James Forsyth is former political editor of The Spectator.
Whatever one thinks about the substance, the G20 summit was a presentational success for Brown. But as Andrew Rawnsley writes today, there is a danger for Brown if he decides to try and repeat this move: ‘After his summit high, the temptation for him will be to look for further kicks of this kind. He
Lost amidst the hoopla of the G20 was the shocking admission from the founder and director of Diginitas that he was prepared to help the mentally ill die. This breaches the fundamental importance of the idea that any patient who chooses to have their life ended, and I’m dubious as to whether people should be
The weather is so fantastic today that it is hard to work up much outrage but this quote from an anonymous cabinet minister in today’s Telegraph about going to the IMF really is, as Iain Martin says, an insult to our collective intelligence: “Previously, a country would only go if they were in a very
This story is moving on the wires: “Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud claimed responsibility for the attack on an immigration services center in Binghamton, N.Y., the Press Trust of India reported Saturday. Mehsud said that a Pakistani and another man carried it out the attack, which left 14 people, including a man the police suspected
Peter Oborne’s column this morning is magnificent, a thorough demolition of the more hyperbolic claims being made for the G20 agreement. But it is his final paragraphs on the consequences of Brown’s double counting and all the other statistical dodges that he perfected at the Treasury that is especially devastating: “The problem with this kind
Over the past month, there has been a dispute going on between Hazel Blears, who has been on the right side of the debate over Islamism, and the Muslim Council of Britain. Blears has had the government break off contact with the MCB because of Daud Abdullah, its deputy secretary general, signing the Istanbul declaration.
I’ve said it before, but I think it bears repeating: those MPs who stretch the rules and abuse the public’s trust when it comes to expenses are helping the BNP and other extremists. When the public hear about Jacqui Smith claiming for a bath plug, let alone porn films; Tony McNulty claiming taxpayer support for
“Everything we do is about jobs,” Alistair Darling declared on The Today Programme this morning. In one sense this is the right thing to say politically, it is the prospect of losing their job and not been able to find another one that worries people most in a recession. Indeed, after the Democrats had polled
Boris’s evident frustration with the House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee (footage above) is making waves. Yesterday in Parliament devoted about a quarter of the programme to it today, and Martin Bright writes that: “Walking out of a select committee hearing (however tedious it is for the Mayor of London to be asked awkward questions
In the PBR, the government predicted that the British economy would start growing again by the third quarter of this year. Brown and Darling have both subsequently tried to put some wiggle room into this pledge, which now they seem almost certain to fail to meet. I wonder if this prediction from Brown today, reported
Peter Mandelson’s op-ed in the Telegraph today makes an obvious but important point that is in danger of getting lost amidst all the talk of new settlements and a new capitalism: “In the rush to build a new capitalism, we need to preserve what worked from the old. Politicians need to agree not just what
Alex flags up Jeffrey Goldberg’s fascinating interview with Benjamin Netanyahu. Like Alex, I wouldn’t have voted for Netanyahu. If I was an Israeli, my preference would have been for Tzipi Livni’s Kadima. But I don’t think Netanyahu’s strategic analysis of the consequences of Iran going nuclear can be easily dismissed: “Several bad results would emanate
After Obama’s embarrassingly bad gift to Gordon Brown, we all assumed that the Obamas would be putting a bit more thought into their presents from now on. Indeed, when Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press man, was asked what the Queen would be getting in the pre-trip press briefing, he replied: “We don’t want to give away
There’s a hilarious item in Richard Kay’s diary today about Nick Clegg—and it isn’t an April Fool. Here are the key quotes: “‘I am really annoyed,’ [Clegg] told me. ‘As it was not a state visit I understood I wouldn’t get to see [Obama]. But when I found out Obama was meeting the Queen and
Listening to the Today Programme this morning I had a flashback to the run up to the Iraq war. I wondered if Sarkozy’s radio interview declaring that he was so unhappy with the options on the table that he might walk out was the equivalent of Jacque Chirac’s declaration on French TV that there were
Steve Richards offers a rather back-handed compliment to the Tories in his column today, which Pete flagged up earlier. Steve writes: “The Shadow Cabinet is not bad (in terms of political talent it is the equal to Labour’s in 1997)” I think this is right. The party’s decision to use Cameron for pretty much every
Reading the coverage of MP’s expenses in the papers today there is a tendency to view those MPs who are the cheapest as the best value. But think this isn’t necessarily true. Take the MP’s staffing allowance: I’d wager that those MPs who spend close to the full amount and don’t employ family members are
On the Chris Matthews Show, David Ignatius set out the internal debate in the administration about Af-Pak policy: “Vice President Biden and the deputy secretary of state Jim Steinberg argued for this narrow focus on al-Qaeda, a kind of minimal definition of the US role. Richard Holbrooke, our new emissary to that part of the
New York Magazine has a great piece this week by the man who wrote the software that so many bankers used to turn mortgages into bonds. It’s a gripping read and best summed up by his mentor telling him that the process was like putting “chicken into the grinder and out comes sirloin”. This exchange
There are certain positions in government in which you can be hidden away, protected by your colleagues. Home Secretary isn’t one of them. Jacqui Smith has to work out how she is going to handle her return to public life. I’m sure there will be those advising her to carry on as if nothing had