Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

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

Isabel Hardman

Nick Clegg to announce waiting targets for mental health

Nick Clegg will, as promised, use his conference speech today to announce waiting time targets for mental health treatments. The Deputy Prime Minister, as part of government efforts to bring mental and physical health onto an even keel, introduce targets for the first time and pledge some (although not very much) more money to help

Damian Thompson

Anglican bishop to address Ukip. Now that’s courage for you

The former Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, has agreed to talk to members of Ukip about ‘Magna Carta and the Perfectly Virtuous Pages of our History’. I blogged earlier about the bishop’s bravery in calling on Rome to defend Christians from Islamism, and in the process endorsed the Catholic Ordinariate for ex-Anglicans. But this demonstrates courage of

Camilla Swift

Hunting is history – so why would the BBC pretend otherwise?

Of all the BBC’s output, the Antiques Roadshow is one of the programmes least likely to cause a row. Alright, so you might disagree with the odd estimate, or argue that some of the ‘treasures’ unearthed from attics aren’t bona fide antiques. But on the whole, it tends to be pretty inoffensive. Well it was, at least,

‘Unfunded tax cuts’: a verbal disease from America

The notion of ‘unfunded tax cuts’ seems set to be a central theme in next year’s election. David Cameron’s promise last week to raise the income threshold for the 40 per cent tax rate has led the Liberal Democrats to accuse him of planning ‘unfunded tax cuts’ for the rich – which they, being the guardians of fairness, would put

To statin or not to statin: a new test could help decide

In the context of the ongoing and increasingly sterile debate about the pros and cons of statins to lower cholesterol, it is refreshing to hear something new. At a recent meeting in Quebec, researchers made the case that it might be more sensible to better identify individuals at heightened risk of heart attacks and strokes

The Spectator at war: Terror from above

From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: The Germans must really be in very desperate straits if, as is alleged, they are straining every nerve to prepare a hundred Zeppelins and other aircraft to hover over London and bombard our capital from the clouds. No doubt the first appearance of the visitors will have an alarming effect

Isabel Hardman

In football as in politics, the Lib Dems have a losing policy

The Liberal Democrats now have an official party policy that football clubs wanting to win is a cause for concern. The party’s conference has just approved a motion, which Coffee House reported on yesterday, complaining that ‘winning has become the primary motive in the sport’ and about an ‘influx of overseas investment’. The motion was amended slightly,

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dems to announce mental health policy ‘red line’

The Lib Dems haven’t really announced many enormous policies so far at their party conference. Yesterday’s speech from Vince Cable was more notable for its loyalty than it was for its focus on ‘bolstering’ apprenticeship pay and ‘clarifying’ and ‘enhancing’ workers’ rights. But unless they’re planning to go for the 2013 Tory strategy of not

The Spectator at war: The lines are drawn

From The Spectator, 10 October 1914: FRIDAY’S news from the western theatre of the war shows that we have already almost reached the condition of “chock-a-block” described in our leading article. The two opposing armies, the greater part of them strongly entrenched, face each other at close quarters in a line drawn from Switzerland to

Damian Thompson

Anglican bishop: Rome must protect Christians from Islamism

The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester and an evangelical Christian, has delivered a remarkable message to a group of Catholics: ‘Bishop Nazir-Ali said that, with the growth of Islamic militancy and the persecution of Christians worldwide, many people were now looking to Rome as the voice that could stem the tide.

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dems aren’t haranguing Nick Clegg. Makes a change

In the past few years, Nick Clegg has come to blows with his party activists at his annual conference question-and-answer session over the policies his party has had to support while in government. The Deputy Prime Minister has, at times, grown rather grumpy as the grassroots harangue him on issues they wish he’d show more

Isabel Hardman

Football too concerned with winning, say Lib Dem activists

The Lib Dem conference is always a chance to see which side of the party is winning the debate internally. Normally, the Left dominates the grassroots – which is why the party leadership always makes a bigger deal of criticising the Tories than it does although last year the economic liberals in the party tried

Isabel Hardman

Who would the Lib Dems really prefer to work with?

Though they didn’t call them ‘red lines’, the Liberal Democrats did spend yesterday making clear the things they won’t accept if they have to work with the Tories in another coalition after the 2015 general election. Today’s Financial Times sets out a line that the party is apparently happy to cross: the EU referendum that

The Spectator at war: Keeping the nation sweet

From The Spectator, 3 October 1914: ALREADY we are engaged in the exacting task of creating an army during time of war ; and it is possible that to that task we may add the process of creating an industry. Mr. J. W. Robertson-Scott, who has written much on agricultural matters over the signature “Home

Isabel Hardman

Danny Alexander rolls up his sleeves to attack the Tories

Danny Alexander clearly wanted to come across as casual and jovial for his speech to the Lib Dem conference. He wasn’t wearing a tie. His top button wasn’t done up. Neither were his cuffs because the Chief Secretary to the Treasury had, after years of politicians using it as a figure of speech, rolled up

Isabel Hardman

Lib Dems swear to get attention – but what about their policies?

The Lib Dems are in an amusingly sweary mood this weekend at their conference, with Danny Alexander telling the Sun on Sunday that he’s p****d off with the Tories for stealing his tax policy, and Lord Ashdown talking about shits and bastards last night. Vince Cable today promised ‘more colourful language’ about his coalition partners

James Forsyth

Clegg attacks ‘economically extreme’ Tories

The Lib Dem message in Glasgow this week in simple, you can’t trust either Labour or the Tories to run the country on their own. On Marr this morning, Nick Clegg said that the country was being offered a ‘dismal choice’ between ‘sticking your head in the sand’ with Labour or ‘beating up on the

The Spectator at war: Attack and defence

From The Spectator, 3 October 1914: The essential value of a fortress is to act as an anvil upon which the field army, or relieving army, outside, which is the hammer, may pound the assailants to atoms. If there is such an army out- side, the parts are reversed—the besiegers, since they must stick to

The Conservatives need to win in Cities. Here’s how they can

The Conservatives do not have a problem in the North. As Policy Exchange’s report, Northern Lights, highlighted if you took the TransPennine Express train from Liverpool to Newcastle you would find that 13 of the stops are in Conservative held seats and 19 in seats held by Labour. The Tories’ real problem is in attracting support

The Spectator at war: Compulsory service

From The Spectator, 3 October 1914: We do not suggest that the voluntary principle should be abandoned during this war. The system is being worked for all it is worth ; it is answering well, thanks to the splendid spirit of the country ; and it would be absurd to change it mid-way for another

Paisley is the new black

Paisley fabric has a noble tradition in romance – from Napoleon’s gifts of paisley shawls for Empress Josephine to its à la mode status in the ‘Summer of Love’. Since Brooks Newmark’s pyjama-gate it has become an essential tool in the middle-aged sexter’s toolbox. It appears Newmark is not alone in his love for patterned paisley nightwear; following

Steerpike

MC Dave and post-modern politics

After David Cameron’s conference speech, Mr S noticed a YouTube video of the Prime Minister all over Facebook and Twitter. For a moment it looked like a great coup for Cameron. Except the video wasn’t showing Cameron’s actual speech but rather a ‘comic’ hip-hop mashup of his words. It features the Prime Minister’s Home Counties