Latest from Coffee House

Latest from Coffee House

All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories

Melanie McDonagh

The vegan debate has taken another absurd turn

Naturally, the news that the League Against Cruel Sports is being sued by an ethical vegan, one Jordi Casamitjana, for discrimination – on the basis he was allegedly sacked for his beliefs – cheered up my whole day. The hunting sabs being called out for not occupying the moral high ground – Casamitjana says they

Steerpike

Andrew ‘Calamity’ Cooper boosts Theresa May

And so another hellish week for Theresa May begins. The Prime Minister must somehow avoid publishing the Attorney General’s legal advice for all MPs and then convince 100 Conservative MPs to put their doubts aside and back her deal ahead of next week’s vote. So far, the signs are not good. But there is at

Robert Peston

Theresa May’s nine days to save her world

Theresa May (and I) are just back from Argentina. And she is about to enter the most important week of her political life and the most important week in this country’s political and constitutional history for decades. It starts tomorrow with the publication of a summary of the legal advice on the PM’s Brexit plan

Sunday shows round-up: the Plan B for Brexit

Keir Starmer – Government may be in contempt of Parliament Sophy Ridge began the day by speaking to the Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer. Starmer authored an article for this morning’s Sunday Telegraph, in which he announced that Labour would work with other opposition parties to declare the government to be in contempt of

Spectator competition winners: misguided love poems

You seemed to embrace the latest challenge – to supply seriously misguided love poems – especially wholeheartedly, and I admired your powers of invention in finding so many ways of making my toes curl. Even Brexit got a look-in: ‘Let me be your Brexit backstop/ I will never set you free…’ (Ian Barker). Dishonourable mentions

Ten myths from the ‘no-deal’ Project Fear

Myth 1. The UK economy could shrink by eight per cent in a single year under no deal (Project Fear, Bank of England version) You will have read about this. The Bank of England now sheepishly claims that this was never meant to be a forecast, only a worst-case scenario. Mark Carney surely knew the

Steerpike

Labour’s war with the media moves up a gear

Oh dear. It’s no great secret that under Jeremy Corbyn there is little love lost between the Labour party and the mainstream media. The Labour leader and his supporters rarely miss a chance to take a jab at hacks – whether it’s calling for press reforms or simply booing journalists at party events. However, the

Has Saudi Arabia just pivoted towards Russia?

For all but the most harried journalist motivated by a need to pay off the mortgage, the annual G20 summit – being held this weekend in Buenos Aires – is typically viewed as a perfect cure for insomnia. Who will stand next to whom in the family photo? Will the wording of a final statement

Why China needs a deal with Donald Trump

China’s leadership knows it has badly underestimated the Trump administration’s will to raise the stakes on the trade front. They therefore hope that today’s meeting between the president and Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires produces a return to the status quo ante. The ideal outcome for Beijing would be agreement to establish an on-going dialogue

The G20: a reminder why we should never take our world leaders seriously

Who knows what they were talking about? Perhaps President Macron was scolding MBS for missing the hotel’s cooked breakfast by oversleeping. “I told you.” “Yes you told me.” “You never listen to me.” Or perhaps he was instructing him about something altogether more sinister. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is what communications wonks call

Fraser Nelson

Sam Gyimah’s resignation shows the limitations of Project Fear

Theresa May has sought to frame her deal as a battle between the forces of common sense and wreckers – either Brexiteers or Remainers. Sam Gyimah’s resignation complicates this narrative due to the type of politican he is. Not a firebreathing Eurosceptic allergic to the idea of compromise, not an Adonis-style hyperventilater who never recovered

James Forsyth

Why no deal planning should be stepped up

No-go-day was meant to be yesterday, I say in The Sun. This was the moment when the Department for Exiting the EU wanted the principal purpose of government to become getting the country ready for leaving the EU regardless of whether there was a deal or not. Number 10 argued that a vaguer deadline of

Charles Moore

Emmanuel Macron is Donald Trump in reverse

Is Emmanuel Macron the oddest leader in the EU? When he became President of France last year, he made a speech at Versailles to both houses of parliament calling for a renewal of ‘the spirit of conquest’. This year, commemorating the centenary of the Armistice, he seemed more inclined to invent a project for perpetual

Robert Peston

Could Theresa May’s latest attack on Corbyn backfire?

The Prime Minister might have been a bit too clever when attacking Corbyn’s and Labour’s opposition to her Brexit deal. Some four hours in to her 14 hour flight to the G20 leading nations’ summit in Argentina, she told journalists: “What they are doing is advocating rejecting the deal we negotiated with the European Union

Steerpike

Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year 2018, in pictures

To the Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards where politicians from across the political divide gathered to celebrate the best of Westminster. After a year which saw numerous cabinet resignations, failed coups and Brexit barneys, the annual awards proved more topical than ever. Liz Truss stepped in for last year’s Parliamentarian winner Ruth Davidson –

Gavin Mortimer

What’s the truth about the Gilets jaunes?

Marine Le Pen spent last Saturday commenting on the scenes from the Champs-Elysées as the latest Gilets Jaunes demonstration turned violent. She also had the opportunity to respond to Christophe Castaner, the interior minister who, as cobbles rained down on the heads of the riot police, accused Le Pen of inciting the far-right to go

Steerpike

Watch: Geoffrey Cox’s minister of the year acceptance speech

Geoffrey Cox’s rousing warm-up act for Theresa May at Tory party conference elevated the Attorney General’s public profile. In the weeks since, Cox’s importance has continued to grow, as cabinet ministers – both remainers and leavers – have come to depend on his legal know-how to interpret the Brexit deal. And now, Cox has been

The problem with a ‘no deal’ Brexit

There have probably been worse branding campaigns in history. Cadbury’s apparent attempt to drop the word ‘Easter’ from its egg hunts was a clunker of cosmic proportions. The launch of New Coke has found its way into the textbooks as a masterclass in how to trash one of the greatest brands in the world, and

The decline of the US-German relationship is not just about Trump

It would be the understatement of the century to say that the normally constructive and cordial relationship between the United States and Germany was experiencing a few hiccups in the age of Donald Trump. Notwithstanding talk about mutual respect and friendship during shared photo sessions, Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are not exactly two

Steerpike

Til Brexit (and a government job) do us part

Earlier this month Mr Steerpike noted that here might be some domestic troubles in one Westminster household, after MP Jack Lopestri came out in support of May’s Brexit deal – unlike Andrea Jenkyns, his Brexiteer wife. Now it appears that Number 10 were paying attention too: today they announced that Lopestri has joined the government,

Steerpike

Gary Lineker’s Brexit muddle

When Gary Lineker isn’t talking about football there is another subject that he likes to bang on about: Brexit. Lineker has backed the ‘People’s Vote’ campaign and is calling for a second referendum. As the Chancellor Philip Hammond unveiled his Brexit forecasts this morning, Lineker was spurred into action on Twitter: The only problem? That

Steerpike

The Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the Year awards, 2018

Once again, it’s been another eventful year in Westminster, with 14 Cabinet resignations, a seemingly endless negotiation process with the EU, and more than one attempted coup. After making it through mostly unscathed, politicians headed en masse this evening to the Spectator’s Parliamentarian of the year awards, to celebrate their achievements – or lack thereof. Liz