All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
Like Mr Eugenides, I’m on record opposing the disgraceful ban that prevented Geert Wilders from entering the United Kingdom. So in that sense it’s a good thing that he’s in London today to show his little film to Lord Pearson and his pals. What I don’t understand, like our redoubtable Greek friend, is why UKIP
Transparency is one area where the Tories are committed to being truly radical. The changes they are already committed to ushering in—publishing government expenditure and contracts online—will create far greater scrutiny of government. In time, this will lead to money being saved. and are unlikely to ever be reversed. Their announcement today on local government
One story which has been rumbling along in the background of Ashcroft and Chilcot – and, indeed, over the past few months – is the fallout from Andy Burnham’s claim that NHS bodies are now the state’s “preferred provider” of healthcare in this country. With those two words, in a speech last September, the Health
I just took a quick stroll around the block from Old Queen St, to check out the situation on the ground outside the Chilcot Inquiry. The most striking thing is how few protestors there are – about ten at most, I’d say, and a fraction of the number that marched out against Blair a few
Might Gordon Brown get away with it at the Chilcot Inquiry today? I suspect so. The media seems obsessed with the run-up to war, whereas the real crime was the betrayal of Basra. Brown made false claims to Parliament about the fall of violence in the city which, as he would have known, was being
Tick, tick, tick … there’s only an hour or so to go before Brown’s appearance in front of the Chilcot Inquiry. And, athough I generally feel that this whole process is a waste of time, effort and newsprint, there’s still something grimly fascinating about today’s proceedings. Brown has, after all, always tended to keep a
Sadly this is a safe Republican seat so Ms Rogers won’t be going to Washington any time soon. Still – memo to David Cameron – this is what you can get when you have real* open primaries. Anyway, we’ve been rumbled! The victory in the 22nd Congressional District yesterday by LaRouche Democrat Kesha Rogers sent
One of the refrains made in response to the recent spate of opinion polls is that they don’t really capture what’s going on in the marginals – the real battlgrounds where the election will be fought. Well, now we have a YouGov/Channel 4 poll which specifically covers 60 key marginal sets, and it provides more
Although the heat seems to be coming off Lord Ashcroft himself, attention is now rapidly focussing on the Tory leadership. I mean, it was one thing when William Hague admitted that he didn’t know about Ashcroft’s tax status until a few months ago – but quite another when it emerges that David Cameron only found
The latest issue of the Spectator is out today, and here are my top four features: 1. Britain on the brink. Allister Heath, the editor of City AM, blogged about his cover story earlier. But the full article really is a must-read: it explains just why hung parliaments don’t work in Britain and why the
The Beeb were reporting it an hour or so ago, but now it’s been confirmed: the Electoral Commission has cleared the Tories and Lord Ashcroft of any wrongdoing over £5.1 million worth of donations from his company, Bearwood Corporate Services Limited. Sure, there are still questions surrounding this whole affair – most of them to
… this September: Tony Blair’s memoirs, entititled The Journey. Question is, what does this say about his hopes for a Labour victory? Or will all the juicy Blarite-Brownite stuff be cut out? Either way, the cover will be what you see on the left.
While we’re talking about countries on the brink, it’s worth taking a look at Greece – which has probably passed beyond it. The government has published its package of austerity measures – aiming to reduce its deficit to 8.7 percent of GDP by the end of 2010 – and the markets are deciding what they
It is a calculation that should fill all of us with an immense sense of dread: there is now a 72.2 percent chance of a hung parliament. Or so says Michael Saunders, Citigroup’s chief European economist and the one man in the City everybody listens to when it comes to the interaction between parliamentary politics
The new YouGov numbers have the Tories steady on 38 and Labour down one to 32 while the LibDems are on 19. Again, these numbers are within the margin of the error. The biggest impact of these numbers will be to strengthen the Tory view that the Ahscroft affair is a media obsession of little
More on the “exciting” debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg that are, inevitably, going to become the most “important” moments in this year’s election campaign. As I suggested at the Daily Dish, these are problematic for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is that they won’t be debates at
Frankly, one would be disappointed if this sort of caper weren’t being run in Donegal: A 72-year-old Donegal man who denied running an illegal public bar in his shed, has been acquitted of two charges brought against him by the County Council under planning regulations. Patsy Brogan said the bar, which has become known as
By God, The Guardian is a loathsome newspaper; a local north London morning daily for Stalinist metro libtards, perpetually arrogant, snobbish, self-righteous, humourless, dull, relentlessly middle class, cowardly and cheap. You will all have had your epiphanies long before me, I suspect, reading the smug drivel of la Toynbee and Gary Younge and Monbiot, or
Contrary to what you might think, it is actually quite hard to find someone on benefits who doesn’t want to work. When you ask a claimant whether they would like to, they will invariably say “Yes, I want a job.” At first, this seems like a strange answer: why do we have nearly 6 million
In general terms I’m a fan of more, much more, local democracy. I think it could do much to improve civic life and promote a genuine local politics of real accountability and value. In other words, it can be a liberating force for good. However, it’s also true that one can perhaps take the principle
Brown bunked off PMQs today, claiming a prior luncheon engagement with President Zuma of South Africa. Downing Street blamed the Queen for double-booking the PM. Can that be true? The head of state deprives the Commons of its democratic right to shout ‘Answer the question’ at a block of granite. Perhaps she had their best
The former Labour leader Michael Foot died today, aged 96. A man whose politics I doubt many CoffeeHousers will share, and whose period in charge of the Labour party might not be remembered with much fondness by those who do. But his commitment, integrity and intelligence still stand as a bright, clear example to politicians
If the Tories win power (still a big “if” these days), William Hague will walk into King Charles Street, be greeted by the FCO’s Permanent Secretary Peter Ricketts, meet his new staff and be briefed on the Office he will lead and the foreign challenges Britain faces. There will be plenty on his plate. Calls
Stay tuned for live coverage from 1200. 1201: And here we go. Obviously, with Brown meeting Zuma, it’s the deputies today. Harman starts with condolences for the fallen. 1202: Incidentally, Cameron is being interviewed on TalkSport radio, if you want to listen to that. 1203: First question: why manufacturing has fallen under Labour. Harman says
When Gordon Brown pulled out of PMQs this week because of Jacob Zuma’s state visit there was much chortling that he didn’t much fancy PMQs. But I suspect that Labour is rather glad that William Hague is up today; no Tory politician is more central to the Ashcroft peerage than Hague, and Hague’s appearance at
Given that school choice will only benefit those who cannot afford it at present, who could be against it? The answer is the Socialist Educational Alliance, who have decided to stage a protest at The Spectator’s conference on school liberalisation on Thursday. They have produced a leaflet (see left, and click to enlarge). “Bring your
I assume there is something more to this story than meets the eye, because otherwise it seems to me inexplicable and outrageous. A fireman, on his way to attend an emergency, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter because it is alleged that the sirens on his engine “spooked” a herd of cows which consequently
It’s worth noting Steve Richards’ point
In tonight’s poll, the Tories are down one to 38 and Labour up one to 33. These changes are within the margin of error. But it does seem that whatever momentum the Tories had after Cameron’s speech has stalled. (We shouldn’t forget that it might be that the two point poll was an outlier and that nothing has
Bagehot of the Economist is beginning to have some doubts about the Obama administration: I have hesitated to read drastic slights into the sometimes awkward diplomacy between Barack Obama and Gordon Brown. But this stance on the Falklands cannot be seen any other way. It really is no way for the Americans to treat their most important
Every August we go through the same debate, are A-Levels getting easier? However harsh it may be on those who have just received their results, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are. There is a justified suspicion that the bureaucracy’s over-riding aim is to see a larger and larger proportion of students
Should the Tories talk about immigration? This will bring back a lot of bad memories for the modernisers, who believe that this hurt them in 2005. But, as Tim Montgomerie says over at CiF today, the picture has transformed since then. The total number of immigrant workers has risen 25 per cent, to 3.5 million.
The various parties involved in the televised leaders’ debate have finally come to an agreement on how they will work. You can read full details here, courtesy of Sky. But the main points are: i) Topics and locations. The first debate will be hosted by ITV’s Alastair Stewart, in Manchester, and will cover domestic affairs.
Over on Foreign Policy magazine, Andrew J Bacevich and I are going at each other. Topic: the nature of the transatlantic relationship. In the slipstream of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ lament about Europeans’ pacifist leanings, Professor Bacevich wrote a delightfully provocative piece arguing the US should leave NATO: “If NATO has a future, it