All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Being an occasional series in which the writer confesses that supporters of the British Conservative party leave him in a state of perpetual perplexity. Part one here and part two here. In my political neighbourhood, the image of the Cameron is now set. He is the smiling assassin whose affable public image hides his
It isn’t over. That’s the abiding impression after reading Gus O’Donnell’s report into the Liam Fox farrago. I mean, the outgoing Cabinet Secretary basically admits as much in the opening paragraph of the document: “more allegations about Dr Fox’s conduct have arisen,” it observes, “many of which will be the responsibility of others to answer,
Gus O’Donnell’s report into Liam Fox, Adam Werritty and all that has finally been released. You can read all ten pages of it here. We shall have more on it shortly, but, for the time being, here’s Liam Fox’s statement in response: “I am pleased that the report makes clear that the two most serious
Martin Scorsese’s new documentary about George Harrison, Living in the Material World, hasn’t been going long when its subject says something that made me laugh out loud, and at the same time explained all that followed. Speaking of his first attempt at writing music — a song called ‘Don’t Bother Me’ — he said he
A day into his new job, Phillip Hammond would be excused for sitting back and wondering what he has let himself in for. The job of defence secretary is every Tory’s dream, and the businessman-turned-politician is well-placed to excel in it. But the armed forces and the Ministry of Defence face a number of challenges
Woah. We’re used to Mervyn King’s monthly letter to explain the latest inflationary overshoot by now — but this, this is still quite something. CPI inflation rose to 5.2 per cent in September, a 0.7 percentage point increase on the month before and equal to the previous record level set in September 2008. RPI inflation,
CPI inflation at 5.2 per cent in September, a three-year high. RPI inflation 5.6 per cent, the highest for twenty years. UPDATE: More from me here.
It’s difficult for the outside world to understand the huge significance that Gilad Shalit’s release, this morning, has for Israel. A soldier captured by Hamas five years ago, he has become a huge cause célèbre — to the extent that black cabs in London were even commissioned with his picture on it. Books that he
Sectarianism, we are often told, is “Scotland’s Shame” though there’s also ample evidence it’s actually “Scotland’s Pleasure”. For some at least. The prosecution and conviction of Stephen Birrell for comments he posted on a Facebook page entitled “Neil Lennon should be Banned” marks a new low. Not because of anything Mr Birrell wrote – his
When things get rough, especially in the area foreign policy, I have the distinct feeling David Cameron asks himself the question “What would Tony do?” before he takes a big decision. But in the management of his Cabinet he can’t do that. Blair never had to deal with coalition politics and did not have the
For all the attention that is being focused in Westminster on the publication of the Cabinet Secretary’s report into the links between Adam Werritty and Liam Fox tomorrow, the real story is the countdown to Cannes. It is now three weeks since George Osborne declared that the eurozone countries had three weeks to save the
As someone who works in the City, even I sometimes think the Occupy Wall St brigade have a point. When you consider Barclays’ behaviour today, it’s a surprise that the protests didn’t come earlier. The bank has announced an $11.5 billion loan to junk-rated Kinder Morgan Inc to fund an oil pipeline transaction. The banks
Yikes: Former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner has blamed Zionism for the circumstances that led to him and former Asian Football Confederation chief Mohammed Bin Hammam being forced out of world football. Warner, 68, resigned from FIFA after ethics investigations were begun into a meeting he held with Bin Hammam where FIFA say payments were made
For those who care about free expression in the UK, and particularly the reform of our invidious libel laws, this is a crucial week. Today and tomorrow, the UK Supreme Court hears the Times’s attempt to overturn an appeal court ruling in a libel case brought against it by Metropolitan Police officer Gary Flood.
How important is the Ministry of Defence? Not, according to Fraser, important enough to this government to appoint a Secretary of State who has any great interest in Defence issues. This is fairly remarkable. You might have thought – and the MoD’s particular problems might have persuaded you – that defence would be an issue
If George Osborne is serious about growth, a relatively easy decision awaits him: to stimulate the economy by spending more on housebuilding. David Cameron knows there’s a problem, and during Tory conference announced a “Tory Housing Revolution” to tackle the failing housing market, and plans to boost Right to Buy and release more land for
When it comes to covering American politics the foreign press loves nothing more than gawping at the excesses of the right-wing of the conservative movement. Some of this is reasonable, even fair; much of it descends into caricature. Implicit in much of this stuff is the idea that these Americans should be figures of horror
One of the striking things about politics at the moment is that Ed Miliband is proving adept at spotting issues that are going to become big — think the squeezed middle, energy prices — but is failing to drive home this advantage. There’s scant evidence that, for instance, the voters regard Miliband as the solution
Welcome to the latest CoffeeHousers’ Wall. For those who haven’t come across the Wall before, it’s a post we put up each Monday, on which — providing your writing isn’t libellous, crammed with swearing, or offensive to common decency — you’ll be able to say whatever you like in the comments section. There is no
The Werritty case has made everyone who believes that government is controlled by lobbyists and tycoons slaver. The Guardian screams that Ministers held more than 1,500 meetings with corporate representatives in the first 10 months of the coalition, which presumably the newspapers’ readers know to disapprove of. But how many unionists did Labour meet after
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson says that unionists are in trouble: 39 per cent of Scots are in favour of independence. Matt Cavanagh notes that voters want immigration to be reduced, just not like this. James Forsyth wonders how Justine Greening will handle the airports issue, and
How big does Shale have to get before our policymakers wake up to its implications? There is an Energy Summit in No.10 today where Chris Huhne wants to focus on the need “to help consumers save money on their gas and electricity bills”. A preview interview on the Today programme underlined the dire situation. First,
A few months ago I hosted a debate at my think tank with one of the key Tahrir Square leaders. After his talk about Egypt, he warned the audience: the protests that toppled Hosni Mubarak were not just an Egyptian or Middle Eastern phenomena; it could – and, he said, would – spread to the
Meanwhile, Alex Salmond’s journey is going depressingly well. The SNP conference starts in Inverness on Thursday and a ComRes poll today suggests 39 per cent are in favour of independence, against 38 per cent against the idea. Not a freak: a poll last month by TNS-BMRB produced the same results. Hardly an overwhelming endorsement, but a reminder
A major new survey of public opinion on immigration, published today by the recently-established Migration Observatory, should prove troubling reading for realists inside the Conservative party. As yet, the opposition are not threatening them on the issue – Labour still find it easiest to get noticed when they are apologising for their own record –
Labour may have a narrow leads in the polls, but they continue to lag behind the Tories on the public’s number one issue: the economy. Today’s ComRes poll finds that just 18 per cent trust Eds Miliband and Balls “to make the right decisions about the economy”, compared to 30 per cent for Cameron and
One Cabinet minister fretted to me yesterday about the implications of Justine Greening’s appointment as Secretary of State for Transport. Their worry was not Greening’s position on the Tory ideological spectrum but her views on aviation. This minister worried that Greening, who helped lead the opposition to a third runway at Heathrow, would be against any expansion
Greetings from South Africa, where I am in the township of Orania making a film (hence my radio silence for a few days). Orania is a somewhat right-of-centre Afrikaans-only settlement; more about it in the future. One of the interesting wild animals out here in the Karoo is the Bat-Eared Fox, which is – suitably
George Osborne’s allies may be filtering across government, but what of the man himself? He was at a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Paris yesterday, and trying to maintain a difficult balance over the imploding eurozone. In part, our Chancellor was firm about Europe’s troubles — the area, he said, “remains the epicentre of
Parliamentary party management is, perhaps, the subtlest of the political arts. It is, obviously, particularly difficult in coalition. But the Cameroons are still scoring a ‘must do better’ grade on this work. The mini reshuffle was fairly neatly executed. But it has, almost inevitably, left behind some bruised feelings. Part of the problem is that
Here’s the latest in our Bookbenchers series of posts. This week, Sir Menzies Campbell pulled up a pew and told us what he’s reading. What book’s on your bedside table at the moment? The End of the Party by Andrew Rawnsley. What book would you read to your children? Treasure Island by Robert
There’s much gnashing of teeth about the future of the right today following Liam Fox’s resignation. I think this is misplaced. Fox was a passionate advocate of a certain strand of Conservative thinking. But his appeal and relevance was always going to be limited by his tendency to believe that it was, in political terms,
The Occupy movement – or #Occupy if you follow it on Twitter – started as an anti-banking protest in New York a month ago, and has since spread from Madrid to Tokyo to Sydney. Today at noon, Occupy London Stock Exchange will kick off, though it’s doubtful if activists will actually, well, occupy the London
It is as you’d think: a sea of news coverage and commentary about Liam Fox’s departure. Some of its currents are merciless, such as the Mirror’s front cover. Some are more circumspect, such as an excellent pair of articles by The Spectator’s own Matthew Parris (£) and Charles Moore. But, on the whole, there is