All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Here’s a map that I’ve put together of the area where Bin Laden was discovered and killed. The red point is his suspected residence, the blue and green points are Pakistani military centres. You can, of course, zoom in, out and around the image, as well as click on the points for captions: View A
The killing of Osama Bin Laden is one of the clearest victories in the war on terror since the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001. It is a major triumph for American intelligence. Bin Laden’s death does not mark the end of the war on terror. But it does close a chapter
The manhunt is over, as is the man. After almost a decade since 11 September 2001, a decade of the Afghan conflict, Osama Bin Laden is dead. The Al Qaeda leader was shot by US forces, not in a dusty cave complex in the mountains, but at a large house north of Islamabad. Announcing the
Last week the Oxford Literary Festival screened BBC Arena’s recording of the National Theatre Tribute to Harold Pinter. Towards the end of the film Colin Firth gives Aston’s speech from The Caretaker. Hunkered down in a centre-stage armchair, Aston recalls being forcibly electrocuted by doctors in a mental institution. His speech is clear but halting,
With the newspapers still full of Royal Wedding pictures, I thought I’d draw CoffeeHousers’ attention to something remarkable: a visit by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark (pictured, left, at Westminster Abbey last Friday) to Helmand Province. That’s right, the 71-year old Danish monarch visited the her country’s troops in late March this year, accompanied by
David Cameron became most animated on the Andrew Marr show this morning when the subject of Libya came up. It was clear that he remains passionately convinced that the course he has taken is the right thing to have done. The Prime Minister refused to comment on the Gaddafi regime’s claim that one of Gaddafi’s
Almost a year ago, David Cameron and Nick Clegg staged their love-in at the Downing Street rose garden. As I say in the News of the World (£) today, this era is now at a close. When they come back from the 5 May elections, Clegg and Cameron have agreed that they cannot go on
You thought Barack Obama had finished with Donald Trump by releasing a copy of his long-form birth certificate? Not nearly. At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last night — video above — the US Pres took every opportunity he could to bait his bouffant-haired baiter. From the tongue-in-cheek music video that kicks of proceedings —
We’re used to AV platform-sharing by now — so it’s not the fact that Chris Huhne has written an article for the Observer alongside Labour’s John Denhan and the Green’s Caroline Lucas that shocks. It’s the words he then puts his name to. “Britain consistently votes as a centre-left country and yet the the Conservatives
There are, as James pointed out earlier, only five days to go until the AV referendum — and that means both campaigns are priming their final appeals for our hearts, minds and votes. So just what will those appeals look like? Today has brought some indication. As Paul Waugh reveals over at PoliticsHome, the Yes
I said a few days ago that the spirit of James Purnell lingers over the welfare debate in Britain. Well, you can now scratch out “spirit”. The real-life, corporeal version of Purnell is giving a speech in Australia today — and, judging by its write-up in the Guardian, it is one that should have some
It is odd to think that only the second national referendum in our history is only five days away. The combination of the Royal Wedding and the failure of the campaign to grip the public imagination has condemned it to being ‘In Other News’, on this the final weekend before the vote. At the moment,
I have a piece in Time on why British republicans are the true patriots. Here’s a taster: “If you doubt the patriotism of British republicanism, consider trying to explain to an American why the U.S. should import the British constitution. ‘You must make someone President for life,’ you begin. ‘It might as well be Barack
I was planning on collating today’s sunny newspaper covers for Coffee House — but Tim Montgomerie has beaten me to it. So let’s, instead, turn our attention away from the Royal Wedding, and on to Libya. A striking thing has happened there this morning: Gaddafi has called for a ceasefire, and for negotiations between his
There are some things that Britain does better than any country in the world, and we saw one of them today. Two particulars will have jumped out at the tens of millions watching the Royal Wedding from overseas: the sheer splendour of our monarchy, and the depth of its popular support. HD television made the
So we’ve seen the ceremony at Westminster Abbey. How was the Royal Wedding celebrated – by expats and locals alike – around the world? In Afghanistan, British troops celebrated with bunting on the front line. In Australia, foods associated with the ‘Mother Country’ flew off supermarket shelves, with the biggest sellers being Maynards wine gums
It is just under thirty years since Prince William’s parents, Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, were themselves married in St Paul’s Cathedral. Below are two Spectator articles relating to that wedding. The first is the Spectator editorial from the time, the second an essay by Auberon Waugh on the lessons to be drawn
Here is a selection of articles on the Royal Wedding from around the web. For those, like me, who wouldn’t know an Empire Line if it slapped them in the face, Vogue’s fashion live blog has all the details and photographs of what broadcasters have called a “festival of British fashion.” Sam Cam was wearing
Wedding-themed street parties are underway not only in Britain, but wherever Brits are living. I’m in Tirana in Albania where the British Embassy is hosting a street party at the Ambassador’s Residence. Union Jacks deck the tables, flowers are everywhere and the raffle table, with wedding-themed presents, is overflowing (profits will go to the Sue
Crude politics has intruded on the Royal Wedding after all, and all courtesy of Peter Hain. The Shadow Welsh Secretary has complained — on Twitter, naturally — that the BBC’s coverage of the event dwelt too long on David Cameron and Nick Clegg, and ignored Ed Miliband. “BBC airbrushing Labour like the Palace?” he asked
Forgive the hazy quality, but here’s a photograph of the gathering street party outside No.10:
Perhaps it’s the pageantry of the occasion, but it does feel like one of those days for looking back as well as forward. In which case, we’ll have a double dose of Royal Wedding-related archive posts today, of which this is the first. And what a doozy it is, too: The Spectator’s editorial on the
This, it has to be said, is not much of a day for politics. Although the world’s laser-like attention will be focussed on Westminster, it will not be on the operations of our Parliament or its actors, but on Westminster Abbey and the marriage, of course, of Prince William and Kate Middleton. The cameras might
Last month, dressed as a town crier, the head of the British Club in Singapore, Sean Boyle, visited the offices of every major newspaper in the country. Accompanied by an entourage also in fancy dress, he declaimed that the British Club would be celebrating the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton in a festival
President Obamna’s nomination of General Petraeus to run the CIA will have a huge knock on effect on the US military. Petraeus will have to resign his commission to take on the post which means that his work trying to transform the US army into a force comfortable trying to deal with counter-insurgency will have
The British like nothing more than the idea that the world is obsessed with our Royal wedding. It is not entirely a delusion: Americans and Europeans, especially in the media, do seem quite captivated by William and Kate. It is what 24-hour news people call a ‘global talking point’. In reality, though, most foreigners couldn’t
Gordon Brown may have gone, but advocates of his calamitous policies remain. David Blanchflower, the chief exponent of borrowing more, has a piece in The Guardian today which is worth examining. Written with his trademark chutzpah, it’s a very clear exposition of the Labour argument — along with its flaws. Here are some extracts, and
The Royal wedding and gossip about super injunctions is rather dominating conversation at Westminster today. But there is still some politics going on. Patrick Wintour in The Guardian has the beginnings of the recriminations that will follow a No vote in the referendum. Relations between the Lib Dems and the Yes campaign are pretty bad
Today’s boxing theme continues: This is excellent. Perhaps someone can do something similar for George Osborne and Ed Balls? The first fight, if you missed it, is here.
According to the US military, sporting a Casio F-91W wristwatch* is a telling sign that you may be up to no good. Indeed, you may well be a member of al-Qaeda or one of its affiliates. Other things that raise suspicions: satellite phones, bundles of cash, military transceivers and, um, “secret notes”. Naturally, this recalls
The government’s strained relationship with the Civil Service is a recurring story at the moment. Much of the disquiet seems to be the normal tit for tat exchanges immortalised in Yes Minister. In the main, ministers and their advisors express high regard for their officials. But there are some resilient bones of contention between the
Tyler Cowen has a fairly downbeat assessment of the UK economy’s likely future performance (manufacturing base eroded, tourism not enough, too dependent on finance etc) but he makes a pair of characteristically good points about trimming public spending: 1. The case for the cuts is not that they will spur growth, but rather forestall a