. Not everyone was pleased by the quick turnaround, with Ukip MEP Patrick O’Flynn and party donor Stuart Wheeler criticising Farage over his reinstatement. This in-fighting resulted in both of Farage’s personal advisers Raheem Kassam and Matthew Richardson leaving the