Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
Fabian Hamilton kicked off with today’s planted question. Poverty pay in this country has been abolished by the National Minimum Wage, he says, and will Brown increase it and retain his commitment to high employment? Poverty pay is, of course, alive and well – in those who operate in the booming black market. At least
It is a story that could have been scripted to boost morale in Conservative headquarters. At five o’clock one morning, security guards at 10 Downing Street were called in to intercept an intruder only to find the Prime Minister trying to enter his own office. Apart from the delicious image this conjures of Gordon Brown
I went along to the launch for Cameron’s Military Covenant Commission, aimed at renewing the obligations that are owed to the military. It’s a good idea and good box office – we had Falklands veteran Simon Weston and Frederick Forsyth (or “Freddie” as Cameron calls him) up in front of the cameras. Far better than
A CoffeeHouser, William, asks how I can blame socialism for the Broken Society – a problem which he says is an “absence, not the promotion, of a collective responsibility”. This cuts straight to the heart of the problem. It is a play on words. “Collectivism” in the terms of state socialism (and the current welfare
A powerful Panorama was shown tonight about the Broken Society (as the BBC didn’t call it). It was about how if communities get together they can reclaim control of the streets. What the documentary didn’t look at was the roots of these problems: why do kids wander around like this? What has caused communities to
For a split second, I felt sorry for Nick Clegg. I mean, aren’t all political leaders entitled to a honeymoon? But no, he deserves this. Every bit. Each one of his 62 MPs was elected on a promise for a referendum, and in planning to abstain on this totemic question they betray all of the 5.99m
If betting matters as a political indicator, Boris is neck-and-neck with the self-destructing Ken. Here are the latest odds from Ladbrokes: Ken Livingstone —- 5/6 Boris Johnson —- 5/6 Brian Paddick —- 16/1 John Bird —- 100/1 Sian Berry —- 100/1
When Barack Obama first came on the scene, his supporters called him the “black Blair” (a phrase used to compliment him in America, and insult him in Britain). But is David Cameron becoming the white Obama? Look at his speech yesterday and it’s laden in similarities. It’s all about the mission. Obama is not
The decision by Lloyds TSB to stop offering mortgages to anyone who has a deposit of less the 10% opens up what could be a striking divergence in fortunes. Those with enough equity will not really notice the impact of the credit crunch. First Direct, for example, was recently offering a 4.75% fix to those
Was Fleet Street right to cover up the fact that Prince Harry is in Afghanistan? Many in cyberspace would see this as an Old Media cover up. Journalists have known about this for ages, some have great photographs ready for when the lid comes off the story. But now Matt Drudge has yanked the lid, with
I would have missed this ONS study had it not been to the very last line in the Guardian’s story about the number of over-40s giving birth. “In other findings, conceptions outside marriage increased from 47% to 56%,” it said. Now, I’ve blogged before about most births (amongst non-immigrants) being outside marriage this year for
Eight years ago, Tony Blair sat on Sir David Frost’s sofa and pledged that Labour would spend 8% of GDP on health. Brown called up afterwards in a fury, saying “you’ve spent my f**king budget”. One wonders what David Cameron said to Andrew Lansley after his Times interview where he says 11% of GDP should
A rather downbeat PMQs session, where the following quote from Cameron is the highlight. “If he really thinks these exchanges once a week are a substitute for a proper television debate, then he’s even more out of touch than I thought. We have to be honest with ourselves – not many people watch these exchanges and
Fraser Nelson reports on the radical Swedish system of independent state schools, financed by vouchers, that has transformed the country’s education performance and is now inspiring the Conservative party’s dramatic blueprint for British schools: to set them free This summer, at least 25,000 children will drop out of English schools without a single qualification to
Michael Martin has for once proved his worth by throwing out Clegg’s amendment for an “in or out” referendum saying its not relevant to the Lisbon Treaty (which, of course, it isn’t). So is Davidson’s amendment their only hope? Or might his amendment get thrown out too? Stay tuned.
We’re on the last couple of days for collecting entries for the Gordon Brown’s book of fibs, but we haven’t quite decided what to call his embellishments. Many of you say he lies, and we should call a lie by its name. But Brown normally operates by the misleading presentation of a real fact. Unemployment
An early test of Nick Clegg’s credibility is at hand. Labour’s Ian Davidson has sent a letter to him proposing a solution: a two-question referendum on both the Lisbon Treaty and on EU membership – the “in our out” question which Clegg would have us believe he wants so badly. If the Tories back Davidson’s
To clarify my earlier blog, I certainly did not mean the murdered prostitutes in Suffolk were “victims” of the government’s failed war on drugs. They were born free and chose drugs. My point is how much cheaper and easier it has become in the last ten years to take such a choice. The point of
As the Suffolk Stranger was being sentenced, the Home Office slipped out this written answer on the street price of heroin. It’s almost halved from £74 a gram to £40 a gram. The symmetry was chilling: all the murdered women were addicts. As I write in the News of the World today the government is
Some people ask why we call this blog Coffee House. The principal reason is that this magazine’s founders, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, went around such places picking up gossip and scandal – coffee houses were the 18th century equivalent of blogs, hated by the establishment for irreverence. Reports from the coffee houses filled the
