Latest from Coffee House
All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Monday
Hemming divulges
‘Mr Speaker, With about 75,000 people having named Ryan Giggs on Twitter it is impractical to imprison them all and with reports that Giles Coren is facing imprisonment’ This was as far as John Hemming got in his question to the attorney general before the Speaker interrupted him to warn that he should be talking
Cutting through the BS
If the Big Society were a horse, it would be shot. The wounds are too deep, the contamination too great, its legs are broken. And, worse, the Big Society is giving a good idea a bad name. David Cameron tried manfully today, but we only ever hear about the BS (as most Tory MPs call
Memo to Mr CTB esq. (Strictly confidential)
Dear Mr CTB, We often say that the best advice a solicitor can give a client is to tell them when to back off from a confrontation. The time has come to give it to you. You must know that your cause is hopeless, and our so-called privacy injunction a laughing stock. Your name is
What the attorney general needs to do
I’m sure that all CoffeeHousers know who the footballer is with the super injunction preventing newspapers from publishing anything about his affair with the Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas. But if you didn’t, the papers would have made pretty odd reading over the past few days because the press keeps making little in jokes that
Why Miliband needs to be more specific — and quick
Ed Miliband owes Coffee House contributor Ed Howker a drink. In his speech today, the Labour leader borrows the central idea — and the title — of the stunningly insightful book that Ed wrote with Shiv Malik last year, Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted its Youth. It is, basically speaking, the idea that the current
CoffeeHousers’ Wall, 23 May – 29 May
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 BBC’s pro-Israeli bias…
Tired of the BBC’s bias over the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? So too is The Guardian, and a new book More Bad News from Israel by Greg Philo and Mike Berry. However, their weariness is with what they see as the BBC’s pro-Israeli bias. Berry and Philo, according to The Guardian, “find that the Israeli explanation of
Going big on the Big Society
You certainly can’t fault David Cameron for his perseverance. Six years after pushing the thinking behind the Big Society in his pitch for the Tory leadership, and three relaunches of the idea later, he is still at it in a speech today. He will, apparently, stress that the Big Society is not some nebulous nothingness
Just in case you missed them… | 23 May 2011
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the weekend. Fraser Nelson has some thoughts on Cameron’s Cabinet of the undead, and some more thoughts on Cameron’s Cabinet of the undead. James Forsyth considers how Mitch Daniels’ decision not to stand will affect the race to the White House, and explains why the
More thoughts on Cameron’s Cabinet of the undead
CoffeeHousers raised some very good points about my post on Cameron’s undead ministers. I thought I’d reply in a post, rather than the comments thread. 1. About the ‘undead’. Cameron leads a radical government of surprisingly competent people: the ambitious tasks of welfare and school reform are testimony to how far he is moving. Cameron’s
Sunday
Cathy Ashton beats UK ministers to Bengazi
EU foreign policy Tsar Catherine Ashton has come under a lot of criticism, much of it unfair and/or put forward by those who want the EU to supplant the member-states. In this piece, I have tried to defend her. I argue that her realistic take on the EU’s role is in the UK’s interest: the
A special relationship | 22 May 2011
The visit of President Obama on Tuesday has not yet inspired rapid British soul searching about the ‘special relationship’, not by comparison to David Cameron’s trip to America last July at any rate. After an awkward beginning, the Obama administration has been at pains to stress that America’s alliance with Britain is inviolable even in
Prospects for fiscal sanity in Washington take a hit as Mitch Daniels decides not to run for president
Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana and the Republican establishment’s pick to take on Barack Obama, has announced that he won’t run for president. It appears that Daniels’ wife concerns about a run have prevented him from running. Explaining his decision, he said, “On matters affecting us all, our family constitution gives a veto to
The Footballer is Named
But you’ll have to come to Scotland and purchase a copy of the (struggling) Sunday Herald to discover the identity of the “athlete” or “footballer” said to have been having an affair with some TV person of whom I had never previously heard. Careless of CTB’s lawyers to forget to apply for an interdict at
The Orwell Prize, DJ Taylor and the intern debate
On Tuesday, I presented the Orwell Prize for journalism to brave Jenni Russell, who used the occasion to go public on her battle against cancer. She had not been well enough to apply for the award herself, but her son had selected her best articles and she was a worthy winner. Here’s the official tribute
Cameron should cleanse his Cabinet of the undead
Chris Huhne “cannot be sure” whether he might, after all, have been driving his car that fateful night. Ken Clarke cannot be sure why he spoke about rape in that way. Andrew Lansley cannot be sure. All this we learn from the Sunday newspapers: three ministers are for the chop — it’s just a matter
Saturday
Conservative support to collapse at 6pm
This evening, an event will occur that will make all the controversies and scandals of the last week seem somewhat irrelevant — at least according to American evangelical Harold Camping. He says that 6pm today is the time of the Rapture, as foretold in Thessalonians 4:17: all those “true believers” who accept Jesus Christ as
Miliband’s “national mission” lacks a mission plan
I didn’t expect to be overwhelmed by Ed Miliband’s speech to the Progress Annual Conference today, but neither did I expect to be quite so underwhelmed. This was meant to be his Great Exposition of how, as he put it his introductory remarks, Labour “will win the next election”. But what we got was a
How the US presidential campaign will change American foreign policy
Whoever wins the Republican nomination and takes on Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election is going to campaign hard on the issue of the US national debt and the idea that constantly running deficits is dragging the nation into decline. This is going to have a serious impact on the foreign policy debate in
Cable’s latest warnings and provocations
My favourite part of the Guardian’s interview with Vince Cable today? When the business secretary says that his sermonic prescriptions from during the crash are of “enduring relevance” now. But there’s more to the article than self-aggrandisement, not least Cable’s gloomy overview of the British economy. It’s not quite the same as Alastair Darling’s Guardian
Saturday Morning Country: Willie Nelson | 21 May 2011
In honour of his endorsement of Gary Johnson for the Republican presidential primary it’s time to feature the great man here again. Sometimes there’s just An Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground:
Friday
The End of the World is Nigh
The Rapture is almost upon us. According to Harold Camping, the 89 year-old Family Radio network in Florida. The righteous, he has calculated, will ascend to heaven at 6pm EST tomorrow (11pm in the UK). Those of us not fortunate enough to be called to Heaven must suffer the consequences of the damned. As you
Hugh Grant and Low Life
I’ve always rather admired Hugh Grant, so it was almost a pleasure to be beaten up by him on Newsnight last Friday. He was attacking the celebrity-hunting media, whereas I set out to defend free press and self-regulation of the media. If you’re going to have sympathy with any Hollywood figure, you’d have sympathy with
From the archives: The Good Friday Agreement
On Sunday, it will be thirteen years to the day since the people of Northern Ireland voted in a referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. The result was one of overwhelming support: 71 per cent to 29. Here is Bruce Anderson’s take on the Agreement from his Politics column at the time: Mr Blair
The week that was | 20 May 2011
Here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the past week. Fraser Nelson ponders the power of Eurovision. James Forsyth reveals that the Cameroons can’t wait to get of Ken Clarke, and considers the fallout from the leaked Liam Fox letter. Peter Hoskin notes George Osborne return his attention to the post-bureaucratic age,
Will Britain leave the EU in 2025?
Britain is going to stay in the EU for the next ten years at least. Of that I’m sure. But after that, when David Cameron’s retired, William Hague has taken to writing books, George Osborne’s had his chance and the 2010 intake run the party, the Tories are going to be more openly hostile to
CTB Sues* Twitter
Well, this is going to be interesting. But I don’t see how it can end well: Twitter Inc. and some of its users were sued by an entity known as “CTB” in London, according to a court filing. While the document gave no details, CTB are the initials used by the court in a separate
Ken Bloke’s proposals are not so popular
What do the public think of Ken Clarke after his gaffe on Wednesday? According to a YouGov poll conducted during the 48 hours since his comments, a slim pluarlity think he should resign from his post as justice secretary: Perhaps unsurpisingly, the majority of Labour supporters agree with their leader’s call for him to go,
The World Service versus al-Jazeera
Yesterday’s debate on the future of the World Service was an unqualified success for its convener, Richard Ottaway. His motion received very extensive cross-party support and the MPs involved are confident of victory. As one source put it, “I haven’t met anyone – anyone – who agrees with that cut.” For its part, the government
No, Obama Did Not Throw Israel “Under the Bus”
President Obama’s speech yesterday confirmed that the main thrust of American foreign policy in the middle east may now fairly be characterised as Obama men and Bush measures. In large part it could have been written by David Frum. Admittedly, as Frum says there’s a difference between broad statements of principle and the actual, more
Brown hasn’t contacted Cameron or Osborne about IMF job
‘Brown makes pitch for IMF job with plea to rich nations to meet education pledges’ reads the headline on page 3 of The Guardian today. This is all part of a growing body of evidence that Gordon Brown really does think he is in with a chance of succeeding Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Certainly, the usual suspects
No rights without responsibility
The most recent official statistics show that 5.4 million adults and 1.9 million children live in the UK’s 3.9 million workless households. Through the Universal Credit, the coalition is taking a radical approach to tackle this, but it won’t be enough. The government’s own analysis estimates that it will move 300,000 households into work. But
Miliband tries to explain himself
As the weekend drifts closer, there is a case that Ed Miliband has just enjoyed his best week as Labour leader. Not really from anything he has done — although his PMQs performance had more vigour than usual — but thanks to the backwash from the Ken Clarke calamity. MiliE’s spinners could barely have dreamed,