Charles Moore is The Spectator’s chairman.
He is a former editor of the magazine, as well as the Sunday Telegraph and the Daily Telegraph. He became a non-affiliated peer in July 2020.
Hillsborough, Co. Down The castle here, which, despite its name, is really a handsome Georgian house, has seen some changes. It was built for the Marquises of Downshire, who laid out the elegant, almost French village, but sold up at Partition in 1922. Then it became the residence of the Governors of Northern Ireland. Since
The more you think about it, the odder it is that the only national referendum ever legislated for in this country, apart from the 1975 referendum about whether or not to stay in the EEC, should be about the Alternative Vote. The only party which proposed AV at the last election was Labour, which lost.
Unpublicised, David Cameron has been conducting some unusual job interviews in Downing Street. In hour-long, one-to-one, informal conversations with each candidate, he is looking for the next head of our armed forces. The man he chooses will replace Sir Jock Stirrup as Chief of the Defence Staff. So far, the Prime Minister has seen the
People have often said that George Osborne is ‘very political’ and have not meant it as a compliment. People have often said that George Osborne is ‘very political’ and have not meant it as a compliment. But it is, in principle, a good thing that politicians should be political (see what happens when they’re not).
As a would-be historian (engaged on the biography of Margaret Thatcher), I feel envious of Lord Saville. I could do with having all my hotel bills paid for 12 years, a full legal team to assist, the right to demand the presence of witnesses and £191 million. His 5,000 pages are the most expensive history
We are all being asked by the government what should be cut. I bet the British people will take part happily. Contrary to what you read in the papers, cutting is great fun. One serious contribution is already being offered by Paul Goodman, the excellent former MP for Wycombe, who stood down at the last
In Monday’s Guardian, Julian Glover wrote that David Laws broke the rules of parliamentary expenses ‘because he could not bring himself to reveal that he loved his landlord’. In Monday’s Guardian, Julian Glover wrote that David Laws broke the rules of parliamentary expenses ‘because he could not bring himself to reveal that he loved his
Last Thursday, I got a rush-hour train out of London and sat down in a second-class carriage. Soon I found myself sitting opposite a minister in the new coalition. I was surprised by how much pleasure it gave me that, following the new guidance, he was not travelling first-class, or by official car. I let
The most moving thing was the photograph of the handshake between the Queen and her new Prime Minister. It is an excellent innovation to allow the ceremony to be seen, because it reminds people how the constitution works. After the days of uncertainty, we needed this more than usual. There is also something touching in
At the time of writing, no one knows the result of this election. Whatever it happens to be, one must salute David Cameron for his courage in being the first party leader in modern times to fly to Northern Ireland during the campaign to try to unite the politics of the whole of the United
One reason that Nick Clegg’s impact remains strong is the power of numbers. One reason that Nick Clegg’s impact remains strong is the power of numbers. At the last election, Labour retained office with an enormous overall majority, but only 9,562,122 votes. You have to go back to the era before women had the vote
Hastings, the town where I was born and near which I live, is a marginal seat (Labour majority of 2,000). Since the election was called, I have been visiting it to ‘take the temperature’. I follow a canvass, or stop people in the street and ask their opinion. In the first week, Labour was unpopular,
Since I so much agree with the Big Society which David Cameron wants to create rather than the big state which we have got, I should like to enthuse about the Tory manifesto which makes this the central theme. But there is a problem. The document does not really speak to us, the voters. True,
One of the weirdest articles I have ever read appeared in the Times last week. It was by Ken Macdonald, and it was about child abuse in the Catholic Church. It was clear that the author has a ferocious hatred of the Church in which, he said, he was brought up. He described Catholic parents
The Dispatches programme which entrapped Messrs Hoon and Byers, Patricia Hewitt et al wanted to set them up as villains (which, indeed, they seemed). So it failed to notice the rather sad undertow of what they were saying. Geoff Hoon put it most clearly: ‘There’s nothing in my diary for April.’ Stephen Byers confirmed it
Much was made, in advance, of the fact that Samantha Cameron was at last speaking in public. She did it on Sunday night, interviewed by Trevor Mcdonald — very well, and in a surprisingly old-fashioned way. She looked lovely when she said that she was proud of her husband and that it would be ‘an honour’
While generally resisting denunciations of George W. Bush, I do wonder what he has to contribute to peace in Northern Ireland. This week, the great reconciler asked David Cameron to intervene with the moderate Ulster Unionist Party, with whom the Tories now have an electoral pact, to get them to vote for the devolution of
Mark Thompson’s strategic review of the BBC may be momentous in its implications, even though its actual cutbacks are minor (admit it: had you ever heard of, much less listened to 6 Music?). Mark Thompson’s strategic review of the BBC may be momentous in its implications, even though its actual cutbacks are minor (admit it:
Last year, this column relayed a story about a civil servant who entered a room containing the Prime Minister and narrowly avoided being hit by a missile thrown by Mr Brown at another official who was departing. It occurs to me that when Mr Brown says that he has never hit anybody, he is telling
Of all the buzz-phrases which New Labour invented, ‘the many, not the few’ remains the most effective. Of all the buzz-phrases which New Labour invented, ‘the many, not the few’ remains the most effective. Labour may, in fact, have failed the many, but they retain their rhetorical advantage over the Conservatives. Now the government wants