All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
It was no expenses spared last night at One Great George Street to toast the departure of long-time Andrew Marr Show editor Barney Jones. Most ‘leaving dos’ in journalism involve a few beers down the Dog and Duck but Aunty was an extremely kind benefactor, providing fine wines and canapés as well as music from Nick
Even though they ended up walking through the lobbies together (though not hand in hand, skipping, sadly), Ed Balls and George Osborne still managed to have the sort of Commons showdown that would fit right in to the script of Bridget Jones. On and on their furious fighting went, over whether the long-term economic plan
To the Oldie literary lunch where Mr S dined alongside the magazine’s editor Alexander Chancellor and Alan Johnson. Talk soon turned to Johnson’s former boss Tony Blair, as the Labour politician recalled a joke that backfired spectacularly. ‘Probably the reason why I fell out,’ Johnson said, before stopping himself and tactically rephrasing. ‘Alex and I have
The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo goes on sale tomorrow, with around 1,000 copies expected to be available in the UK. Some people have decided that buying it shows ils sont Charlie, but both David Cameron and Nick Clegg don’t appear to be joining the rush for copies. The Deputy Prime Minister told the Today programme that
David Cameron is holding another one of his parliamentary party meetings this evening to discuss party strategy and rally the troops. Normally these things are quite well-attended, save a few conscientious objectors who think these events are an attempt by Downing Street to undermine the 1922 Committee. But today’s one might look a little quieter,
Londoners were not a happy bunch this morning. Aside from the cold, wet weather, two-thirds of the capital’s buses were not running — thanks to a strike arranged by trade union Unite. Bus drivers are protesting over pay, as they believe the lack of a collective deal across all bus operators is unfair. Currently, there are 80-odd
Nigel Farage has performed a useful public service this week. Yes, really, he has. The UKIP leader, you see, is a believer in Root Causes. He is, in fact, a Root Causer and, like every member of that miserable tribe, liable to see every event as confirming the righteousness of his own longstanding, stale-breathed, prejudices. You
Last week Nick Robinson took a swipe at Russell Brand’s call for the public to refrain from voting, claiming that it could undermine democracy. He went so far as to say that in a choice between quitting the BBC and defending democracy he would choose the latter. Happily it didn’t come to that and instead the
Mr S’s favourite ‘rent-a-quote’ Mo Ansar appears to have missed the message in a Twitter spat with our own Alex Massie. Ansar, who was a planning manager at Lloyds-TSB in Winchester until 2006, has reinvented himself as the ‘voice of Islam’ in recent years. He may, however, want to try thinking before sharing opinions in the future… #Newsnight
‘Ukip seems to have imploded,’ one ‘mainstream’ politician remarked to me yesterday. ‘We haven’t heard anything from them.’ True, Ukip have been rather quiet since Christmas, but anyone in the Tories or Labour who is dancing around imagining that they’re set fair for an election without Nigel Farage has got rather carried away. The truth
There was a certain irony to the news that @CENTCOM had been hacked yesterday afternoon. While President Obama was giving a speech on cybersecurity, the U.S. Central Command Twitter account was spouting pro-Isis propaganda. Nothing new here, though. Since day one, Isis have used the internet to threaten the West and in particular American soldiers. During
For goods, as opposed to services, Britain has just joined the Eurozone deflation club. This morning’s figures show that goods (i.e., the stuff we buy) were 1pc cheaper in Christmas 2014 than Christmas 2013. Factor in services and still, UK consumer price inflation was 0.5pc in December, the (joint) lowest since records began in 2004 (pdf).
One of the obsessions that will only get worse over the next few months – along with checking every poll that comes out every day to see whether you’re six points up, four points behind, or level-pegging – is what ‘red lines’ the parties will set out for their Coalition negotiations. David Cameron has made
Flick Drummond’s campaign to win a Conservative seat in Portsmouth South has hit a bump in the road. Word reaches Mr S that plans for a set of campaign posters for Flick had to be revised after the Conservatives realised that from a distance the poster could be misread as -well, another word starting in F. The issue
From ‘The British Reply and American Comments’, The Spectator, 16 January 1915: We have not the slightest desire to punish American commerce or any neutral commerce. Our whole object is to destroy our enemies, and it is only so far as American commerce interferes with that object that we interfere with American commerce. That the
What is going on with the opinion polls? In his first national poll of 2015, Lord Ashcroft has the Conservatives six points ahead of Labour at 34 per cent — whereas Populus also have a new poll out today putting Labour five points ahead. And yesterday’s YouGov poll put both on 32 per cent. As the
The public can always tell an election is near when the photo opportunities start to increase. Just such an occasion occurred on the 10th anniversary of the Hunting Act in November, when the Parliamentary Labour Party office invited MPs to have a photograph taken, ‘with a large fox holding up a sign saying “Back the
Ed Miliband’s popularity may be at an all time low, but the leader of the Labour party is at least now moving in A-list circles. The Telegraph reports that Miliband recently enjoyed a supper at the mansion of Geoffrey Robertson QC, the human rights barrister, which both George and Amal Clooney attended. Mrs Clooney is a barrister
Could there be anything more offensive to feminists than the use of young girls as suicide bombers? I doubt it. And I imagine that’s exactly why the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has adopted it as the latest technique in its campaign to overthrow the Nigerian government and create an Islamic state. In April last year, when Boko
Despite being the heiress to a steel fortune, Margaret Hodge never stops criticising multinational corporations over their tax affairs including the use of offshore havens and complex company schemes that befuddle the taxman. BP, for example, reportedly has 85 subsidiaries in a variety of tax havens built up over many years. That has not stopped moaning Margaret taking a
Has the Mayor of London fallen on tough times? Mr S only asks after this photo landed in his inbox. On further investigation it transpires that Boris Johnson and Evening Standard owner Evgeny Lebedev had a sleepover on the streets of London on Friday night as part of the paper’s pledge to support charities ABF The Soldiers’ Charity and
Heaven forbid that such an atrocity should happen, but suppose white racists attacked a mosque today, murdering four people. Crowds gather to show solidarity with the dead. They profess support for their friends and families and their horror at sectarian murder. The assassins killed their victims for no other reason than they were Muslims. That
The latest competition invited you to take a leaf out of Hilary Mantel’s book and provide a scene that shows a well-known villain from history or literature in an uncharacteristically kindly light. Mantel has said that she was driven by a ‘powerful curiosity’ rather than by any desire to rehabilitate Cromwell. ‘I do not run
Why have the Conservatives left out immigration and the NHS – two of the three issues that voters consistently cite as the most important in forming their decision about who to back in the General Election – out of their list of six priorities? Among the deficit, jobs, taxes, education, housing and retirement there is
Last week I lost count of the number of times we’ve been told, pace the Charlie Hebdo murders, that we have no right not to be offended, that freedom of speech involves the possibility of criticism and ridicule of any religion; indeed, that it’s the flip side of religious liberty. Salman Rushdie, who has more right
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 16 January 1915: Friday’s Times contains on its “leader” page an appeal to our soldiers by Sir William Osier in regard to inoculation against typhoid. He tells the soldiers in simple but stirring language that it is their bounden duty to keep themselves in as perfect a state
I don’t always agree with Peter Hitchens but this is by far the best piece I’ve seen on the political reaction to the Paris attacks. As far as Cameron, Miliband and Clegg are concerned, we must all sign up to these shibboleths: The attack was nothing to do with Islam. Almost all Muslims, here and
Following the success of the Tories’ last anti-UKIP strategy session, I’ve been leaked details of the latest election planning at CCHQ: […] I say, what’s the most damaging – and widely-held – perception about the Conservatives? Hmmm. That we’re the party for the rich? Most unfair, I think we can all agree. Right, moving on, what’s
It’s hard when a legend turns up to be judged: hard to judge it, hard on the legend. Everything suffers, maybe judgment most of all. How can we help being influenced— or at least forewarned to a critically unhealthy extent—by the national hysteria Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (‘X’ certificate) aroused in Italy early this year? Everything
Up to 0ne million people are expected to march through the streets of Paris today, in defiance of the terrorist attacks on the city during the past week. David Cameron will join the march, alongside approximately 40 other world leaders, including French President Francois Hollande. Security has been increased around the city, with more than 5,500 police
Dear Qanta, Our names are Andrew O’Keefe and Monique Wright, and we were the hosts who interviewed you on Weekend Sunrise. We were also partially behind the decision to invite you on to our show, having read about and admired your work for some time. It is with great sadness, and some surprise, that we
Today, on the Andrew Marr show, Ed Miliband repeated his porkie that David Cameron plans to reduce state spending to 1930s levels. When he first made this bizarre and obviously untrue claim, even your baristas here at Coffee House didn’t have 1930s spending data to hand. Now we do, so the extent of his deceit can be laid
Before Christmas, David Cameron tightened up the rules about ministers going overseas. He wanted them in this country campaigning as much as possible. But, unsurprisingly, his visit to President Obama in Washington this week hasn’t fallen foul of his edict. This trip to Washington is the source of much satisfaction at the heart of government.
Ed Miliband was on Andrew Marr’s sofa this morning, drawing 2015 battle lines. It all looked very encouraging – if you are a conservative, that is. Miliband started discussing the Paris attacks, saying he wants to give the security services what is necessary — but as MI5’s director-general said on Thursday evening, that means more