All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Two of the biggest media circuses are set to collide. The 2013 press storm that greeted the arrival of Prince George looks likely to return when the Duchess of Cambridge gives birth to her second child. Today Catherine revealed that the baby is due next month. ‘I’m due in mid-April, to the end of April,’ the young royal told a crowd
Ed Miliband didn’t produce a spectacular response to the Budget, but neither did he have a bad outing at the despatch box. It was certainly better than his performance last year, and Labour MPs seem – in public at least – quite cheered by the whole thing. The Labour leader did have to contend with
Mr Deputy Speaker, never has the gap between the Chancellor’s rhetoric and the reality of people’s lives been greater than it was today. This is a Budget people won’t believe from a government that’s not on their side. Because of their record. Because of their instincts. Because of their plans for the future. And because
Here is a preview of James Forsyth’s political column from this week’s Spectator, out tomorrow George Osborne usually tells his aides to prepare for each Budget as if it were his last. This time round, the Chancellor and those around him needed no reminding of what is at stake. They knew that this statement had
The re-election of Benjamin (‘Bibi’) Netanyahu in Israel has not gone down well in the chancelleries of Europe, let alone the White House. During his terms of office, a majority of western politicians and commentators have become opposed to Netanyahu, viewing him as an obstacle to peace. BBC reporters claimed that his win was down
As ever, the story of the Budget was hidden in the small print. There are no hidden tax rises, but the story isn’t really in the tax. It’s about the cuts to come, the incredible jobs recovery and the games already being played for the general election campaign. Here’s my take:- 1. The rollercoaster of cuts to come:-
George Osborne delivered his final Budget of this Parliament today. Here is what you need to listen to: Full speeches George Osborne’s speech, in full: listen to ‘Budget 2015: George Osborne’s full speech’ on audioBoom
Mr Deputy Speaker, Today, I report on a Britain that is growing, creating jobs and paying its way. We took difficult decisions in the teeth of opposition and it worked – Britain is walking tall again. Five years ago, our economy had suffered a collapse greater than almost any country. Today, I can confirm: in
The PMQs before the Budget is always pretty pointless, and David Cameron turned up clearly determined to trivialise his exchanges with Ed Miliband as much as possible. He came armed with a plethora of jokes about second kitchens, chuckling about throwing two kitchen sinks at problems, that if the Leader of the Opposition couldn’t stand
Nick Clegg is turning up to the Budget today, which is an improvement on the Autumn Statement, which he bunked off in order to hang out in Cornwall with Lib Dems trying to get re-elected. He’s even got his own Lib Dem alternative Budget tomorrow. This may mean his party doesn’t get much of a hearing
Today a quick game of ‘spot the difference.’ First, here are some photos, released yesterday, of Isis pulling down the crosses on ancient churches and desecrating Christian holy sites in Mosul, Iraq. They admit to doing this because they wish to destroy all records of pre-Islamic civilisation and because, they say, they are following Islamic law. And
The Cabinet met this morning to discuss the Budget, with the Chancellor telling ministers that today the Conservatives will ‘set out the next stage in a plan that is working’ and deliver a ‘truly national recovery’, a reiteration of the comments he’s already posted on Twitter. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told journalists that ‘there was
Yesterday at SXSW, the world’s grooviest ‘interactive festival’, the head of Google X – the company’s mysterious research lab – finally admitted it. Google Glass was one gigantic embarrassment. Or, as Astro Teller put it, ‘We allowed and sometimes even encouraged too much attention for the programme’. You don’t say. For a glimpse of the sort of
Ed Miliband will respond to the Budget today (the Shadow Chancellor responds to the Autumn Statement, and has a Budget speech the day after the main event). In the past couple of years the Labour response hasn’t been fantastic, partly because the Tories have got a very well-organised (and at times just rather brutish and
While the nation is on tenterhooks for the 2015 Budget, the Tories have filled the news gap this morning with a new attack video. As you can watch above, Conservative HQ has dug up 18 year old TV footage from the Treasury, featuring Messrs Miliband, Balls and Brown promising to spend money wisely and keep unemployment down.
If Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham’s future leadership aspirations were ever in doubt, then take a look at his reaction to the news of Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election as Prime Minister of Israel last night: Burnishing his foreign policy expertise: tick. Cat-nipping the Labour left: tick. About as subtle as Burnham’s recent attempts in The Spectator to
George Osborne delivered his final Budget of this Parliament today. Here is what you need to know. Key announcements Personal Savings Allowance: From April next year, the first £1,000 of the interest on all savings will be tax-free. Tax free allowance up to £11,000: The personal tax-free allowance will rise to £10,800 next year and to £11,000
Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall documents the rise of Thomas Cromwell, one of history’s most famous anti-heroes. Chronicling Henry VIII’s ill-fated marriage to Anne Boleyn, it is just one of many accounts of life in Tudor times under Henry VIII. However as well known as the story may be, Mr S hears that there are fears it could be lost on Americans when the Royal Shakespeare Company’s
It’s Budget Day, possibly George Osborne’s last Budget and certainly the last big event in the House of Commons that anyone outside it will notice. The Chancellor will, within the limits set by the Coalition, try to give voters a vision of what life after the cuts will be like, with glimpses of sunlit uplands
Why is the Prime Minister inviting everyone into his kitchen, asks Isabel Hardman. Good question. Doesn’t he realise that for those of us fascinated by Dave’s struggles with his waistline, a glimpse inside his fridge – provided courtesy of the Sun – is the perfect opportunity for a snoop? Disappointingly, there’s no custard on display. In my days
After Mr S revealed the strict door policy for the launch of Nigel Farage’s new book The Purple Revolution at the Blue Boar in Westminster, the impromptu drinks affair was filled with mostly friendly faces from the media. Columnist Isabel Oakeshott introduced the Ukip leader, telling the audience that ‘of all the politicians I’ve had lunch with
For hardened drinkers, looking for the perfect hangover cure is like the search for the fountain of youth. To drink and drink without any consequences is the stuff of fantasy – and it’s one that’s been indulged by countless civilisations. A return to one’s GCSE classics days proves it. It’s nice to know what Grumio
As the election approaches, politicians will find their diaries packed with various events. It’s an equally busy time for those born with the gift of looking like a politician. ‘I’m lucky that I look like Boris,’ says Drew, a Mayor of London ‘lookalike’ who is on the books at the Susan Scott agency. ‘I often
From ‘Prolonging the War’, The Spectator, 20 March 1915: Owing to our mad refusal to think war possible or to prepare for it, we neglected to keep by us a sufficient store of extra rifles and equipment. A large portion of the nation even went so far as to regard preparation for war as partaking
There is some fuss around the publication delay on the government’s review into the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UK. But why the fuss? After all, if other news today is anything to go by, nobody reads government inquiries anyway – let alone bothers to act on them. On the Muslim Brotherhood review
I long ago accepted that the Conservative party has lost its mind on immigration but until recently I still hoped it retained its decency. Alas, such charity seems ever more sorely misplaced. Responding to a question from Andrew Green, the MigrationWatch campaigner inexplicably elevated to the peerage by David Cameron, in the upper house yesterday, Lord
So both Labour and the Lib Dems have responded to the TV debates with caution and enthusiasm respectively. A Labour spokesman said ‘based on the broadcasters’ proposals we have accepted and plan to attend all three debates on April 2nd, 16th and the 30th. If the Tories have confirmed they are to attend one of
Why is David Cameron inviting everyone into his kitchen? The Sun has followed the Prime Minister around with a day-in-the-life video, which starts in his kitchen and includes a recipe for sophisticated sardines on toast while the Standard has an interview with Cameron in this afternoon’s paper that starts… in the kitchen. The Prime Minister
Downing Street has agreed to an offer from the broadcasters for one seven-way election debate on 2 April. The Tories felt that it was close enough to their final offer of one multi-party debate in the week starting 23 March to be acceptable. However, Labour has yet to agree. A Labour source said, ‘We’ve accepted the proposal
A pal recently told me a story. It was about a friend of theirs who had been travelling on a train last summer, one of those old fashioned trains, with the windows that let you open the door from the outside. He was leaning on the door with his arm resting outside when another train suddenly passed by and clipped his
Though his Conservative colleagues have largely been very supportive of Grant Shapps during the latest row about his alter ego Michael Green, there is a contingent in the party who aren’t massive fans of the Tory chairman and who have pushed at previous reshuffles to have him removed. As I predicted yesterday, those opponents of Shapps
Sarah Vine criticised Ed Miliband in the Daily Mail after the Labour leader posed with his wife Justine in a bare kitchen for a BBC interview. Although the ‘forlorn little kitchen’ turned out to just be his ‘kitchenette’ rather than his main kitchen, Miliband has gone on to insist that it is one he uses. It’s a different story, however, for his rival
The Office for National Statistics has updated its basket of goods that it uses to measure inflation, and has added some amusingly middle class items in, including sweet potatoes, liver and melons. Even better is the addition of ‘speciality beer/ale, bottled’ because of the ‘increase in expenditure and shelf space’ devoted to craft beer, and
Fancy a bit of crowdfunding? My wife has insisted that I buy myself a new suit, as I lost weight and none of my suits fit me and the newest one is five years old, in any case. I had intended to go to Mr Byrite, if it still exists, or perhaps Millets. But now