All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Has the world become one huge ball of anger? As a follow-up to his book A Bee in the Mouth, Pete Wood examines how ostentatious rage — once the preserve of Americans — is now spreading to Europe and taking over the world in this week’s cover feature. In our latest View from 22 podcast,
If I told you one Cabinet member had put forward a Bill that’s incompatible with the Human Rights Act, who would you guess I was talking about? Surely not Nick Clegg, the man who has repeatedly defended that Act against calls for it to be scrapped? And yet — as Adam Wagner has just pointed
The issues raised by the Twitter Joke case have been gone over so thoroughly that, as is so often in public debate, only the obvious question remains undiscussed and unanswered: whatever happened to the right to free speech? The Human Rights Act guarantees it. Article 10 states: ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.
On the eve of the smoking ban five years ago, hundreds of liberty lovers came together to rebel and enjoy one last night of freedom. A reunion was held on the eve of the anniversary this week of the ban by smokers lobby group Forest. In the Scottish jazz heaven of Boisdale Canary Wharf, the
What is it, do you suppose, that Tony Blair has learned in the five years since he ceased to be Prime Minister that would make him a better Prime Minister now? That the Brazilians speak Portuguese, perhaps — this was a fact apparently unknown to him hitherto. What else? Blair has done an interview with
Tony Blair has chosen this summer to launch his re-entry mission into British politics. He hired a UK communications director in May, guest-edited the Evening Standard yesterday and agreed to a rather intriguing interview in same paper, stating he would like to return to office, while accepting it was not likely. So what is the
The Union is safe — at least if last night’s Spectator debate was anything to go by. The motion ‘It’s time to let Scotland go’ was defeated by 254 votes to 43. The SNP weren’t present (they demanded two representatives on the panel, and we refused), but independent nationalist Margo MacDonald opened the debate. I
The Libor scandal is yet another blow to the reputation of the City of London. Alistair Darling may have been right when he told George Osborne that we’re ‘kidding ourselves if we think this was the only country where this happened.’ But there’s no getting away from the fact that an uncomfortably large number of
A speech earlier this week by unmasked-spy Jonathan Evans has put the threat of cybercrime back into the national consciousness. The MI5 director general spoke at Mansion House earlier in the week to warn of ‘real damage’ caused online — highlighting one London business which suffered a £800 million loss following an attack. He stressed
In tonight’s Evening Standard (guest edited by Tony Blair), Tim Henman says that if we want British tennis stars in the future, we need to make the sport more fun. ‘I’ve got three girls and anything they have fun with, they’re going to want to do again. But if something bores them, they’ll say ‘no
Past experience demonstrates that Rangers supporters won’t find anything funny about this: As I say, Rangers fans are immune, even at this late stage, to even gallows’ humour. Everyone else? Well, not so much. After all: If this – and sending Rangers into the stygian depths of Scottish football – constitutes success in the corporate
Follow our live coverage of Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday 27th June <a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=af4caace23″ >PMQs live – 27th June 2012</a>
Ed Miliband was spoilt for choice at today’s PMQs. Scarcely a week goes by without the government reneging on some budget promise, so Labour’s leader had a whole fistful of blunders to consider. Wisely, he took the simplest option and quoted an apologia made by David Cameron on April 11th. ‘I will defend every part
On Monday, David Cameron reiterated his opposition to scrapping the winter fuel payment as a universal benefit. During his speech on welfare, the Prime Minister said: ‘There is also a debate about some of the extra benefits that pensioners can receive – and whether they should be means-tested. On this I want to be very
A former European leader was a guest at a private dinner in London recently. It was a polite and reverential occasion, but conversation grew lighter as Sauternes gave way to port. What, he was asked, is the most effective form of government? Easy, he replied, look at Europe: technocrats know best and they can ignore
‘God speed’ was apparently what Martin McGuinness said to the Queen when they met a short time ago. I wonder what she, and the Duke of Edinburgh, would have liked to say to him? Of all the things that the Queen should be asked to do in her Jubilee year, perhaps the most cruel has
Poor Chloe Smith. First she must endure knowing that many of her colleagues in the Conservative party will have enjoyed seeing her flayed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel Four News and then, later yesterday evening, by Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight. Smith can’t have enjoyed either interview. Then again, she can’t have enjoyed being sent out
Ed Miliband is going to have to start paying Nadine Dorries a salary if the Conservative MP provides him with any more quotes to fling across the chamber at Prime Minister’s Questions. Today the Labour leader was able to draw from the deep well of Dorries’ twitter feed when he faced David Cameron. Earlier in
Ed Miliband had a bit of swagger about him at PMQs today. In a sign of how the two leaders fortunes have reversed, it is now Miliband who appears to be relishing their exchanges. From the off, Cameron was in a peevish mood. Miliband secured a fairly comfortable points victory. His ‘Cabinet of comedians’ line
The humiliation of Chloe Smith at the hands of Jeremy Paxman last night was likened by one twitterati to watching a cat playing with a mouse before devouring it. Of course, Smith was hung out to dry by Osborne&Co. But I want to address another, as yet unremarked upon factor: the age gap between
Before David Cameron reshuffles his government, he should sit down and watch Chloe Smith’s interview on Newsnight yesterday. It was a reminder of how important it is how to have ministers in departments who can go out and do the media on difficult days for the government, something that there are going to be
Two sentences in the speech by the Director General of the Security Service, Jonathan Evans, yesterday evening have drawn particular notice. They are his statement that parts of the Arab world after the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ have become: ‘a more permissive environment for Al Qaeda’ and also that: ‘a small number of British would be
As Isabel reported earlier, today’s public finance statistics contained a double dose of bad news for George Osborne. Not only did borrowing in May come in higher than expected at £17.9 billion — £2.7 billion higher than May last year — but the borrowing figures for the last two years were revised up as well.
The Spectator’s Schools Revolution conference has just ended with an interesting, and ominous Question and Answer with the former Chancellor of Washington DC’s schools, Michelle Rhee. Rhee is an enemy of teaching unions, even those over here (as you can see in the video above). As Chancellor, Rhee threw out the old system of rewarding teachers based on
One time Tory leader contender (now cabinet dead man walking) Jeremy Hunt faced the suits last night at his first outing in media circles since being dragged through the gutter over his relationship with News Corp. Pencilled in to speak at the All Party Media Group’s summer drinks at Channel Four, the Culture Secretary
George Osborne’s U-turn today on fuel duty seems both canny and confusing. It comes just 48 hours after a denial from Transport Secretary Justine Greening that the Government would scrap the 3p rise in August, but appears to be warding off the threat of a backbench rebellion in the Commons next week on a motion
Tomorrow, the Spectator and six guest speakers (including Kelvin MacKenzie, Sir Malcolm Rifkind and Margo MacDonald) will debate the question, ‘Is it time to let Scotland go?’. You can find more details and information about tickets here. Below, Hamish Macdonell gives his take on the launch of the pro-Union campaign yesterday. As the pro-Union
The concessions that David Cameron has reportedly offered the Conservative backbench on Lords reform are really not sufficient to keep them out of the no lobbies. Switching from a salary to a daily attendance allowance, which would keep peers’ earnings below £60,000 in most cases, is hardly going to set the benches alight. The reason
Yesterday’s welfare speech from the Prime Minister confirmed that there is still a long way to go in reforming the benefits system. Universal Credit and the Work programme will start the process, but will not be enough to tackle the extent of worklessness and benefit dependency that we have seen develop in the UK over
Talk to anyone in Downing Street and they can give you the four main reasons that voters cite for switching from the Tories to Labour: the Tory leadership is out of touch, the cost of living, immigration and welfare. The first two of these reasons are why the government has been prepared to risk further
Nearly a decade ago, a book called He’s Just Not That Into You became what is termed a ‘publishing sensation. I don’t know if this attempt to explain men to women was persuasive or not (the odds seem against it being so) but its title seemed pertinent to yesterday’s launch of the Unionist campaign to
This morning’s borrowing figures from the Office for National Statistics are a blow for George Osborne, showing public sector borrowing up £2.7bn on the same time last year. The stats show the government borrowed £17.9bn in May, while the 2011-12 deficit is now £127.6bn, up £3.2bn. Labour have seized on the figures, saying it’s the
This morning at our Schools Revolution conference, Michael Gove came under sustained attack from academies architect Lord Adonis and Neil O’Brien from Policy Exchange, who pointed to a slowing-down in the number of primary sponsored academies being set up. O’Brien pointed out that the majority – around 80% – of academies set up under Gove
Dear commuter, how’s your journey panning out after you were woken by the sound of Ed Balls politicking about fuel duty? The shadow chancellor was a ubiquitous presence on the airwaves earlier (to say nothing of the tabloid press), laying out his opposition to the planned 3.02p fuel duty rise. He was on fine form,
