All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Under the heading ‘How can I help?’, The Spectator of 8 August 1914 advised young men on the process of joining the army, and suggested that older men try the Red Cross or a rifle club, with the warning: ‘The rifle club should only be for those who by age and want of training are
The recent call for off-putting party political broadcasts on behalf of the Tories, Labour, the Lib Dems, the Greens or Ukip drew a surprisingly small entry. But the Green party loomed large and Basil Ransome-Davies wasn’t alone in revealing the ruthlessness that lurks beneath its tree-hugging veneer: ‘The reality is, some of us have been
Alex Salmond’s suggestion that Scotland is more predisposed towards ‘social justice’ than other parts of Britain is absurd, repellent, and embarrassing. Let’s take those points in order. From the Left’s perspective first. To care about the dispossessed must surely imply a sense of solidarity. I walked to the BBC studio this morning through a nearly
‘Keep your temper’, from The Spectator, 8 August 1914: ‘When a nation goes to war the policy of the Government nearly always fails to carry with it the convictions of a minority. It is, of course, very rare for a Government who make war to find themselves without the support of the majority – for,
STV were left red faced after the live streaming of the independence debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling broke down, which meant viewers outside Scotland were unable to watch it on TV. The broadcaster has just issued an apology to anyone who signed up – the majority of whom were presumably English. Mr S was most heartened to
There is a phrase used of, and by, jihadists: ‘First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people.’ Well there’s a fine example of this on display at the moment in East London. Even the Guardian has picked up on it. At the entrance to a council estate near Canary Wharf, amid the banners of the
Mr S can’t help but notice that there is no Ukip peer among the list of the newly ennobled. This is surprising. Nigel Farage has survived attacks, smears and a helicopter crash. Surely ermine is the only way to stop him? Back in the heady days of 2010, the coalition pledged to introduce a principle
Back to Iraq, then. President Obama’s announcement last night that America would intervene militarily in defence of the Kurds is by any standards a stunning development. The President, whom hawks loathe for being a ditherer and a peacenik, has turned into action man, albeit still rather a cautious action man. Republican Senators John McCain and
That Nigel Farage was planning to stand in South Thanet was one of the worst kept secrets in politics. But Ukip turns out to be the worst secret keeper in politics, too, with confirmation of the party leader’s intentions dribbling out on a Friday afternoon at the end of a rather newsy week. The meticulously
This morning Nick Clegg announced that the Liberal Democrats want to ban judges from sending those convicted of possessing illegal drugs to prison. This policy may make sense around the dinner tables of the liberal elite, but it would be a betrayal of Britain’s poorest communities who would suffer as a result. It would, for
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has just issued a statement about the slaughter of Christians in Iraq that is both brave and perfectly judged. What an outstanding representative of English Christianity he is turning out to be – in sorry contrast to his predecessor. Here is the section of Archbishop Welby’s statement that illustrates
After President Obama announced air strikes against Isis and humanitarian aid drops to the Yazidis, British ministers have been clarifying the extent of their involvement in the response to the latest violence. Michael Fallon said this lunchtime that the UK government’s focus was on the humanitarian effort: ‘We welcome what the Americans are doing now
It has been bought to my attention that amongst the Conservative Party candidates selected this week, women outnumbered men two to one. Tory HQ are clearly very proud that Mims Davies will fight Eastleigh; that Michelle Willis will take on Ynys Mon; and that Charlotte Haitham-Taylor and Laetitia Glossop battling on in North West and
What we are witnessing in Northern Iraq today is the unwinding of lives. Where once they were blurred, intertwined and interdependent, now they are monochrome, distinct, raw. The process is bloody and cruel. The Yazidi community, which has worshipped in the area since before Jonah warned the king of Nineveh to repent, is being deliberately murdered. This isn’t the first time we have watched genocide
News just in that George Osborne’s cat, Freya, was hit by a car outside Downing Street last night, and is currently at the vet’s. Freya is famous for her love of hunting rodents. Indeed, she was promoted above Larry, the Camerons’ cat, as Downing Street’s ‘chief mouser‘ because Larry preferred lounging around (his master calls it ‘chillaxing’)
As silly seasons go, this August has been pretty rubbish, I have to say. Iraq heads the list of gloomy subjects, obviously, as 100,000 Christians and many more Yazidis flee from the genocidal maniacs of the Islamic State. And before anyone asks, yes I do support intervention there: this is not like other conflicts in
It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how Parliament will make it through the summer recess without being recalled. This morning has brought two good reasons for MPs to return to the House of Commons: President Obama has announced air strikes against ISIS in order to prevent a genocide of the Yazidis and Israel is
Barack Obama has authorised the use of targeted airstrikes in Iraq against forces of the Islamic State, which are hell-bent on massacring Yazidi and Christian minorities, and threatening American assets and citizens. David Cameron has welcomed Barack Obama’s decision. There are already voices calling for wider deeper intervention; special forces and conventional ground troops have
Yesterday, I had a succession of texts from one of the priests in my local parish, Mgr Nizar, who heads the Iraqi Catholic church in London, asking, with increasing urgency, what could be done for the Christians in Quaraqosh, in Ninevah, where most of Iraq’s remaining Christians live. ‘The situation is very bad,’ he wrote.
I am so sorry to hear of the death of Fr Jean-Marie Charles-Roux in Rome at the age of 99. I won’t attempt an obituary, but my memories of him from the late 1980s are still vivid. He was a slender, aristocratic figure who wore a frayed but superbly cut soutane; his long hair was
FOB, FOG or FOT? Which one are you? In this week’s Spectator, Harry Mount examines the machinations of the Friends of Boris as they set their star man up for a return to Parliament and a future Tory leadership bid against the Friends of George and the Friends of Theresa. It’s worth reminding all three
At the impressive Westminster Abbey vigil to mark the centenary of the first world war on Monday night, there was one big candle for each quarter of the Abbey, and one dignitary assigned to each candle. At different points in the service, each dignitary would extinguish his or her candle. Then the rest of us
Forget Alistair Darling’s debate victory. Forget the lack of Salmond’s currency ‘Plan B’. Forget the tonne of Scottish ink that savaged Salmond in print this morning (see Alex Massie in today’s Spectator for the best example). No, historians will pin-point today as the moment that Kriss Akabusi saved the union. Awooga, awooga. It has become
Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, gave a speech earlier this week on the future of the welfare system. The choice that she presented was one between ‘…failing programmes and waste driving up social security spending under the Tories’, and Labour’s reforms to ‘…make work pay and get social security spending under control’.
Mr S doesn’t imagine that Israel is among Bradford’s major trading partners. But George Galloway has put the matter beyond doubt with this outburst. It’s raving (and chilling), even by Gorgeous George’s standards. Isn’t there a word for this sort of thing?
Diabetes is spreading to epic proportions in the UK. It affects 3.2 million people, a figure which has doubled since 1996 and is expected to rise to five million by 2025. Around 10 per cent of these people have type 1 diabetes, where the body can’t produce enough of the hormone insulin to convert carbohydrates
I was pleased to read this week that my old headmistress, Judith Carlisle, has launched a campaign to root out perfectionism in girls’ schools. Her initiative, which she is calling ‘The death of Little Miss Perfect’, is designed to ‘challenge perfectionism because of how it undermines self-esteem and then performance’. After 11 years in selective
Pre-diabetes is an artificial category with virtually zero clinical relevance,’ said an American professor in the Times. A friend of mine has even been told by the vet that her little cat is in a pre-diabetic condition, being a little over the norm on the feline body mass index. I began to think that pre-diabetes was
Here comes Boris! After he announced yesterday that he will stand as an MP in 2015, the next Tory leadership fight has just begun. Now that Boris is back in the fray, and making Eurosceptic noises, he has an excellent chance of making it to No. 10 – to assume what he believes is his
A letter to the editor from the 8 August 1914 Spectator, from Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer: ‘Sir, – A septuagenarian may perhaps profitably remind his countrymen of events which happened some fifty years ago, and of which the present generation may possibly be unmindful. In 1866 Napoleon III. allowed himself to be lulled
From ‘Topics of the Day’, The Spectator, 8 August 1914: ‘How does it happen that within a week Germany and Austria-Hungary are at war with France, with Russia, with Britain, with Servia, with Belgium, and that it is exceedingly likely that to the list will have to be added Holland, Switzerland, and Denmark, and later
Since the beginning of this year, China has been engaged in a cruel and bizarre campaign against Christians in the south-eastern province of Zhejiang. Its main target is Wenzhou, a city known as ‘China’s Jerusalem’ because a million of its eight million residents are Christian. Wenzhou’s 2,000 churches display hundreds of crosses that illuminate the
How about those twin imposters, triumph and defeat disaster? The reaction to last night’s debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling reveals as much as anything that happened in the debate itself. And the story it tells is that Darling won a handsome victory. His performance was far from faultless. I don’t understand why he
Much has been made of the news that Boris Johnson intends to return to parliament at next year’s general election. The announcement, made in the Q&A session after his speech about London, Britain and the European Union, has got Westminster all hot and bothered. But another of Boris’s answers in that session also deserves to