All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
William Hague has given today’s vote that will set up a secret ballot on the re-election of the Speaker as a ‘leaving present’ to Tory MPs. But not all of them are happy with the way this vote is being carried out. Here is an email from Julian Lewis, passed to Coffee House, about what
David Cameron is secretly planning for a second coalition, according to the new Spectator. In this week’s View from 22 podcast, James Forsyth and Miranda Green discuss the possibility of another Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition after the general election. Would it be more difficult than it was five years ago to strike a deal? Will the Conservative party back Cameron if he
Two very different but valuable crops are grown in Central and South America. After hours of toil, each is carefully harvested. But it’s not the plant itself that is prized: it’s the product inside. So both crops are subject to a process of extraction. The aim is to have a high concentration of pure product. One
From ‘President Wilson’s Mistake’, The Spectator, 27 March 1915: President Wilson’s attitude can only be described as a tragedy. We do not believe that there was a man more determined than he was when he entered office to conduct his administration on moral lines, and to show the world that morality and politics are not
Ed Miliband had a disastrous PMQs today after the Labour leader claimed the Tories would raise VAT, only to have David Cameron deny that he would increase the tax. Besides leaving Miliband lost for words, Cameron’s pledge has also left a massive hole in Labour’s election campaign. It was only yesterday that Ed Balls unveiled a snazzy new poster,
There’s no cause so disreputable it cannot find adherents. And, failing that, apologists. Take, for instance, the apparently simple case of a powerful man – powerful in status more than physique – who assaults one of his junior helpers. In ordinary circumstances – that is, if this assault took place in a cheese factory or
I still don’t know which way John Humphrys votes and I’ve been a friend of the chap for more than a quarter of a century. Hell, we’ve been on holiday together, twice. I have very few friends in mediaville, but John is certainly one, and the oldest friend within that milieu, at that. But I
David Cameron has just addressed the last meeting of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers in this parliament. He was given the traditional desk banging reception. Indeed, the loyal, pre-election tone of the meeting was set when John Baron, for a long time viewed as Ukip defection risk by senior Tories, announced that he had
Cameron expected to walk into a firestorm of mockery at PMQs following his retirement bombshell. Quitter. Lame duck. Get yer pipe-‘n’-slippers. But barely an audible jibe was flung from the Labour benches. The Tories on the other hand greeted Ed Miliband with a roar that scared the pigeons in Parliament Square. Miliband and his superwonks
[Update: On looking more closely at the list of priests, I’m astonished by some of the names I see there – clergy I wouldn’t have described as conservatives, let alone traditionalists. It reinforces my sense that vast numbers of priests, however much they admire Pope Francis, are worried about the direction of this pontificate – or, rather,
Cracks within the Liberal Democrats began to surface this week after Vince Cable publicly denounced Tim Farron as a future party leader. Now things have got even stranger. An excruciating mash-up video featuring Nick Clegg, and set to the tune of Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars, has been released. Mr S was surprised to see that the source
The most remarkable poll of the week was the one which suggested the British public find Ed Miliband more of a toff than David Cameron. It takes something to out-toff an Old Etonian with a patrician air and liking for green wellies. But is it so very surprising? Ed has, after all, just shown himself to be on
As our Barometer column reminded us this week, a campaign is underway to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx – which became extinct in the UK around 1,300 years ago – to the British countryside. But is bringing back lynx to the wilds of the UK really a good idea? Well, for starters there are many farmers and livestock
Last week Mr S reported how Jeremy Clarkson took to the stage at a charity event and called the BBC a bunch of ‘f—ing b—–ds’. He may well be uttering those words again today after Lord Hall released a statement saying that the BBC will not be requiring the Top Gear host’s services any more
In the final PMQs of this session, David Cameron scored his most comprehensive victory. Challenged by Ed Miliband to rule out raising VAT, Cameron got to his feet and simply said ‘yes’. At that point, Miliband’s fox was shot. Cameron then moved from defence to attack, repeatedly challenging Miliband to rule out an increase in
Organisers at a National Union of Students Women’s Conference have asked that those attending the event use ‘jazz hands’ instead of clapping, because it is ‘triggering anxiety’. Nona Buckley-Irvine, a general secretary at the London School of Economics Students’ Union (LSE SU), was reported as saying that ‘jazz hands are used throughout NUS in place of clapping
Never one to miss a dig, hats off to the PM at the final PMQs of this parliament for managing to shoehorn a gag about Ed Miliband into a spurious point about the Battle of Bosworth. Responding to a question regarding Richard III from self-noted historian Chris Skidmore, Cameron couldn’t help himself: ‘Of course, this
As the current parliament draws to a close, we’ve reached the final PMQs fixture. It seemed the perfect opportunity to reflect on some of the highlights from recent PMQs. Here’s Coffee House’s pick of the best moments from both David Cameron and Ed Miliband. It’s been one hell of a ride. David Cameron: ‘Calm Down, Dear’ listen
“Would you like a glass of pink champagne?” asks Alex Salmond at 3.30pm, sounding very much like a man settling down for the afternoon. It’s Monday and Scotland’s former First Minister has cause to celebrate. He spent the previous day musing on television about the price he’d demand for the SNP supporting Ed Miliband in
I preferred Grant Shapps when, as Michael Green, he was just another loathsome internet huckster peddling obviously quackish get-rich-quick schemes. He did less damage then. That is, he played a smaller number of people for fools back then. This morning Shapps, the Conservative party chairman, made the remarkable claim that “Alex Salmond is threatening to undermine a
PMQs at midday today essentially marks the end of this Parliament. Although Parliament won’t formally dissolve until Monday, very little of consequence will happen in the next few days.The main topics for debate at today’s PMQs not hard to predict: the PM’s gaffe about not serving a third term, the booming economy under this government, the NHS and, if
Next week will see the dissolution of Parliament and the official start of the election campaign. With some MPs destined never to return to the House of Commons, offices are shut down and the keys to the country are handed over to the civil service for six or so weeks. So from 00:01 on Monday
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 27 March 1915: The controversy as to what should be our future military policy in the west still goes on, and calculations are made on the basis of the inquiry — If it cost us so many thousand men to advance two miles on a front of four,
After Boris Johnson got his dates muddled while discussing his biography of Winston Churchill on LBC yesterday, it has come to Mr S’s attention that a selective memory could run in the family. Speaking at an Oldie literary lunch earlier this month, Boris’s father Stanley Johnson revealed to Steerpike that there is an embarrassing mistake in his second autobiography Stanley, I
What is Tristram Hunt trying to say in the Times today? He seems to say that the teaching of British values is an important thing, except when Michael Gove or another Tory says so. When they advocate the teaching of British values, the concept becomes reactionary tosh, because Tories are restructuring the schools system in
Another day, another senior Liberal Democrat takes a pop at Tim Farron. After Farron publicly marked the party’s leadership ‘two out of ten’ for its handling of the coalition, the knives have been out for him. Vince Cable is the latest senior figure to attack the former party president. In an interview with BuzzFeed News, the Business Secretary said this
Boris was waxing lyrical about Winston Churchill during his weekly LBC phone-in earlier when it all went a little wrong. Discussing the ‘many different phases Churchill’ went through ‘in his life’, Boris recalled that ‘in 1908 I think you’ll remember, he was in favour of cutting defence spending when he was going around with Lloyd
As Fraser Nelson says on this morning’s Spectator podcast, David Cameron will likely be regretting yesterday’s announcement for the rest of his premiership. He’s not a ripe watermelon; highlighting that he has a best before date won’t encourage anyone to eat him now, before he grows mould. Worse, he’s announced a shortlist of three possible successors:
It’s been a bad month for dogs, first there were reports of the fatal poisoning of a prize-winning Crufts dog, and now there will be no canine lead in the new series of Downton Abbey. Downton fans were left outraged last year after the Grantham family’s beloved Labrador Isis was killed off during the fifth
One of the most notable features of Alex Salmond’s account of the closing stages of last year’s referendum campaign is his hatred of the press and, indeed, the media more generally. Newspapers which run inconvenient stories are ‘anti-Scottish’ and journalists who ask awkward questions are accused of ‘impersonating Alistair Darling’. Salmond cannot quite decide whether the press are
Imagine if the body of a notorious child killer was exhumed and that, during the week of its reinterment, 35,000 people thronged the streets of a major UK city to respectfully watch the passing of the specially designed coffin and, with hopeful hurls, bedeck that coffin with white roses. The funeral procession itself is led
What Dave said in his kitchen during an interview with the BBC has blown this week’s news agenda wide open, yet Mr S couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact the PM was in the kitchen at all. After Miliband’s ‘kitchenette’ spin gaffe last week, it was no coincidence that Dave and Sam invited James Lansdale
What to make of David Cameron’s announcement that this will be the last time he leads the Tories into battle? Cock-up or conspiracy? In this View from 22 podcast special, Fraser Nelson, James Forsyth and I discuss the Prime Minister’s interview with the BBC – and whether this represents the first gaffe of the 2015 campaign. How significant
So much for Ed Miliband’s ‘cost of living crisis’. UK inflation, as measured by the CPI index, has just fallen to zero (pdf). Even this figure masks better news: food prices are actually falling, by 3.4 per cent over the last 12 months. The cost of motor fuel is down by 17 per cent, mainly thanks to collapsing oil prices. Crucially the price of such