Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

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

Steerpike

Another day, another Ukip ‘unresignation’

After Nigel Farage stepped down as leader of the Ukip party following his defeat in South Thanet, he hastily ‘unresigned’ days later. The move led to a Ukip civil war which saw Patrick O’Flynn rebel against the party leader, leading to both of Farage’s senior aides standing down. Now one of his advisors has had their resignation rejected

The Conservatives’ Heathrow conundrum

The Tories are facing a Heathrow problem. With Zac Goldsmith joining the race for the London mayoral nomination today, the idea of the Conservatives supporting a Heathrow expansion is becoming harder to envisage. The final recommendation from Howard Davies’ Airport Commission is due this summer and the Tories are expected to put it to a vote

Why is the West so obsessed with the developing world’s knickers?

Forget the selfie or the belfie; the latest craze to hit the internet is the ‘tampfie’. Twitter users are raiding their bathroom cupboards to show solidarity for the hashtag #JustATampon. It’s in aid of the charity Plan UK, whose campaign hopes to start a conversation about periods. Arguing that ‘stigma and embarrassment attached to women’s periods contributes

Steerpike

Coming soon: Ivan Massow vs Iain Dale

When Ivan Massow appeared on LBC last month, the London mayoral hopeful had a car crash interview. He was outed on air for advertising for a campaign assistant for his mayoral bid at a rate of £6.50 per hour, below the London living wage, despite preaching about how expensive it is to live in London. What’s more, the

Isabel Hardman

Zac Goldsmith to run for Mayor of London

Finally the Conservatives could have a decent and recognisable candidate for Mayor of London. Zac Goldsmith has told the Standard that he wants to put himself forward for the Tory nomination – after a string of senior Conservatives tried to persuade him to do it. So far those interested were either known only within the

Isabel Hardman

Cameron on Europe: the anatomy of a U-turn

How did David Cameron get into such a mess on Europe so quickly? For those whose heads are still spinning (and this probably includes the Prime Minister) over what on earth just happened to upset the Tory party so much and force Downing Street into a frenzied climbdown, here’s the anatomy of David Cameron’s European

Steerpike

Cameron’s former speechwriter Clare Foges launches attack on Tories

David Cameron’s recently departed speechwriter Clare Foges earned the affectionate nickname ‘the Prime Minister’s Larynx’ for her work assisting Cameron with his public speaking, so her Times column today will make for some interesting reading for her former colleagues in No. 10. Despite the Tories winning a majority in the election, Foges, who used to work

Yvette Cooper needs to do more than just talk about Nordic models

Britain’s Left has been indulging in worship of Scandinavian social democracy ever since the tide started ebbing on the New Labour project, most recently on prostitution reform and the SNP’s vision for an independent Scotland. Thinking wistfully of Borgen beats the hard work of actually reinventing socialism, but I haven’t heard so much excited talk about

The Spectator at war: Defending international law

From ‘The United States and Germany’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: THE resignation of Mr. Bryan, the powerful American Secretary of State, which took the United States by surprise, must of course affect considerably the methods by which the American Cabinet will conduct their negotiations with Germany. Mr. Bryan, as he has in effect told

Steerpike

Coffee Shots: Merkel and Obama have it out

Mr S isn’t sure who would win in a fight between Angela Merkel and Barack Obama. However, judging by this photo of the duo together at the G7 summit we may soon get to find out. A lively game of charades? A reenactment of the Sound of Music? Or, have relations between America and Germany

Isabel Hardman

Number 10 rows back on EU vote threat

So after a few hours of outrage in the Tory party, David Cameron’s aides have announced that he didn’t say ministers would have to support his stance during the EU referendum or leave government. Number 10 has clarified the Prime Minister’s remarks, saying they only apply to ministers’ stances during the renegotiation, not the period

There’s nothing ‘normal’ about turning down a pay rise

The MPs grandstanding about how they’ll give any salary increase to charity should all be ashamed of themselves. The entire point of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority is to take away self-regulation from politicians. It’s frankly none of their business to decide how much they’re paid, and the cries of protest are specious anyway given

Harriet Harman and Tristram Hunt knife Miliband in the front

The fear and loathing within Labour continues with the admission from Harriet Harman that its voters were relieved it didn’t win the election. The party’s interim leader is interviewed in the Independent this morning, claiming that voters were ‘not massively enthusiastic’ about voting Conservative but ‘settled for the devil they knew’: ‘Sometimes after an election, you get a sense

Steerpike

Sol Campbell enters Tory mayoral race: ‘I’m in it to win it’

Sol Campbell has thrown his hat into the ring to represent the Conservative Party in the 2016 London mayoral election. The official announcement comes after the former England footballer voiced his interest in the position earlier this year when he was rumoured to be lined up as a parliamentary candidate for Kensington. This means the Tories now have

The Spectator at war: A magnificent man and his flying machine

From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 12 June 1915: A MAGNIFICENT feat of airmanship was performed at three o’clock on Monday morning by Flight-Sub-Lieutenant R. A. J. Warneford, R.N., who single-handed attacked a Zeppelin between Ghent and Brussels and destroyed it. He dropped six bombs on the Zeppelin, and had come so close to

Liz Kendall offers tentative support for cutting benefits for EU migrants

Liz Kendall’s turn on the Andrew Marr sofa was slightly shaky and vague on details. She continued on the theme of being the ‘change everything’ candidate but failed on clarify what she would do differently to the Tories and her fellow leadership candidates. When asked by Marr if she was the candidate Yvette Cooper suggested had ‘swallowed’ the Tory manifesto,

The Spectator at war: An Englishman’s creed

From ‘Latent Creeds’, The Spectator, 5 June 1915: Has it not sometimes occurred to habitual church-goers to think how intensely interesting it would be if, when the congregation turned to the east, each man, instead of repeating after the choir, proclaimed aloud the creed of his soul? It would not perhaps be a bad spiritual