Fraser Nelson is a Times columnist and a former editor of The Spectator.
It’s odd to see David Cameron’s tax pledge being denounced as profligate, even in publications like the Financial Times. The Prime Minister has always been a moderate on tax, and remains one now. He has astutely positioned his promise to rise the 40p threshold as a giveaway, which makes sense politically. But the truth is a little
I’m delighted to introduce a new editor here at Coffee House: Anne Jolis, who will be joining The Spectator later this month as online comment editor. She’s an American, and started her career at the Gloucester County Times in New Jersey and she ended up as a Wall St Journal comment editor. She is a
Has David Cameron just delivered his best-ever speech as party leader? I discuss it with James Forsyth and Isabel Hardman in this View from 22 podcast special. My write-up is here, James’s here and Isabel’s is here. listen to ‘Podcast special: David Cameron’s speech’ on audioBoom
David Cameron has yet again delivered a belter of a party conference speech, peppered with announcements. His performance is a reminder of why, even now, he remains the Tory Party’s greatest single asset. His speech was a powerful invocation of the strengths of Conservatism, perhaps the clearest he has given from a conference stage. It
Why do economists use decimal points? To show that they have a sense of humour. Never was this old gag more relevant than when considering the data on Britain’s economic output, or GDP. A couple of months ago, the ONS announced that the economy had returned to its pre-crash levels – the FT splashed the news. Today, the
The gossip here in Birmingham is that there is a third defector from the Tories to Ukip, that David Cameron knows his name and isn’t too bothered. But if that person is Richard Barnes, a former deputy Mayor of London who has announced his defection today, you can see why the PM is quite chillaxed about it. He’s someone with no
Today, David Cameron will pledge that if he’s re-elected he’ll give everyone access to a family doctor seven days a week. He will say:- “People need to be able to see their GP at a time that suits them and their family. That’s why we will make sure everyone can see a GP seven days
George Osborne normally shines at Tory conferences. A historian by training, Osborne knows the power of narrative and he had a clear one for the activists today: the recovery started when he took office and its progress has been extraordinary. Many of his claims were well-founded, some less so. Here’s my selection. Let’s start with
George Osborne will give his speech in a few minutes, and we’ll analyse it straight after. But I’d like to pick up on something he said this morning on Radio 4. It was an aside, a claim that For the first time in my lifetime, the march of the separatists in Scotland has been reversed This
The Tory MP Brooks Newmark has quit the government – after having been tricked into sending “inappropriate messages” on WhatsApp to a journalist posing as a 20-year-old Tory activist. As the Sunday Mirror puts it:- As part of a series of exchanges, he sent a graphic picture exposing himself while wearing a pair of paisley pyjamas No laws were
When Mark Reckless stands for election as a UKIP candidate for Rochester and Strood, The Spectator will be against him. But we were against him when he stood as a Tory in 2005. Indeed, in that general election The Spectator backed the Conservatives (as you’d expect) but made a specific exception for Reckless, running for what was then Medway.
The defection of Mark Reckless is the best possible end for Nigel Farage’s party conference, and the worst possible start for David Cameron’s. Tomorrow’s newspapers will lead on the story of Tory split, with Reckless and Douglas Carswell only the first two – I will be surprised if there is not a third before the
James Forsyth interviews Defence Secretary Michael Fallon in this week’s Spectator. You can read the full interview here. Here are five key points from the piece: 1. A ‘new Battle of Britain’: ‘We’ve had attacks on the streets of London, on our transport system, at Glasgow Airport, the murder of Lee Rigby – how much
Ed Miliband has spoken – for 65 minutes – snarling at Tories, while laying out his 10-year plan and presenting himself as the man who can shake up the complacent Westminster elite. James, Isabel and I were all there in Manchester and we met up straight afterwards to compare notes. Here’s our combined verdict: listen
I think I’m about the only journalist to have watched Ed Miliband’s speech and think it wasn’t awful. Here in Manchester, the consensus seems to be that this was as bad as a speech could be. And, admittedly, even I was tweeting rude things about it all of the way through (since when does anyone need a
Rachel Reeves’ interview on BBC Daily Politics may have been excruciating at times (below), but was it really the ‘car crash’ that the Tories are today claiming? Matthew Hancock is crowing that she pointed out the conditions necessary for reducing debt. She said:- ‘We are planning to get the national debt down, which means you
The Labour Party conference has got off to a very promising start, with The Spectator being complimented from the stage and applauded in the hall. ‘Here’s a publication you don’t hear praised that often at a Labour Conference: the Spectator,’ started Gloria De Piero, its equalities spokeswoman. But she did not, alas, go to quote our
A few days ago Cameron, Clegg and Miliband made a ‘vow’ to Scottish voters – if they rejected separation, far more powers would be transferred to the Edinburgh parliament. Gordon Brown was sent to flesh this offer out, apparently with the backing of all three party leaders. With the ‘no’ vote now in the bag,
Will there be another Scottish independence referendum? I went back to my hometown, Nairn, yesterday to gauge the mood after the ‘no’ win. Highland Region split 53/47 for ‘no’, tighter than I imagined. I was also interested in the younger voters (and the newly-enfranchised 16 and 17-year-olds) – because their interest (or lack of it) may determine whether the
Alex Salmond has proved himself the most effective party leader in Europe, let alone Britain. He has just run a terrifyingly effective campaign, perhaps the best I will ever witness. I could not disagree more with his aims, but to me that makes his achievement all the more remarkable. I doubt any other politician could
