All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
After Cathy Newman falsely tweeted that she had been ‘ushered’ out of a mosque on an open day, she made a public apology and said that she was planning to to take a break from Twitter. This break appears to also stretch to parliamentary pancake races. The Channel 4 presenter’s absence was notable at today’s Rehab Parliamentary Pancake Race. Newman had previously
Are we now closer to Grexit? Tonight’s talks between eurozone finance ministers broke up after a few hours with Greece slamming the draft statement prepared by the group as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘unreasonable’. That statement was leaked by the Greek camp while the talks were happening, which can’t have helped the atmosphere in the room. The
One consequence of Islamic State’s barbarity is that we know relatively little about it. This is what makes Graeme Wood’s piece about it in the Atlantic, based on extensive conversations with its theological supporters, so interesting. The mind-set of Islamic State is well illustrated by this discussion from its official magazine that Wood cites: ‘In
Ed Miliband appears to have found some safe ground for his party this week, attacking the Tories whenever he can over tax avoidance claims. If he plans to continue on this note, Mr S suggests that he picks his words with more care in the future. Speaking at the Welsh Labour conference on Saturday about his plan to launch an
As well as keeping the tax avoidance row going for as long as possible (something that is worrying Tories, who think their party needs to find a way of moving the conversation on from a toxic issue as quickly as possible), Ed Miliband also unveiled a potential new campaign message at his speech today. He
Are the Tories beginning to edge ahead of Labour in the polls? ICM have released their latest monthly poll, which suggests a surge in support for the Conservatives. Since their last poll in January, the Tories have gained six points according to ICM, putting them four points ahead. Labour are on 32 per cent, down one point from
Mr S witnessed an awkward moment for Harriet Harman before the microphones were switched on for Friday night’s episode of Any Questions. During the off-air warm-up at BBC’s Broadcasting House, Labour’s deputy leader took umbrage with the fact that her water bottle had a pink lid, jumping to the conclusion that it was a dig about her
The Labour vs. Conservative battle of economic plans is heating up. Ed Miliband is launching a 79-page Better Plan for Britain’s Prosperity today, which appears to be his latest alternative on the Conservatives’ robotic chants of a ‘long-term economic plan’ for ‘hardworking families’. But this isn’t the first time they have launched their plan for
Nigel Farage wrote in the Spectator of his struggle to complete Dry January, while Jean-Claude Juncker is reported to be partial to a glass of cognac to kick start the day. So it came as little surprise to Mr Steerpike that the leader of Ukip named the President of the European Commission as his preferred drinking partner. Asked
With the Tories currently getting flak for holding a ball for the party’s super rich donors in the same week queries were raised about their tax habits, Ken Clarke appeared on the Sunday Politics to deny any suggestions of wrongdoing. He did, however, say that a ‘more defensible system’ should be put in place with a ‘donation cap’
Quite naturally, the latest foray by Labour into pointing fingers at Tory tax avoiders has led to two scraps, firstly about Labour’s own donors and their tax affairs (as James predicted on Thursday) and secondly about whether or not paying your builder in cash is illegal. The last time the second row blew about Westminster,
The implosion of Iraq and the durability of Islamic State will be major headaches for new ministers in May. Their required reading should include recent and substantial reports from the foreign affairs and defence select committees, respectively on UK policy towards Kurdistan and the response to Isis. My reading of the stark picture painted by these
Former First Minister Alex Salmond has backed Steerpike’s campaign to overturn the US haggis import ban, gleefully admitting it ‘looks like we might be getting somewhere.’ Welcoming last week’s developments, that saw Tory chairman Grant Shapps promise to make haggis a key part of the UK negotiations around the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Salmond
Can I write an entire blog post about one sentence? I’d certainly like to. The sentence in question is ‘The potent form of the drug, known as ‘skunk’, is so powerful that users are three times more likely to suffer a psychotic episode than those who have never tried it.’ It’s from a piece in
Weekends are quality time in the Alderman household. On Saturday evenings, following the termination of the Sabbath, my wife and I are accustomed to sit together, review the week that has just ended, and map out the week ahead. But last Saturday the conversation took a very different turn. My wife and I considered the
To listen to the debate about Labour’s prospective Mansion Tax, you’d think that the UK didn’t have any wealth or property taxes. So your CoffeeHouse baristas looked up the figures, which are collected by the OECD. Our stamp duty, business rates and council tax give the UK the highest property tax in the world. This has
From ‘News of the Week’, The Spectator, 20 February 1915: The great event of the week ought to have been the beginning of the blockade by Germany of the whole of the shores of the British Islands. Strangely enough, however, Der Tag passed in complete calm, and we are now informed by German wireless that
Another week and another completely random attack by a gunman hunting down cartoonists before inexplicably heading to the local synagogue. My guess is that events in Copenhagen yesterday have already been put down in many quarters to what President Obama describes as ‘a random bunch of folks’ being targeted by somebody who has ‘misunderstood’ what
It seems hard to believe now, but only The Spectator supported Margaret Thatcher in the first leadership ballot. She had been Keith Joseph’s campaign director, and when he faltered she took his place. The Economist, true to its endearing habit of being wrong in major calls in modern British history, said she was “precisely the sort of
Last week was Labour’s best of the campaign so far and the Tories’ worst. The row over tax avoidance and Lord Fink’s comments reinforced the damaging perception that the Tories are the party of the rich. It also raised Labour morale, frontbenchers who used to be pessimistic about the party’s electoral prospects are now bullish.
From ‘Labour Problems and the War’, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: The ultimate object of all Trade Union regulations is to improve the pecuniary position of the wage-earner. How far that object is attained by Trade Union methods is a matter of very keen controversy. There are economists, like the late Mr. T. S. Cree,
The beard has come a long way since the dark days of Mr Twit, Jimmy Hill and The Joy of Sex. As Ekow Eshun points out in his insightful essay ‘Welcome to Beardlandia’, the bewhiskered chin will one day come to stand as ‘the definitive visual shorthand for the early 21st century, as the moustache
Tim Aker is one of Ukip’s most recognisable figures. At just 29, he is already an MEP for the East of England, a local councillor in Aveley and, until recently, head of the party’s policy unit. He left the latter role earlier this year to focus on his battle to become the MP for Thurrock.
The great historian of the Soviet Union Robert Conquest’s Third Law of Politics reads: ‘The simplest way to explain the behaviour of any bureaucratic organization is to assume that it is controlled by a cabal of its enemies.’ I have tested Conquest’s law on every bureaucracy I have covered, and it has always held up:
What’s wrong with our politics? Now that more and people are turning to ‘anti-politics’ parties, this question is becoming steadily more fashionable and urgent. It’s now even got its own BBC Three documentary (the ultimate sign that an issue is dead serious, natch), called An Idiot’s Guide to Politics, presented by Jolyon Rubinstein from the
Who ends up governing Britain after the election may well be determined by what happens in the Scottish seats. If the SNP take a slew of seats from Labour, it becomes far more likely that the Tories will be the largest party nationally. Add to that the fact that Cameron is the incumbent Prime Minister
One of the more glamorous attendees of this week’s Tory Black and White ball was Nancy Dell’Olio. The former girlfriend of Sven Goran Eriksson attended the Conservative fundraiser as the guest of Ivan Massow, the London mayoral hopeful. When Mr S caught up with Dell’Olio after the ball, it seemed the presence of political leaders was starting
I was invited to Lars Vilks* Committee in Copenhagen to present Passion for Freedom London Art Festival. The committee is organised annually, on the anniversary of Salman Rushdie’s fatwa. The meeting started with a short introduction from one of the organizers followed by François Zimeray, the French ambassador, commemorating Charlie Hebdo and discussing the challenges that we
When Tom Hollander met Joan Collin on the set of The Clandestine Marriage the pair hit it off. In fact, they got on so well that Hollander attended the Dynasty star’s Christmas party alongside Conrad Black and William Hague, before receiving an invitation to stay with her in St Tropez. However, as Hollander writes in this week’s edition
From News of the Week, The Spectator, 13 February 1915: In the House of Commons on Thursday Mr. Asquith made three notable announcements. In future Sir John French will send twice a week a communication summarizing the doings of the British Force. Evidently “Todgers’s can do it when it likes.” Next Mr. Asquith explained that
Ed Miliband’s party has ended up having a reasonably good week, even though it’s been a pretty tough battle. Today’s front pages have not been good at all, something the party leader’s supporters are obviously disappointed by, but given the story about a comparison between the row about Lord Fink’s tax affairs and the hacking
Even though Boris is building up support for his leadership campaign, he doesn’t want to have to stand in one this year. He needs David Cameron to remain Prime Minister after the General Election, and, as James reported recently, then take over following an EU referendum. That’s perhaps why the Mayor seemed quite keen on
Conservative HQ might want to think a bit more carefully in the future when it comes to the guest list for their events. Mr S only makes the suggestion after they asked a businessman who is currently in jail in Dubai to attend an event happening this Saturday. A tweet from the Conservative’s Team 2015 account saw them
Stephen Green — the former trade minister Lord Green of Hurstpier-point, who became this week’s political punchbag— was always a rather Olympian, out-of-the-ordinary figure at HSBC. This was a bank that traditionally drew its top men from a corps of tough, non-intellectual, front-line overseas bankers typified by the chairmen before Green, Sir John Bond and
