Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

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

Ed West

What’s the point of the BBC if we no longer share common cultural values?

Is privatising BBC3 as bad as Isis’s destruction of Nineveh? That was the wonderfully trolling headline on a Stewart Lee piece in the Guardian over the weekend. He was making the point that even though BBC3 was not to his tastes it should be preserved because the Beeb is ‘the greatest cultural achievement of any 20th-century democracy’ and

Isabel Hardman

Andy Burnham: I am mainstream Labour

Has Andy Burnham really reinvented himself to prepare for a future leadership bid? In this week’s Spectator, I interviewed the Shadow Health Secretary about his rather forthright views on the NHS: views that some suspect have conveniently changed in order to appeal to Labour’s base. You can read the interview here, but for Coffee House

Nick Cohen

Liberal Democrats reveal the great fissure in liberalism

Someone once said (it may have been me) that while the left looks for traitors the right looks for converts. Only in Britain’s centre ground, however, are converts treated as traitors. Maajid Nawaz is one of the most interesting public figures I know. As a young man growing up on the Essex coast, he received

The Spectator at war: Siege fighting

From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 20 March 1915: When we wrote last week we were only able to chronicle very briefly the news that on Wednesday, March 10th, we had achieved a considerable local success at Neuve Chapelle. Now, however, that we have the details of the action contained in the spirited despatch

Reflections on the importance of Mothering Sunday

For Mothering Sunday, some advice to mothers from a 1912 edition of The Spectator. Be with him yourself as much as you can… I have no fear of your being a fussy mother, worrying him with continual attentions, but I have just the slightest fear lest you should entertain that silly idea that seeing much

The Spectator at war: Defence of the realm

From ‘The Defence of the Realm’, The Spectator, 13 March 1915: BEFORE dealing with the merits of the Defence of the Realm (No. 2) Bill which Mr. Lloyd George introduced into the House of Commons on Tuesday, it is necessary to say a few words about the manner of the introduction. This is a measure

James Forsyth

A Vince intervention that will please the Tories

Later today, Vince Cable will launch his traditional conference attack on the Tories. He’ll denounce them for their positions on Europe and immigration. But his pre-conference interview in The Guardian will have, for once, delighted the Tories. For in it, Cable rules out a deal with the SNP. Now, this is a turn-around from Cable.

Steerpike

Steerpike competition: ‘MP Looking Normal’ contest

Politicians are always trying to appear normal, sincere and authentic. It’s not just Ed Miliband trying to decide which kitchen to pose in: every MP is always trying to craft an image of themselves as a man or woman of the people through carefully-posed Twitter photos. Mr Steerpike particularly enjoys shots of MPs enjoying themselves in their

The Spectator at war: Taking one’s pleasure

From a letter, ‘Ascot in Wartime’, The Spectator, 13 March 1915: [To the editor of The Spectator] Sir,—”Pleasure as usual” is “certainly a vile motto,” say you in your note to “Schoolmaster’s” letter regarding Ascot in last week’s Spectator. You are profoundly comprehensive. I had, by the way, turned to your note almost immediately after

Steerpike

Ed Miliband defends his two kitchens

Yesterday Mr S reported that Ed Miliband posed in his second kitchen for a BBC interview with his wife Justine, rather than his larger main kitchen. Now the Labour leader has come out in defence of his two kitchens, claiming that the smaller ‘kitchenette’ is his main kitchen. Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Miliband says that he does

Steerpike

Wallace and Gromit creator not happy about Ed Miliband cartoons

Since the Times cartoonist Peter Brookes first drew Ed Miliband in the image of Wallace from Nick Park’s cartoon Wallace and Gromit, the Labour leader has been unable to escape comparisons to the goofy-faced character. Now, the Evening Standard reports that Park is growing tired of its negative use in the lead up to the election. ‘As a huge Labour supporter

Isabel Hardman

Is Margaret Hodge the ‘tarantula’ good for politics?

It’s not just on the Health Select Committee that election fever is starting to take hold. The Public Accounts Committee had a party-political row this week too, with accusations that Tory members had blocked plans to question Lord Green over HSBC. There is now a leak inquiry underway about who from the committee told the