Europe’s Fiscal Crisis Explained
Via Samizdata, a succinct analysis of the european fiscal crisis from Clarke & Dawe, Australia’s version of Bird & Fortune:
Latest from Coffee House
All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Thursday
Flotilla follies
Two groups in the Conservative party that have worried most about Con-Lib government are the social conservatives and the neo-conservatives. The latter have been particularly worried about UK relations with Israel. There is a real concern in parts of the Conservatives Party that three factors would come together to sour Anglo-Israeli relations: what the neo-conservatives
Will the coalition fall over Europe?
Well, well. Simon Hughes has just made firm Eurosceptic comments in the Commons. He said: ‘I’m also clear…that we need to revisit some of the decisions like the working time directive where I think we made a mistake, and there have been mistakes in the European Union. “And my great enthusiasm for the European Union
Mods & Trads: Australian Edition
An interesting piece from the BBC’s Nick Bryant, arguing that Australian conservatives have concluded that Cameron failed to win an overall majority because he was insufficiently clear – that is, right-wing. The Liberal leader Tony Abbott appears determined not to make the same mistake [sic*] and is modifying, that is to say abandoning, some of
Immigration: A Question of Patriotism
Ben Brogan’s column in the Telegraph urges David Cameron to get tough on immigration and act quickly. He need have no fear on that front. Since Labour seemed to have decided – erroneously – that immigration cost them the election the Conservatives and Labour are racing one another to see who can be beastliest about
Harman’s schtick
Harriet Harman is irresistibly attracted to the absurd. This morning, she has decreed that the shadow cabinet be split 50:50 between men and women. Naturally, she would pervert Labour party rules to ensure the quota was a statutory requirement. To be honest, I’ve lost track of Harman’s myriad ruses to increase the female presence in
The Third Man for the third way
Peter Mandelson’s Machiavellian streak runs deep. Like the wily Florentine, Mandelson wants to retire to the country to farm and be close to the earth; but first, there is the small matter of a book for political princes. In this morning’s Times, Mandelson has written an exhaustive plug for his forthcoming book, The Third Man: Life
How quickly could Laws return?
As I say in the column this week, there’s an expectation in Westminster that David Laws will be back in the Cabinet sooner rather than later. The broadly sympathetic public reaction to his resignation suggests that there’d be little public opposition to him returning in six months or so. Laws’ quotes today do rather make
The gun control question
Inevitably, the horrendous tragedy in Cumbria has led to calls for gun control to be reviewed. An already sensitive issue is complicated by philosophical differences between those who argue that safety lies in tightened controls and those who believe it’s ensured by relaxed controls, or no controls. So, a political minefield, and the government and
This Green and Pleasant Land
As a coda to this post on immigration, it’s worth noting that despite the impression given by politicians (especially during an election campaign) and by some of the newspapers this remains a pretty good country in which to live and most people, despite the national appetite for grumbling, are quite content with the places they
The case for Carswell
Douglas Carswell has an outside chance of becoming the chairman of the Defence Select Committee. I hope MPs take a punt and elect him because his ideas on defence procurement deserve regular airings. The festering sore of defence procurement went septic under Gordon Brown. The Nimrod Inquiry and the Gray Report concluded that contractors and
To catch a killer
Just an idle thought, really – but didn’t it take the police an awfully long time to catch up with that Cumbrian nutter, and by which time he was dead? Derrick Bird was able to continue shooting people for a good three hours, entirely unhindered. According to press reports, the tv news seemed to be
Wednesday
Israel has harmed its standing in the world
Is there anything Israel could do which would discomfort my colleague, Melanie Phillips (I mean other than behave peaceably towards Palestinians)? She has been defending, without giving so much as an inch, Israel’s attack upon the, uh, “peace flotilla”; all perfectly justifiable, the convoy was actually an Islamist terrorist attack, and so on and so
The Department for Fragile States?
The Department for International Development (DFID) should forsake peaceful but poor countries and instead turn into “a world leader in tackling the problems of fragile states.” That’s what a new Chatham House report by Alex Evans, who used to be an adviser to Hilary Benn, and his colleague, David Steven, argue: ‘If the UK wants
Cameron impresses on first outing
The shootings in Cumbria this morning meant that today’s PMQS was always going to be a subdued affair. David Cameron was impressive, though. You wouldn’t have guessed it was his first time answering questions and he controlled the pace of the session expertly. There were fewer people on the front bench than last week meaning
The Commons’ bizarre new chemistry
It still looks like your TV set is on a horizontal flip when you see Cameron at the government dispatch box. Even more disorientating to see Chris Huhne on the front bench and Nick Clegg beside Cameron – making supportive facial gestures on areas he agrees with (pupil premium), and looking quizzical on areas on
PMQs Liveblog
15:00 Stay tuned for live coverage. 15:00: Clegg and Cameron sitting abreast and Douglas Carswell kicks the session off. And Cameron begins with the butcher’s bill from Afghanistan. He makes a short statement about the rampage in Cumbria. Nothing about Gaza, thank God. Carswell asks if the government will make all our lawmakers will be
Cameron must not radically change his style at PMQs
Watching David Cameron’s mannequin-like performance during the TV election debates, it became apparent just how good he is at the dispatch box. Quick witted, funny and incisive, Cameron invariably demolished Gordon Brown at PMQs. Daniel Finkelstein’s column is a must read today, bludgeoning the absurd guff about the ‘new politics’. But Finkelstein argues: ‘David Cameron
What to look out for at PMQs
Today is the first PMQs of the new term. Given the Coalition, the whole thing will be a bit different from what we’re used to. The leader of the opposition will, as before, have six questions. But no other MP will have more than one question. There’ll be a couple of little things I’ll
The novelty factor
Nick Clegg was run-through when he and Jim Naughtie last crossed swords. A different outcome today – the deputy Prime Minister was composed, defending the coalition’s tight agreement. Naughtie was in ‘we’re lolling in a cafe on a dusty street, a donkey brays at the dying sun’ mode, and never pressed Clegg. First, Clegg assured Naughtie
More than a thousand schools apply for academy status
Michael Gove announced in the Commons’ chamber earlier that 1,100 schools have applied for Academy status since he wrote to all schools asking them if they would be interested in doing so. 626 of these are schools rated outstanding by Ofsted which means they are pre-approved for academy status. One would expect the vast majority
Minimum unit pricing: NICE, but wrong
So, NICE, the body charged with ensuring cost-effectiveness in the NHS, says that alcohol minimum unit pricing is the most effective way to tackle excessive drinking and its impact on the NHS and society. Interesting, and certainly a challenge to the new Health Secretary and his alcohol taxation review, but ultimately misguided. Where NICE
Hughes in the ascendant
The indications are that Simon Hughes will become Lib Dem deputy leader. Politics Home reports that Hughes is backed by 29 of the party’s 57 MPs, which make him the outright winner in the race with Tim Farron. Hughes also received the backing of 60 percent of party activists on the Lib Dem Voice website.
Tuesday
Trans-Atlantic powwow
I’m in Washington DC at a high-level seminar on trans-Atlantic relations with the “who is who” of Europe and the US, talking about issues of common concern. The Germans are here in force, as are the French, with high-ranking officials speaking about topics like Russia and Iran. Interestingly, the Brits are notable in their absence.
A PR disaster for Israel
Prematurely, the world’s press has condemned Israel. As I wrote yesterday, the facts have to be established before Israel can be adjudged to have acted disproportionately. At the moment, the facts seem to support Israel. Video footage shows commandoes descending into a maelstrom of baseball bats and knives, armed with items that resemble paintball guns.
Labour’s gruelling task
There was a great sense of pathos after the election, when Jack Straw was the only Labour politician who could recall the shadow cabinet room’s location. It must have been surreal for those who knew only government. The loneliness of opposition would have struck at last week’s Queen’s Speech. The party must renew whilst avoiding
David Laws: A Problem of Folly, Not Corruption
So, yes, as several commenters pointed out, the timing of this post about David Laws proved unfortunate. James and Fraser have said much of all that needs to be said on the matter. Perhaps if Laws had been in any other cabinet post he could have survived this firestorm – though the alacrity with which
Call the committee to order
It’s committee chairmanship season in Westminster, and there are two noteworthy battles. Michael Fallon and Andrew Tyrie are scrapping over the Treasury Select Committee. The FT summarises the pros and cons of both. Fallon, who served as John McFall’s deputy, remains the front-runner, but the cerebral Tyrie has an impeccable record as an economist, committee
Just in case you missed them… | 1 June 2010
…here are some of the posts made at Spectator.co.uk over the bank holiday weekend. Fraser Nelson charts the rise and fall of David Laws. James Forsyth laments a disaster for British public life, and ponders the Labour leadership contest. David Blackburn considers the attendant irony in Lord Prescott, and thinks the Telegraph’s latest expenses campaign
Worse Than A Crime, A Blunder
What a disaster. For Israel that is. One may appreciate two things simultaneously: that the “peace” activists en route to Gaza were not necessarily as innocent as that appellation might suggest and that the Israeli commandos were, as matters developed, compelled to use more force than perhaps they anticipated. Few sensible folk dispute Israel’s right
Coming clean whilst going straight
Combating drug misuse in our prisons could be one of the best ways to cut reoffending. A prison sentence should, for a drug-addicted criminal with a chaotic lifestyle, act as a form of respite – not just for the community, but also for the offender themselves. Yes – prison should be a place of punishment,
Alan Ruddock, 1960-2010
I suppose that relatively few people in England knew Alan Ruddock, who died from a heart attack on Sunday aged just 49, but in Scottish and Irish journalistic circles he was a considerable figure. As Kevin Myers reminds us, he defied the IRA as editor of the Sunday Times’s Irish edition. Later, as Stewart Kirkpatrick
I’m alright Jack
Transparency is this government’s quintessence. It is a mantra to two gods. First, it is a constituent of the ‘new politics’ – that jewel over which the three partisan thieves squabble. Second, it enables the government to amputate gangrenous public sector pay. The public sector is powerful. The previous government’s economic policy bred a bowler-hatted
Monday
The Labour leadership contest continues
With the Coalition facing its first major test, it is easy to forget that there is a Labour leadership contest going on. But there are two interventions in that race worth noting this Bank holiday weekend. First of all, Jon Cruddas and Jonathan Rurtherford have anessay in the New Statesman sketching out a ‘new covenant