All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
From a very entertaining New York Times profile of Gerard de Villiers, the French novelist who, though little known in this country, is seemingly better connected in the spy world than any mere hack novelist has any right to be: Why do all these people divulge so much to a pulp novelist? I put the
Equal marriage has provoked anguished internal discussions in the Tory Party. Twenty Association Chairmen have asked the Prime Minister to backtrack on the proposals and up to 180 MPs are rumoured to be considering voting against the proposals today. But opponents of the Bill should rethink their position, given that our research and international evidence
In the next few hours as the vote on the second reading of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill approaches, the ‘undecideds’ are declaring how they will vote. Yesterday I reported that Tory PPS David Burrowes was likely to defy the three-line whip on the programme motion which makes the arrangements for scrutinising the Bill
I have a piece in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) this morning: ‘Take Iran At Its Word’ can be found online here. The piece asks what is required to stop the Mullahs getting nuclear weaponry. And it relates a strange breakfast experience with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khameini.
That’s that then. Marriage will change, one way or another. Progress has won. Cue lots of right-on politicians talking about how proud they are to have ushered in such a historic reform. But what about the losing side? What should those Christians who believe that marriage must by definition be a union of man and
More Tory MPs have voted against gay marriage than have voted for it, with initial estimates from the vote (which was won 400 votes to 175) suggest 139 Tories voted against the legislation and 132 voted in favour. This was not the result that David Cameron was hoping for when his government introduced gay marriage
The report of the Bulgarian authorities into the bus-bombing which killed a local bus driver and five Israeli tourists in Burgas last summer has confirmed what so many of us suspected: it was Hezbollah. Commenting on the release of the report, and the identity of the bombers, Interior Minister Tscetan Tsvetanov has said: ‘We have
Last night’s Super Bowl advertising gives an interesting insight into the ongoing gun debate following the Newtown shooting in December. Super Bowl adverts have become a phenomenon in their own right, generating as much interest and discussion as the game itself – with a 30-second slot during yesterday’s game costing up to $4 million. At
The current ‘Same Sex Couples Bill’ is part of a trend that supposes equality is only to be advanced by erasing all differences between us so that we are all the same and all equal. But a free society is made of those who differ and who can express that difference and distinction both by
Downing Street is very keen to emphasise that Tory MPs who vote against the second reading of the gay marriage bill tomorrow are not ‘rebels’. This is a free vote, and MPs can vote with their conscience. But this ignores the fact that there will be a rebellion tomorrow: not on the second reading, but
Chris Huhne’s guilty plea alters the political landscape. There’s now no need for a reshuffle to accommodate his return to the top table of British politics. Huhne, who ran for the Lib Dem leadership twice and some thought would do so again, is now standing down as an MP. In this respect, Huhne’s departure from
Downing Street always knew tomorrow’s gay marriage vote was going to provoke tensions. But what’s interesting is how unsure Number 10 is about how to approach the free vote on the issue. The whips are not supposed to get involved on these votes, and besides a number of those normally twisting colleagues’ arms to extract
Parliament is entering the frenzied final hours leading up to the second reading of the same-sex marriage bill. MPs will vote on the legislation at around 7pm tomorrow, and today’s papers are full of reports that while there is no whipping operation on the free vote, the Conservative leadership is doing its best to encourage
Welcome Rt Rev Justin Welby, who became the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury this morning at St Pauls. The Church of England’s first tweeting ABC has been a bit quiet online of late, but that hasn’t stopped us nosy parkers getting a glimpse into life behind the scenes of this most holy transition. If Welby’s twenty-something
It’s time to panic. I read at the weekend that sophisticated hackers have burrowed their way into no less than 250,000 Twitter accounts. What shall we do? Henceforth, when we read that Stephen Fry has just eaten a sandwich, we cannot be absolutely certain that it is the real Stephen Fry who has eaten the
Just as everyone was settling down to a long entertaining courtroom drama, Chris Huhne has stunned everyone and pled guilty. His trial for charges of perverting the course of justice was due to start this morning. But at the start of the court hearing, the former Lib Dem Energy Secretary switched his plea – having already entered
The video of my debate with Richard Dawkins, Rowan Williams and Tariq Ramadan is now available online. Richard Dawkins speaks third, and I speak last.
Tony Blair usually grows rather awkward when asked about the current direction of the Labour party under Ed Miliband. Clearly afraid of appearing a backseat driver, the former Prime Minister tries as hard as he can to avoid delivering any kind of verdict, other than a vaguely supportive bundle of words. He certainly did the
On the Sunday Politics, William Hague confirmed that the greatest terrorist threat to the British homeland come from Somalia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he argued that without intervention, the Sahel could become as dangerous to Britain. Those hoping for Hague to put flesh on the bones of the government’s European strategy will have been disappointed.
David Cameron arrived back in the UK this morning to newspapers full of talk of Conservative splits and plots. The moment of unity that followed his Europe speech has well and truly passed. There’s no doubt that the gay marriage is causing a ruckus in Conservative Associations up and down the country and that Conservative
I spent Thursday evening at the Cambridge Union debating the motion ‘This House believes religion has no place in the 21st century.’ I spoke against the motion. My opponents on the opposite side included Richard Dawkins. My opponents on my own side were Rowan Williams and Tariq Ramadan. Anyhow – there has been a certain
An unemployment rate of 26 per cent (and 56 per cent for young people); an economy that contracted by 0.7 per cent last quarter; tumbling approval ratings. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had enough problems, even before claims that he received about €280,000 (£240,000) in payments from ‘secret’ accounts managed by the treasurers of his People’s
It looks as if the anti-Chuck Hagel lobby, despite a successful day yesterday at his confirmation hearings, won’t prevent their nemesis from becoming US Secretary of Defense. Yesterday Hagel seemed unsure of himself and a bit hopeless at repelling wild suggestions that he is some sort of anti-Israel zealot and a friend of Iran. But
Another day, another confusing briefing about public spending. Yesterday Downing Street got itself into a lather over defence spending. Today it’s pensioner benefits. The Independent’s story that the Lib Dems would only consent to further welfare cuts in the 2015/16 spending review if the Tories were prepared to cut pensioner benefits came up at the
Where was Andrew Dilnot in the Gordon Brown era? The head of the UK Statistics Authority has just rebuked the Prime Minister for telling porkies about debt on his ITV broadcast last week. CoffeeHousers will remember that the PM made the flatly untrue claim that: ‘though this government has had to make some difficult decisions, we
David Cameron clearly rated Adam Afriyie’s ‘stalking horse’ plot as a sufficiently ridiculous threat to make a joke out of it at Prime Minister’s Questions this week. After their premature outing in the papers last weekend, the plotters might sensibly have gone to ground for some time while Afriyie fended off lunch invitations from journalists
David Cameron is continuing his tour of Africa today and is — according to the New York Times — ‘boasting a sheaf of commitments to new partnerships in the fields of defense, counterterrorism, intelligence-sharing and military training’. He was in Tripoli yesterday, where his approval ratings ought to be sky high having been instrumental in
The Spectator hosted a sell out debate on Thursday night on the motion ‘Leveson is a fundamental threat to the free press’, and you can now hear what happened. As Fraser reported yesterday, it was a lively affair, with the motion carried albeit with a significant swing to those speaking against. Although the quality is
The disadvantage of live phone-in radio programmes is precisely that you don’t get to weigh your words. No doubt Nick Clegg would have expressed himself a bit differently on the subject of a transferable married couple’s tax allowance if he hadn’t had the subject thrown at him by a caller. But in response to a
Some jokes just write themselves. Hurrah for Ireland: The former head of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has been appointed chairman of Horse Sport Ireland. Prof Patrick Wall, who was the first chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and has been a prolific commentator on the recent horsemeat in burgers scandal,
It is lovely to have Timbuktu back in the news, a welcome whiff of backwards exoticism and savagery. I am still not sure yet about Mali, and what we’re doing there. I think that in general bombing berserk Islamist Arabs is probably a good thing. I am aware too that Mali is, technically, a constitutional
It’s the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice this week, so perhaps it’s the passionate letter from Darcy to Elizabeth that’s inspired such an enthusiastic burst of letter-writing from Conservative MPs complaining about stories in the press today. Earlier, we had Jake Berry complaining to the BBC, and now there are more. Sadly,
The government’s position on defence spending is, to put it politely, confused. After the completion of the SDSR and the defence spending settlement, there was an expectation that the military budget would begin to rise again in real terms from 2015. There has long been talk in Whitehall that David Cameron assured senior military figures
An interesting spot, courtesy of the good chaps at Think Defence. From Hansard: Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North, Labour) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of new recruits to the Army at (a) soldier and (b) officer level previously attended state school. Andrew Robathan (South Leicestershire, Conservative) The proportion of
