Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator
What has Ken Clarke done wrong — other than commit the political sin of making a media gaffe? Nothing. In yesterday’s now infamous BBC interview, he was simply attempting to explain his position on rape sentencing, which may or may not be the right one. It’s a difficult question — and, under some antagonistic interrogation,
Louise Stern on what the deaf really think of ‘hearing people’ I’m at my desk in London chatting to a deaf woman in Mexico. We are communing through the internet. At 17.57 GMT, an instant messenger bubble pops on to my computer screen: ‘Louise Stern: Hi Freddy, it’s Louise’ and the interview has begun. It’s
The British like nothing more than the idea that the world is obsessed with our Royal wedding. It is not entirely a delusion: Americans and Europeans, especially in the media, do seem quite captivated by William and Kate. It is what 24-hour news people call a ‘global talking point’. In reality, though, most foreigners couldn’t
In the magazine’s cover piece this week (read it here or subscribe from just £1/issue), Richard Littlejohn described the rather feeble assortment of Republican contenders for next year’s presidential elections. But he left out Mitch Daniels, the Governor of Indiana, who seems to be emerging as a favourite among American conservatives. Daniels hasn’t yet
The American academic and foreign policy realist Stephen Walt has put an interesting idea on his blog: would re-introducing the draft make America less interventionist? Perhaps it would, and perhaps there’s a good case to be made for doing the same in Britain. Calling for a return to conscription might sound like a silly right-wing
It may not be widely played, but this is a great sport for everyone, says Freddy Gray Fives is not a popular sport. In fact, if the internet is to be believed, no more than 4,000 people play it in Britain, with a scattering of die-hard enthusiasts abroad. But then very few people have ever
Intervention it is then. Cue lots of politicians walking around with rousing West Wing music in their minds’ ears. This is the part where they get to play the good guys. Until something goes wrong, and they are bungling idiots again. Of course, it’s good for everyone to feel that a bombing campaign in Libya
The momentum behind the Arab Spring revolutions appears to have been checked – for now. The Libyan domino hasn’t fallen. But there’s more unrest to come in North Africa. On March 21, a group called Youth for Change will hold mass protests throughout Sudan. Youth for Change (sinister name) are inspired, obviously, by what has
It is strange that, in an age when so few people read books, literary prizes have taken on such significance. This week, with considerable pomp, the Man Booker Foundation announced a new award in honour of the late Beryl Bainbridge, the novelist and Spectator contributor. At last, Beryl the ‘Booker Bridesmaid’ – so-called because she
It’s noisy here in the bar at the Old Vic; the air is teeming with thespy gossip and laughter and clinking glasses. It’s noisy here in the bar at the Old Vic; the air is teeming with thespy gossip and laughter and clinking glasses. I’m sitting in a corner with the actress Rachael Stirling, who
David Cameron’s cuts agenda is winning him some unusual praise from the American hard Right — from the sort of people the British political class considers beyond the pale. For instance, Pat Buchanan, the former presidential candidate and hardliner extraordinaire, is so impressed by Britain’s austerity measures that he has affectionately labelled Cameron the ‘Tea
‘I saw this goddam politician on your British television last night,’ says the film director Oliver Stone. ‘He was yapping about how he can’t cut the defence budget because of blah, blah, blah.’ Was it, by any chance, Liam Fox at the Tory party conference? ‘Something like that… I thought, this is so disgusting.’ His
Another good speech from Pope Benedict XVI, grand in historical sweep and intellectual clarity. His softly spoken, yet heavily-accented, English demands some mental concentration. And it was funny watching some of the tired looking politicians squinting as they tried to figure out what on earth the Pontiff was saying. But if his voice was
A good scoop from The Catholic Herald. Stuart Reid reveals what Mayor Boris Johnson said to the Pontiff last night: ‘I’d like to tell you what went on in the Royal Suite at Terminal 4 last night when Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, met Joseph Ratzinger, the Pope of Rome. “I told the Pope,”
Stephen Fry is good at taking himself seriously while pretending not to take himself seriously. But slowly, as he gets older and grander, his self-effacing mask is slipping. He’s becoming less and less of a comedian, more and more a sanctimonious bore. Look at the way he has taken it upon himself to denounce, with
Catholics fuss too much about anti-Catholicism. Yes, there’s been lots of hostility to next week’s papal visit. (Peter Tatchell’s documentary, which will be broadcast on Monday, looks particularly nasty.) The secularists have got their knives out, and Catholics are understandably alarmed and angry. But should they really mind? Isn’t Christianity supposed to be all
You probably don’t have to be a swivel-eyed pro-lifer – for purposes of disclosure, I should say that I am a swivel-eyed pro-lifer – to think that there is something a bit sinister about abortion clinic advertisements being shown on TV. Even people who fully support a woman’s right to choose might admit that it
Nina Conti appears convinced that her puppets are real. Freddy Gray investigates Isn’t Nina Conti too good-looking to be a ventriloquist? One thinks of blokes in working-men’s clubs with frazzled hair, not Nina with her smiling face and big brown eyes. It’s hard not to look at her, which must be a professional disadvantage: isn’t
Today marks the 31st anniversary of President Jimmy Carter’s famous ‘malaise’ speech. On July 15, 1979, Carter, then running for re-election against Ronald Reagan, ignored the advice of his campaign team and gave Americans a grave warning. The nation, he said, was facing a fundamental “crisis of confidence”. (He didn’t actually use the word malaise.)
Freddy Gray meets Jane Goodall, the primatologist whose ‘unprofessional’, empathetic approach led to astonishing discoveries about how human-like chimpanzees really are A 76-year-old woman is making chimpanzee noises at me. ‘OOOHHH HAAAAA, OOOHHH HAAAA,’ she shouts. ‘And then there’s a WRAAAAH! That’s a threat! WRAAAH!’ This woman isn’t mad, though. She is Jane Goodall, the
